KAZAKHSTAN: ZHOVTIS UNDERSTANDABLY PESSIMISTIC ABOUT REFORM

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 000272 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL, EUR/RPM E.O. 12958: DECL: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM OSCE KDEM KZ SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: ZHOVTIS UNDERSTANDABLY PESSIMISTIC ABOUT REFORM REF: A) ASTANA 0109 B) ASTANA 0184 C) 09 ASTANA 2197 ASTANA 00000272 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: PolOff visited internationally known human rights activist Yevgeniy Zhovtis at the minimum-security penal colony in Ust-Kamenogorsk on February 24. Zhovtis summarized his view of the possibilities for the resolution of his case, including the Supreme Court, an amnesty, or parole. He said he would consider applying for a Presidential pardon, but only as a last resort. If he is forced to apply for a pardon, Zhovtis said he would leave Kazakhstan for good. He asserted to PolOff that Kazakhstan's political and legal system "has become unpredictable," and he believes that it must be "dismantled and rebuilt." He urged the international community to "respect your principles" and publicly criticize Kazakhstan when necessary. Zhovtis said life in the penal colony is akin to Soviet army barracks: the convicts follow a strict daily schedule for rest and meal times but are allowed to interact somewhat freely with the outside world. END SUMMARY. OPTIONS FOR RESOLUTION ¶2. (SBU) PolOff visited human rights activist Yevgeniy Zhovtis on February 24 at the minimum-security penal colony outside Ust-Kamenogorsk. During the two-hour meeting, which was carefully transcribed by two penal-colony officials present in the room, Zhovtis said that he sees four possible resolutions to his case. One is for the Supreme Court to annul his four-year sentence without vacating the guilty verdict (ref A). "This would be the easiest option," according to Zhovtis. The second is for the government to grant a general amnesty in 2010 for crimes of lesser gravity, like the one for which Zhovtis was convicted. (NOTE: Minister of Justice Rashid Tusupbekov told the Ambassador on February 25 that he proposed to the government an amnesty in 2010, but indicated that the ultimate decision will be with the Presidential Administration and the parliament (septel). END NOTE.) The third option is to be paroled before his four-year sentence expires. Zhovtis noted, however, that he would not be eligible for parole until early 2011, when Kazakhstan will no longer be Chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The fourth is to request a Presidential pardon, which would require Zhovtis to admit his legal guilt. Zhovtis said that if the first three legal options fail and he is forced to request a pardon, he would leave Kazakhstan for good upon his release. OFFICIALS "BLINDLY" FOLLOW ORDERS ¶3. (SBU) Zhovtis maintained that he is considering emigrating from Kazakhstan because "the system has become unpredictable." Instead of following established rules, he argued, officials "blindly" follow orders from their direct supervisors, even if that means breaking the law. He cited his own case as an example. Zhovtis and his co-inmate, journalist Toniyaz Kuchukov, who was convicted for a similar crime at the same time as Zhovtis, are the only two convicts at the penal colony not allowed to leave the premises or find work outside the colony. Zhovtis alleged that the colony administrators told him they had "orders from Astana" to keep him "isolated." "Any attempt to argue reason (with the administration) would backfire and lead to a clamp-down on the whole colony," Zhovtis maintained. He said his request to see an outside dentist when he developed a serious toothache languished for three weeks. "At one point, they brought a Soviet-era dental chair into the auditorium with the idea that I would undergo treatment there," he related, "but of course I refused." The administration eventually agreed to let him see a dentist outside, "with two guards in tow." "Logic does not apply here," he ruefully observed. "THE SYSTEM IS NOT WORKING" ¶4. (SBU) Zhovtis argued that the political and legal system "is not working at all." "I have realized here (at the penal colony) that attempts at (political) reform are useless, the system needs to be completely dismantled and rebuilt." Zhovtis confided that he is not sure what direction to take his NGO Human Rights Bureau after his release. One of the NGO's main tasks is to lobby the government for legislative reform that would bring Kazakhstan's laws in line with international standards. But, he said, if those laws are not followed, then reform attempts are "futile. I am not sure how to fix *********************** * Missing Section 002 * ***********************