Zhanaozen massacre

{{Short description|2011 mass killing of protesters in western Kazakhstan}}

{{Infobox civil conflict

| title = Zhanaozen massacre

| subtitle =

| partof =

| image = Mangystau Union Square Protest (2011-12-18).jpg

| caption = Demonstration in San Francisco, United States, 18 December 2011

| date = 16–17 December 2011

| place = Mangystau Region, Kazakhstan

| coordinates =

| causes =

| goals = Repayment of wages, political reforms

| methods = Demonstrations, riots, strike actions, vandalism

| result = Reshuffling of energy sector leadership

| side1 = Oil workers

| side2 = Government of Kazakhstan

| leadfigures1 = No centralized leadership

| leadfigures2 = Nursultan Nazarbayev

Timur Kulibayev

Askhat Daulbayev

| howmany1 =

| howmany2 =

| casualties1 =

| casualties2 =

| fatalities = 14+{{cite news|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2011/12/2011121815956458304.html|agency=Al Jazeera English|date=18 December 2011|access-date=18 December 2011|title=Deadly riots spread in Kazakhstan oil region}}

| injuries =

| arrests = Multiple arrests of protesters and policemen

| damage =

| buildings =

| detentions =

| charged =

| fined =

| effect =

| effect_label =

| casualties_label =

| notes =

| sidebox =

}}

The Zhanaozen massacre ({{Langx|kk|Жаңаөзен оқиғасы|translit=Jañaözen oqiğasy}}) took place in Kazakhstan's western Mangystau Region over the weekend of 16–17 December 2011. At least 14 protesters were killed by police in the oil town of Zhanaozen as they clashed with police on the country's Independence Day,{{cite web |url=http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/03/28/macedonia-kazakhstan-triumphal-arches-to-celebrate-20-years-of-independence/ |title=Macedonia, Kazakhstan: Triumphal Arches to Celebrate 20 Years of Independence |date=28 March 2012 |publisher=Global Voices Online |access-date=23 June 2012 |archive-date=7 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107003058/https://globalvoices.org/2012/03/28/macedonia-kazakhstan-triumphal-arches-to-celebrate-20-years-of-independence/ |url-status=live}} with unrest spreading to other towns in the oil-rich oblys, or region.{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/kazakhstan/8961356/Ten-die-in-fighting-between-police-and-demonstrators-in-Kazakhstan.html | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | first=James | last=Kilner | title=Ten die in fighting between police and demonstrators in Kazakhstan | date=16 December 2011 | access-date=2 April 2018 | archive-date=7 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107003101/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/kazakhstan/8961356/Ten-die-in-fighting-between-police-and-demonstrators-in-Kazakhstan.html | url-status=live}} According to Amnesty International, the massacre was a stark illustration of the country's poor human rights record under President Nursultan Nazarbayev.{{cite web |title = Kazakhstan: Crackdown on Human Rights |url = https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur57/001/2014/en/ |work = Amnesty International Submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review, October–November 2014 |date = June 2014 |publisher = Amnesty International |access-date = 24 August 2014 |archive-date = 7 January 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210107003111/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur57/001/2014/en/ |url-status = live }}

Zhanaozen

Zhanaozen has been described as "a one-industry town{{nbsp}}... centered on the aging oilfield of Ozen".{{cite news|title=Thicker than oil|url=http://www.economist.com/node/21542223|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=21 July 2013|date=31 December 2011|archive-date=7 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107003114/https://www.economist.com/asia/2011/12/31/thicker-than-oil|url-status=live}} In May 2011, workers from the Ozenmunaigas oil field went on strike for unpaid danger money, higher wages and better working conditions.{{cite web|title=A Year After Deadly Riots, Zhanaozen Is Quiet But Angry|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/zhanaozen-a-year-after-the-riots/24798726.html|access-date=16 December 2012|archive-date=7 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107003150/https://www.rferl.org/a/zhanaozen-a-year-after-the-riots/24798726.html|url-status=live}} The strike was declared illegal by local courts and the state oil company fired nearly 1000 employees.{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18055249 | title=Abuse claims swamp Kazakh oil riot trial | author=Demytrie, Rayhan and Shodiyor Eshaev | publisher=BBC News | access-date=16 May 2012 | date=15 May 2012 | archive-date=17 May 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120517120810/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18055249 | url-status=live }} Some of the sacked workers then started a round-the-clock occupation of the town square in protest, demanding better union representation and recognition of workers' rights. The strike continued for months without official interference.{{cite web|title=Zhanaozen – NHC concerned with crack-down on independent voices one year after|url=http://nhc.no/no/nyheter/Zhanaozen+%E2%80%93+NHC+concerned+with+crack-down+on+independent+voices+one+year+after.b7C_wlfG4n.ips|access-date=21 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130119013505/http://nhc.no/no/nyheter/Zhanaozen+%E2%80%93+NHC+concerned+with+crack-down+on+independent+voices+one+year+after.b7C_wlfG4n.ips|archive-date=19 January 2013|url-status=dead}} According to Radio Free Europe, the protest expanded, "with demonstrators furious over what they saw as a stranglehold on collective bargaining and labor rights by the government." In mid-December, some workers in the square began calling for the right to form independent political parties free of the government's influence.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/17/world/asia/deaths-in-rare-violence-in-kazakhstan.html?scp=3&sq=kazakhstan&st=cse|agency=The New York Times|date=16 December 2011|access-date=18 December 2011|title=At Least 10 Die as Police Clash With Strikers in Kazakhstan|first=Andrew|last=Kramer|newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=7 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107003144/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/17/world/asia/deaths-in-rare-violence-in-kazakhstan.html?scp=3&sq=kazakhstan&st=cse|url-status=live}}

16 December 2011

On 16 December, there were clashes between protesters and police who were attempting to evict them from the square in preparation for an Independence Day celebration. Activists claimed security officers opened fire on unarmed demonstrators. Authorities claimed that "bandits" infiltrated the protesters and began the riots first, producing video to support their version of events.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16221566 |title=Kazakh oil strike: 10 dead in Zhanaozen clashes |date=16 December 2011 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=23 June 2012 |archive-date=7 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107003114/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16221566 |url-status=live}} Eleven were killed, according to government officials, though opposition sources put the death toll in the dozens.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16231305 |title=Kazakhstan curfew on oil town Zhanaozen after fatal clashes |date=17 December 2011 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=23 June 2012 |archive-date=7 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107003121/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16231305 |url-status=live}} General Prosecutor Askhat Daulbayev claimed that "civilians, who had gathered in the main square to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the country's independence, were attacked by a group of hooligans". The Kazakh opposition TV channel K-Plus showed the beginning of the unrest, as men purported to be oil workers ran on the stage, tipped over the speakers and pushed around civilians before police arrived. In the disturbances which followed, local government offices, a hotel and an office of the state oil company were set on fire, according to Daulbayev. Eighty-six people were injured in the clashes, according to officials. Due to a shortage of hospital beds in Zhanaozen, many were taken to be treated in Aktau, around 150 km away.

=Testimony of victims and witnesses=

Observers described people "running and falling, running and falling" and police "showering the people with bullets." One witness said: "Usually it's only in the movies that you see lines of soldiers with their weapons at the ready{{nbsp}}.... When you see them firsthand, it's a completely different experience. Especially when what you're seeing are OMON riot police, dressed all in black, building a barricade and rapping their clubs against their shields."{{cite news|last=Tolken|first=Sania|title=A Year After Deadly Riots, Zhanaozen Is Quiet But Angry|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/zhanaozen-a-year-after-the-riots/24798726.html|work=Radio Free Europe|date=17 December 2012 |access-date=28 July 2013|archive-date=7 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107003125/https://www.rferl.org/a/zhanaozen-a-year-after-the-riots/24798726.html|url-status=live}}

Response

On the night of 16 December, police in Almaty arrested opposition activists protesting against the deaths in Zhanaozen.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/kazakhstan/8963029/State-of-emergency-declared-in-town-in-western-Kazakhstan-after-riots.html |title=State of emergency declared in town in western Kazakhstan after riots |author=Kilmer, James |date=17 December 2011 |work=The Telegraph |access-date=23 June 2012 |location=London |archive-date=7 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107003140/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/kazakhstan/8963029/State-of-emergency-declared-in-town-in-western-Kazakhstan-after-riots.html |url-status=live }}

Workers on the Kalamkas and Karazhanbas oilfields went on strike in response to the events at Zhanaozen.

On 17 December, a group of men in the village of Shetpe near Aktau blocked and damaged a railway line.{{cite web |url=http://www.socialistworld.net/doc/5495 |title=Bloody attack has not defeated striking workers |date=17 December 2011 |publisher=Socialist World |access-date=23 June 2012 |archive-date=7 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107003154/https://www.socialistworld.net/?option=com_content&view=article&id=5495 |url-status=live }} Unrest was also reported in other cities and towns in the oblast.{{cite news | url=http://www.toledoblade.com/World/2011/12/18/Police-fire-on-rioters-in-tense-western-Kazakhstan.html | title=Police fire on rioters in tense western Kazakhstan | agency=Associated Press | date=18 December 2011 | access-date=23 June 2012 | archive-date=7 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107003135/https://www.toledoblade.com/World/2011/12/18/Police-fire-on-rioters-in-tense-western-Kazakhstan.html | url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.france24.com/en/20111218-undeterred-crackdown-oil-workers-protest-regional-capital-kazakhstan-deaths |title=Kazakhstan protests spread to regional capital |date=18 December 2011 |publisher=France 24 |access-date=23 June 2012 |archive-date=7 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107003113/https://www.france24.com/en/20111218-undeterred-crackdown-oil-workers-protest-regional-capital-kazakhstan-deaths |url-status=live }}

President Nazarbayev visited Mangystau Region several days after the initial eruption of unrest. He said on 22 December, while in Aktau, that he would fire his son-in-law, Timur Kulibayev, over his handling of the crisis. Kulibayev was head of Kazakhstan's sovereign-wealth fund, Samruk-Kazyna, which manages many state assets, including the energy company KazMunayGas.{{cite news|title=Unrest in Kazakhstan|url=http://www.economist.com/node/21542223|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=4 August 2013|date=31 December 2011|archive-date=7 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107003122/https://www.economist.com/asia/2011/12/31/thicker-than-oil|url-status=live}}

President Nazarbayev fired several local officials to punish them for their roles in the massacre. Also, police officers charged with firing at protesters were arrested. In addition, the regional governor resigned and was replaced with a former minister of the interior. Nazarbayev also fired the heads of the national oil company, KazMunayGaz (KMG) and its production unit. On 26 December, he carried out his promise to dismiss his son-in-law, who had been widely viewed as his likely successor. Nazarbayev also subjected Zhanaozen to a 20-day curfew and state of emergency.{{cite web|title=Kazakhstan|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/02/01/kazakhstan-letter-prosecutor-general-regarding-december-events-zhanaozen-and-shetpe|work=Human Rights Watch|date=February 2012|access-date=4 August 2013|archive-date=7 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107003117/https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/02/01/kazakhstan-letter-prosecutor-general-regarding-december-events-zhanaozen-and-shetpe|url-status=live}}

=Investigations=

On 9 January 2012, it was reported that six Kazakh government bodies, "including the public commission, the government's body composed of civilian volunteers and officials, and several others set up by the authorities," were conducting investigations of the Zhanaozen massacre. Kazakh authorities claimed that they had asked the UN to participate in the investigations, but a spokesman for the office of the secretary-general said that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights had not "been invited or requested to help investigate."{{cite news|title=Kazakh Investigator Decries Lack Of Access To Zhanaozen Residents|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakhstan_zhanaozen_violence/24446599.html|work=Radio Free Europe|date=10 January 2012 |access-date=4 August 2013|archive-date=7 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107003056/https://www.rferl.org/a/kazakhstan_zhanaozen_violence/24446599.html|url-status=live}}

A trial of protesters began in Aktau in May 2012. Many defendants complained that they had been physically abused, and some even tortured, while in police custody and during interrogation. Some witnesses also claimed they had been threatened by police into giving false testimony. Several opposition figures were arrested in connection with the protests, including journalist Janbolat Mamai, politician Serik Sapargali, Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan leader Vladimir Kozlov, and theater director Bolat Atabaev.{{cite web |url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/NF08Ag01.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120607211310/http://atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/NF08Ag01.html |url-status=unfit |archive-date=7 June 2012 |title=Kazakh riot trials spread punishment |author=Margarita Assenova |date=8 June 2012 |work=Asia Times Online |access-date=23 June 2012}} Human Rights Watch protested the arrests, stating that "If the Kazakh authorities can prove these political activists were involved in the violence in Zhanaozen, they shouldn't need to resort to using vague and undefined criminal allegations to imprison them{{nbsp}}... The 'inciting social discord' charge should be dropped immediately and those against whom there is no evidence of any violent activity should be released from custody."{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/01/24/kazakhstan-opposition-activists-arrested |title=Kazakhstan: Opposition Activists Arrested |date=25 January 2012 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |access-date=23 June 2012 |archive-date=7 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107003109/https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/01/24/kazakhstan-opposition-activists-arrested |url-status=live }} Anti-censorship group ARTICLE 19 described the charges as "spurious" and "alarming", warning that the arrests of Atabaev and others would have "a chilling effect on freedom of expression in Kazakhstan".{{cite web |url=http://www.article19.org/resources.php/resource/3332/en/kazakhstan:-activists-arrested-on-charges-of-inciting-hatred |title=Kazakhstan: Activists arrested on charges of inciting hatred |date=15 June 2012 |publisher=ARTICLE 19 |access-date=23 June 2012 |archive-date=7 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107003204/https://www.article19.org/explore |url-status=live }} Amnesty International described the charge against Atabaev as "trumped-up", designating him a prisoner of conscience, "detained solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression".{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur57/003/2012/en/ |title=Kazakhstan: Public figure on trial for defending strikers |date=21 June 2012 |publisher=Amnesty International |access-date=23 June 2012 |archive-date=7 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107003059/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur57/003/2012/en/ |url-status=live }}

Two further trials of security officials are currently taking place. In one, 5 police officers are accused of shooting demonstrators. In the other, the former chief of a police detention centre in Zhanaozen is being prosecuted in relation to the death of a suspect who was allegedly beaten to death.

=In the media=

Tony Blair gave damage-limitation advice to Nazarbayev and helped him craft a response which was later delivered before Western media.{{Cite news |last = Mendick |first = Robert |date = 24 August 2014 |title = Tony Blair gives Kazakhstan's autocratic president tips on how to defend a massacre |url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tony-blair/11052965/Tony-Blair-gives-Kazakhstans-autocratic-president-tips-on-how-to-defend-a-massacre.html |work = telegraph.co.uk |access-date = 24 August 2014 |archive-date = 24 August 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140824214207/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tony-blair/11052965/Tony-Blair-gives-Kazakhstans-autocratic-president-tips-on-how-to-defend-a-massacre.html |url-status = live }} In July 2015 Kazakh band Nazarbayev Terror Machine released their first album "Zhanaozen" dedicated to the massacre victims.