Human Rights Watch called on Kazakh authorities Thursday to investigate allegations of torture of Zhanaozen protesters while the top Kazakh prosecutor invited UN experts to help with investigations, the agencies’ websites said.
Protests from oil workers in the oil town of Zhanaozen erupted on December 16 over wage cuts. Kazakh officials said 15 people died in clashes with police while other estimates vary from between 15 and 70. Eyewitnesses said police fired on unarmed protesters, a charge denied by the authorities.
“Allegations of torture in Zhanaozen are profoundly disturbing and the Kazakh government should immediately conduct an impartial investigation,” said Rachel Denber, Deputy Director for Europe and Central Asia at Human Rights Watch. “There is never any justification for torture or ill-treatment.”
The organization’s representative also urged the government to allow detainees access to their family, lawyers and medical aid.
The authorities in oil-rich Kazakhstan said the police had been provoked by protesters. A 20-day state of emergency has been declared in the oil town where means of communication have been restricted, including phone communications. The authorities have threatened to punish the protest organizers.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s Prosecutor General Askhat Daulbayev met with Armen Harutyunyan, Regional Representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Central Asia, on Thursday, and invited UN experts to help investigate the riots.
