[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E192]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

THE NEED FOR A NATIONAL DIALOGUE IN KAZAKHSTAN

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HON. DAN BURTON

of indiana

in the house of representatives

Tuesday, February 29, 2000

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, last December President Nursultan
Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan was in Washington, D.C. for the annual meeting
of the U.S.-Kazakhstan Joint Commission. The purpose of these meetings,
which are alternately held in the United States and Kazakhstan, is to
promote economic and political cooperation between our two countries.
Among other things, the U.S. side regularly presses the government of
Kazakhstan to improve its human rights record and undertake economic
and political reform.
I understand that U.S. officials pressed the Kazakhstani side
especially hard this year, because of the sham parliamentary elections
held last October, heightened corruption, and an acceleration of
abusive action taken against opponents of President Nazarbayev's
increasingly repressive government. In an apparent move to blunt U.S.
pressure during the upcoming Joint Commission meeting, President
Nazarbayev issued a statement on November 4, 1999 indicating his
willingness to cooperate with the opposition in Kazakhstan. He also
stated he would welcome the return of former Prime Minister Akhezan
Kazhegeldin, the exiled leader of the main opposition party.
On November 19, Mr. Kazhegeldin responded to President Nazarbayev by
calling for a ``national dialogue'' to examine ways to advance
democracy, economic development and national reconciliation in
Kazakhstan. Similar national dialogues have met with success in Poland,
South Africa and Nicaragua. Mr. Kazhegeldin pointed out that convening
a national dialogue would be an ideal way to initiate cooperation
between the opposition and the government.
However, President Nazarbayev has reacted with stony silence to Mr.
Kazhegeldin's proposal. Moreover, Mr. Nazarbayev has reneged on a
pledge he made in November to ship oil through the proposed Baku-Ceyhan
pipeline, and continues to refuse to settle investment disputes with
foreign companies that have lost millions of dollars because the
government failed to honor its commitments. Mr. Nazarbayev also
arranged to have a ``kangaroo court'' convict an opposition leader for
having the temerity to criticize Nazarbayev's government. Finally, and
this is very troubling, an investigation and trial have failed to find
anyone to blame for the delivery last year of 40 MIG fighter aircraft
from Kazakhstan to North Korea.
Mr. Speaker, the Administration needs to stop turning the other cheek
every time Mr. Nazarbayev commits an outrage. The cause of freedom and
democracy will continue to backslide in Kazakhstan unless the
Administration voices its strong support for a national dialogue
similar to the one proposed by former Prime Minister Kazhegeldin. At
the very least, the government of Kazakhstan should make one hour a
week of state-controlled television available for use by the
opposition. The U.S., for its part, should assist the democratic
opposition by providing printing presses to replace those that have
been confiscated by the government. It is time to stand up for
democracy in Kazakhstan and to stop coddling dictators like Nazarbayev.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to submit an article into the Record from
the Washington Times that speaks volumes about the situation in
Kazakhstan today.

[From the Washington Times, Dec. 20; 1999]

Dining With Dictators--White House Fetes Kazakh President

(By Thomas B. Evans, Jr.)

For some inexplicable reason the president of Kazakhstan,
Nursultan Nazarbayev, has been invited to visit Washington
this month by the Clinton-Gore administration.
Mr. Nazarbayev is the same dictator who over the past eight
years has created a monopoly of riches for himself, his
family and carefully selected friends. He has also lured many
investors to his country and then pillaged their assets for
himself, his family and a few cronies. Knowledgeable sources
say that he is the eighth richest man in the world. This, in
a country where the per capita income is well below the
poverty level.
Mr. Nazarbayev is the same person who promised Vice
President Gore a year ago that he would permit a fair and
free presidential election in January 1999 and then rigged
the disqualification of his main opponent, thereby
eliminating any chance of defeat and ensuring the
perpetuation of his corrupt regime. Mr. Nazarbayev is also
the same person who has had $85 million in ill-gotten gains
frozen by the judiciary in Switzerland. Mr. Nazarbayev is the
same individual who ordered the destruction of printing
presses used to print newspapers questioning his policies.
And Mr. Nazarbayev's record on human rights is anything but
outstanding. There is, quite simply, no freedom of the press,
no independent judiciary and no freedom of assembly that
could threaten Mr. Nazarbayev's one-man one-family rule in
Kazakhstan.
In spite of all the above, Kazakhstan still receives
millions of dollars in foreign assistance from U.S. taxpayers
and hundreds of millions more indirectly through the Export-
Import Bank and international financial institutions in which
the United States is a major contributor. Is it not just
about time that we let dictators like Mr. Nazarbayev know
that we are not going to accept this type of behavior? Is it
not past time for us to be taken as fools who don't care
about how a country's ruler treats his people and foreign
investors? Is Kazakhstan's oil so important to us that we
would sacrifice basic principles by inviting
Surely, this administration does not want to assist in the
perpetuation of a regime in Kazakhstan that is the antithesis
of all that we stand for as Americans. Both the president and
vice president should make it unmistakably clear that the
status quo in Kazakhstan is unacceptable.
On Nov. 17, former Prime Minister Akhezan Kazhegeldin, who
was prevented from running against Mr. Nazarbayev last
January and now heads the leading opposition party (although
living in exile in Western Europe), proposed that a national
dialogue be launched with a view toward reforming the
political and economic system in Kazakhstan and holding free
and fair presidential and parliamentary elections. Similar
national dialogues were successful in Poland and South
Africa, and convening one for Kazakhstan could set the
pattern for reform throughout the former Soviet republics of
Central Asia. Mr. Clinton and Mr. Gore should emphasize to
Mr. Nazarbayev that close cooperation between our two
countries depends on his agreement to participate in a
national dialogue. They should also insist that in order for
a national dialogue to be credible, it must be held outside
Kazakhstan and should be organized and monitored with the
assistance of respected organizations such as the Council of
Europe or the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe. Mr. Clinton and Mr. Gore should make support for
political and economic reform the centerpiece of their
discussions with Mr. Nazarbayev. That is the very least this
administration should do at this point, and that is not an
unreasonable expectation on the part of the United States.

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