In principle, on LiveJournal the main thing that was in the Li-ru is there, except for this article.
(only links not yet linked)
I’ll make up for it with three posts.
BLOOD OF ZHANAOZEN. A departure from the “new world order.” Why are the world media silent about the Kazakh execution? Part I
On December 16, an armed team called “special forces” shot workers in the town of Zhanaozen, then at the Shetpe station. 16 people died. That's how it was. The video hit the internet on December 20.
Earlier, a video filmed by a “special forces” member hit the Internet (we’ll look at what kind of “special forces” this is separately). The only time in the entire recording the camera in the mobile phone was clearly recorded was in the last frame, where the teenager threw something - it is clear that this frame was the goal of the filmer. Here is this video with a strange title:
We will return to the video, but first we will look at how the information was disseminated. This is no less informative side of the event than the videos themselves.
Before the video, there was a powerful surge of misinformation, after which the media and most bloggers fell silent. World news like Euronews reported general phrases about “unrest”, leaving out all the details in silence. Which is still kept today. We'll see why below.
How disinformation was made
In Russia, they learned about the event on December 16 from a series of hysterical publications with the words “rebellion,” “war,” “coup,” a hastily fabricated video and statements by Kazakh officials, also distributed in the news in the form of interviews and speeches. After which the network was filled with “globalization” publications about “American snipers”, “the hand of the West”, “the machinations of NATO”, “color revolutions”, “extremists shaking the situation”, “terrorists undermining the world”, “opposition politicians entrenched in London”.. In a word, oh external forces, based on internal enemies. The Internet and the media discussed all this until December 20 - the date of the appearance of the real video, after which they suddenly took a lot of water in their mouths, and the topic almost disappeared from the information field.
Here is the initial video disinformation:
Following this, several more videos appeared, made according to the same order and about the same thing, but in total they gave an accurate picture. Here is a typical publication from a St. Petersburg resource.
Let us cite several official statements by Kazakh officials, absolutely of the same type, made, without a doubt, on the basis of a not very smart text communicated to everyone, which the persons reproduce from paper or from memory. Here President Nazarbayev, with his face seriously askew, wags his finger:
Since videos about the latest events in Kazakhstan tend to disappear, we present the key passage verbatim:
The footage shows that the president, the prosecutor general and others call a structure made of plastic and chipboard a Christmas tree. It is very difficult to set it on fire. That’s why they burned him out for a long time after the “atrocities” and the suppression of “disorderly elements” by shooting citizens by “special forces.”
The video, which was filmed after the shooting, shows how they are trying to burn the Christmas tree again.
In general, the only shot with a blazing Christmas tree was made using flammable liquid, gasoline or diesel fuel. Look at the spot of fire on second photo with a Christmas tree - there is nothing else to burn here. This had to be done due to the fact that it hit the screenwriter of the virtual “Zhanaozen events”: a shot with a burning Christmas tree would be very effective. As we can see, yes. The result was a shot, albeit with the help of diesel fuel, but the performers had to burn and burn the plastic after the “special forces” arrived at the square.
Another evidence of the use of flammable liquid is this three-second shot with a poster of the Nur Otan party, where diesel fuel or gasoline is burning on the pavement. In the Kazakh “political” Matrix, “nur otan” is an analogue of our “United Russia”. Neither eyewitnesses, nor the authorities, nor people rallying in support of the Zhanaozen workers in other cities say a word about any anti- and inter-party squabbles; there are no other symbols of the Kazakh United Russia in any frame of any video. However, the cameraman takes a close-up picture of the poster; moreover, before sending it into the fire, the cameraman’s partner straightens it and holds it in front of the lens so that the audience can clearly see the name of the ruling party.
The prop men did not even think of the absurdity of the appearance of this frame in a video about the “atrocities of criminals.” Who filmed this based on their script? A couple of “gangster criminals” who brought with them a wall poster that here in the square there’s nowhere to even hang it? And whose video camera then became a police trophy? Why do they need to bring it, burn it, and carefully remove it? They, as we remember from the briefings of the president and others, beat, smash, attack with bladed weapons and shoot at law enforcement forces, which is why they receive return fire. There’s somehow no time for a poster here. Maybe the police were filming it? Then a legitimate question: why are you standing here and filming instead of stopping the outrages? This is probably the most fake frame of all the fake frames. And it is needed for the only purpose - so that official Kazakh government representatives and public leaders broadcast something about “opposition politicians - state criminals” who “carry out subversive work” and “are behind these riots.”
Continuing the frame, look at the next one - in it the character lights a strip of green matter in the same fire. Further, in another video, there is a shot where he is trying to light a Christmas tree from the other side using this strip. Why is this? In a country where the entire indigenous population (meaning the Kazakhs) profess Islam, the green flag can only mean one thing - the banner of the prophet. In the hands of one of the “gangsters” in the picture below, you can see this flag. The mockery that is done in front of the camera, tearing it up and burning it is an insult to Islam. Neither the Kazakhs nor the Russians allow this in Kazakhstan; this is only done by a group of script performers, and when there are no people around, exclusively on camera. The manipulation is completely deliberate, designed to show that the “bandit elements of Zhanaozen” are the enemies of Islam. In reality, this group acts in concert with the “special forces” and the scriptwriters of this action, and we will see this below.
Now notice again first shot with the Christmas tree. The horizon is clear. There is no smoke. Public figures in Kazakhstan talk about 46 buildings burned by “bandit elements.” In the first deco video there are shots of columns of smoke above the city, but they rose after the events in the square. Look at all the videos taken before the execution, there are countless of them - there is not a single column of smoke from a burning building anywhere.
The first two buildings light up very abruptly directly in the footage of the execution. Take a look. In the first frame of the video, shot from a column of “special forces” who started shooting at people as they approached the square (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZDOcK14rOs&feature=player_embedded), you can see smoke coming from the basement and the main the entrance of the building closest to the "special forces".
This is the same building of Ozenmunaigas, into which in the news and speeches of the leaders of Kazakhstan they allegedly broke into, allegedly committed a pogrom and allegedly burned the “elements”. Which is why the “special forces” supposedly arrived. Pay attention to the following building in the "special forces" video. There is no smoke. Now let's take a look at the video from the window of a residential building, where the column continued to move and shoot. Here's a shot of both buildings.
The smoke from the Ozenmunaigas building has noticeably thickened, and thick clouds are pouring out from the neighboring building. A few seconds passed between the two frames. It is clear that, in principle, there cannot be any arsonists from among the “outrageous” ones. These are prepared fires. They begin suddenly, when a column of “special forces”, shooting at people, moves into the square. Suddenly, but not for the column of killers. They didn’t even slow down, “special forces,” as evidenced by a video shot by one of them from inside the column. Although the video briefly shows that thick clouds of smoke very suddenly poured out from the main entrance of the Ozenmunaigas building. They go to the square to kill, and what happens to the right along the way is not unexpected for them. Why? Yes, they just know what will happen there, the houses are handled by other people - the script performers, and the script was brought to all participants. The next video shows that none of the column moved towards the suddenly occupied houses, they go to the square to kill people, then they start running, kill and finish off - you see everything for yourself.
What exactly is involved - incendiary grenades, mines, some kind of charges - in this case does not matter, the main thing is that the people in the square whom the “special forces” came to kill, even the mythical “bandit elements”, were not involved in these fires. No one will set fire to the foyer and especially the basement of the building with some powerful charge while inside. Just as he will not do this from the outside, being in the line of sight, less than a hundred meters away, in the line of fire, on an empty avenue, in front of a column of armed people who opened fire. These two shots leave no doubt that the burning of buildings and the deployment of “special forces” are points of the same plan, parts of the same scenario.
Remembering the first disastrous video, we will find footage of smoke columns just from this second building, which burned in front of the riot police.
The events on the square - “riots”, fake “attacks on law enforcement officers with bladed weapons and firearms” and the not-at-all fake shooting - went on as usual, the arson took its own course. It all started on one side of the square, with an ordinary stampede (this video has almost disappeared from the Internet), and ended on the other - with execution.
Addition. 12/30/2011 a video appeared on the Internet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEFZX4Ta7es&feature=player_embedded, where the freak from the “elements” team throws a bottle and lights a tree; therefore, the arsonists were a crowd, and the “police” shot them correctly - the conclusion is drawn. In fact, the building burst into flames FROM INSIDE, powerfully and IMMEDIATELY, and the “police” video itself confirms this. We look at the porch of the main entrance: 13th second - there is nothing, 16th second - from the first floor, from the foyer, clubs burst out powerfully in one gulp (and the foyer is not small - photo in the “blog tour” materials, about which below, confirms this). A powerful incendiary device, comparable to a gas cylinder, went off inside the building - this is what happened in those 3 seconds. This cannot be achieved with any bottle. The bottle is the same clownery as the “riots in the square”; it only set the tree on fire.
By the way, there is not a single frame from the akimat (mayor's office), police station, court, bank, building of the Ozenmunaigas company, other government institutions, offices, offices, enterprises where the “thugs were rampaging” before burning them down. . Which is absolutely incredible, since among thousands of officials, clerks and other office people, not to mention police officers, security guards and video surveillance system operators, there should have been at least one phone with a camera lying around. And the shot with the “thugs” and “arsonists” was supposed to decorate all the videos about the “atrocities of the elements.” And since there is no such footage, then there were no “atrocities” with arson.
One more thing to say. The first deso-video contains a huge number of plans. From the ground, from above, in the city, outside the city... It was made for more than one hour, more than one operator had a hand in it. 46 buildings were allegedly burned by “elements”. And nothing. Absolute zero about pogroms and arson.
Now let’s see what the falsifier writers had in mind when they let the “top officials” voice nonsense about “burning the stage and the police bus.”
What the virtual “riots” were made of, and then they carefully created material evidence of the “riots”, is in this video. Look - it's not even a fight, just a crush and noise. The organizers of the “independence anniversary” led a costumed festive column of horsemen, decorated with national flags, right through the place where workers who had been on strike for seven months were usually located, the police pushed the workers apart in a human chain, naturally, noise and a crush arose, and “hot” words were directed at the column and the organizers. opinions, wishes, apparently cries of “shame!” (we will be grateful to people who speak Kazakh if they translate what was heard in this video, and it wouldn’t hurt to go through the others). And then, overpowering all wishes, the speakers on the stage powerfully turned on and songs thundered with the refrain “Astana-Astana...” - this need not be translated, and it is so clear that these are songs of court musicians like our Gazmanov and Co., and glorify the center of the universal Kazakhstan's prosperity and prosperity. The workers ran onto the stage, knocked over the speakers and calmly left, without touching anyone or trying to further smash or burn anything.
And then the most interesting part. When the people had gone to the other end of the square and the area around the stage was empty, a group of rats appeared and began to burn speakers, demonstrate poses, in a word, “rage” on behalf of the masses.
Then “law enforcement forces” entered the square, shot people, or, according to disinformation, “took the situation under control.” In the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XdIdnysW470#at=351, filmed after the execution, dumbfounded people, hysteria of an elderly woman, dismantling of yurts... And then the same characters returned and continued in front of the cameras prepare an “exposition of atrocities,” climb and throw down plywood stage design elements, and drag burning objects to the fire. Now slowly, busily (only one of the runts pranced back and forth in front of the lens with a flag) and, unlike the first “atrocities,” without fear or shame of people - people have already realized that these “elements” are one team with the killers. .
This is how another “outrage” took place, which, according to Kazakh VIPs, was stopped by “the forces of law and order” - “the burning of a police bus.”
Immediately after the speakers were dropped, a familiar group of runts (look at least for the white jacket with a hood, there are two of them in the entire area) and several real workers broke the windows and the radiator and left. Still the same first desorbing video.
But this part of the square is empty, the shots of the killers can already be heard. You see two frames of the video of the “Zhanaozen atrocities”, taken with a two-second difference. In the first, a “riotous element” threw something incendiary into the cabin; in the second, the bus is standing in an empty square, the fire in the cabin has just begun, smoke is barely visible.
The bus started burning after the murders and “restoring” order - here it is in the video after the shooting.
What else is there? “They burned the yurts”? This couldn't have happened at all. Yurts are not a Christmas tree or a stage, there was trade there, they have owners. They would have torn off the heads of these snotty “bandit elements” if they tried to burn down the yurts. You can count the yurts in any “pre-shooting” video and compare it with the “post-shooting” video, in which people dismantle the yurts.
The second frame shows that there is water everywhere and there is a tank standing.
This explains the most baffling of the “outrages” in the very first disinformation video. Where people roll this tank for some reason.
They do this in order to deliver water to the square and prevent the freaks from burning something. Moreover, they spill the water so that it stands in a continuous puddle - the freaks, accomplices of the murder squad, have already set fire to the Christmas tree structure, spilling gasoline next to it. And the speakers started firing. They probably also used liquid - it’s not easy to light the speakers, they are covered with non-flammable plastic. It is from this gasoline that people protect their property.
"Burnt police cars" is on three videos. This one is on the very first video of disinformation. It’s clear that it didn’t burn - where did you see the white body and whole wheels of burnt cars - it’s just rusty junk from a landfill. The car was overturned, debris was thrown under the trunk, this case was filmed on a mobile phone, since better filming would immediately reveal the forgery.
We see the same car in photographs in disinformation publications of the “first wave” with “globalization” titles “Export of the Arab Spring to Kazakhstan”? (here props depicting happy “thugs” did not burn the wheels of this “object of atrocities” - they keep rolling and rolling) and “Kazakhstan is a new scenario of revolution, collapse and occupation” (here this scrap metal from a landfill with two similar ones depicts “piles of burnt police cars”). And the tires of this exhibit from the landfill were lit in a video of “the burning of a building by bandits.” Ozenmunaigas". So they dragged this rusty prop around the city.
Continued here -
December 16, 2011 on the main square of the city of Zhanaozen, which 150 km from Aktau, after seven months of the oil workers' strike, mass riots occurred, as a result of which the suppression killed 1 4 Human,64 people were injured. After this, in the city, by presidential decree Nursultan Nazarbayev a state of emergency was introduced, which lasted until January 27, 2012. To clarify the circumstances of the events, six commissions were created, three of them belonged to the government.
On May 24, 2012, three former top managers of oil companies were sentenced to various prison terms. June 4, 2012 in the case of mass riots 12 people were sentenced to imprisonment for a term of three to seven years. On October 8 of the same year, an oppositionist was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison on charges of inciting social discord during the Zhanaozen events. Vladimir Kozlov. In addition, the former head of the Zhanaozen temporary detention center, police lieutenant, was in the dock on charges of abuse of power Zhenisbek Temirov. He was sentenced to five years in prison for illegal detention in a temporary detention facility Bazarbay Kenzhebaeva, who died from injuries received during detention on December 16.
The then-current akim of Zhanaozen also came under investigation. Orak Sarbopeev, later sentenced to 10 years in prison.
During this time, the city had three akims.
In the first year, buildings damaged during the riots were restored. The total damage was estimated at 250 million tenge. At the same time, 7 new playgrounds appeared in the city’s microdistricts, and road repairs began.
In December 2013, a sports and recreation complex named after Rakhmet Utesinov was opened, built with funds from KazMunayGas Exploration Production JSC with subsequent gratuitous transfer to the city.
In January 2014, a new recreation park was opened, for which 51 million tenge from the local budget.
Zhanaozen is one of 27 single-industry towns of Kazakhstan. As of January 1, 2016, the city was inhabited by: 113.4 thousand people, or 18% the entire population of the Mangistau region.
In 2015, under the program for the development of single-industry towns, 1.2 billion tenge: 345.7 million tenge - to diversify the economy and develop small and medium-sized businesses, 820 million tenge - for the development of engineering infrastructure. In addition, it was issued 2 grants for the amount 5 million tenge for the creation of new production facilities, and also subsidized 9 projects for total cost 530.9 million tenge.
In October 2017, as part of the implementation of the President’s Regional Development program, six boiler houses were launched in the city. At the same time, the intellectual kindergarten “Caspian” was opened, which is attended by 147 children. Before this, in 2015, four kindergartens were built in 320 seats every.
In October 2018, a water treatment plant was launched in test mode on the territory of the existing Zhanaozen water treatment plant. Construction of the facility lasted 4 years.
- The problem of drinking water in the city has not been solved for many years. The construction of this facility will provide city residents with high-quality drinking water. According to the Comprehensive Plan for the Social and Economic Development of the City of Zhanaozen, in the period 2012-2020 it is planned to connectabout 7 thousand residential buildings private sector. The construction of additional water treatment facilities will satisfy the city’s need to increase the water storage tank farm for three days, with the expectation of150 thousand people, - said akim of Mangistau region Yeraly Tugzhanov, who then arrived on a working visit to Zhanaozen.
In addition, construction of the Beibitshilik residential complex is underway in Zhanaozen. According to the project, they will build here 23 houses with 1376 apartments. Construction is scheduled to be completed in December 2022.
This year Zhanaozen turned 50 years old. For the city's anniversary, a local businessman gave residents a gift worth 47 million tenge— a dancing fountain, illuminated by multi-colored lamps.
Since November 2017, residents of Zhanaozen have access to the Nur Capital program - a project to support SMEs, providing for lending to Zhanaozen residents at 1%. The program is financed by the Damu Foundation and Ozenmunaigas JSC.
In the near future, it is planned to begin construction of the Zhanaozen - Kendirli - border of the Republic of Turkmenistan and Kuryk - Zhetibay roads.
Kazakh oil and gas workers sought equal pay with Chinese specialists
Last Friday, December 16, the Kazakh city of Zhanaozen was engulfed in riots. Authorities say there are 10 dead, but eyewitnesses say there are dozens more dead. Mobile communications and the Internet are turned off, all entries and exits from the city are blocked. Thus, the authorities put up a powerful barrier to any information leaving the city. It is also reported that the unrest in the oil town of Zhanaozen was suppressed with the involvement of Interior Ministry troops and armored vehicles.
On Friday, in Zhanaozen, Mangystau region of Kazakhstan, a seven-month protest by workers at Ozenmunaigas, a subsidiary of KazMunayGas, the largest oil corporation in the republic, escalated. Since June of this year, there has been a strike of workers from fields near Zhanaozen (Ozenmunaigas) and Aktau (Karazhanbasmunai, also a subsidiary of KazMunayGas), who demanded that wages be brought into line with international standards, equalized with the amounts they receive attracting Chinese specialists, improving working conditions, creating an independent trade union. As a result, several hundred workers were laid off; Trade union lawyer Natalya Sokolova, trade union leaders Akzhanat Aminov and Kuanysh Sisenbaev and more than 30 other activists were arrested and convicted. Some of those arrested tried to commit suicide. Due to the protests, Ozenmunaigas was unable to fulfill its annual oil production plan.
In the summer, Zhanaozen was rocked by two murders. On August 2, trade union activist Zhaksylyk Turbaev was found murdered at the Munayfilterservice enterprise. The murder occurred after a meeting where Turbaev initiated the re-election of the chairman of the trade union organization, who, according to the workers, was pursuing the employer’s policy. So far the police have no suspects. And on August 24, the body of the missing 18-year-old Zhansaule Karabalayeva, the daughter of the chairman of the trade union committee of workers of the Ozenmunaigas company Kudaibergen Karabalayev, was discovered. Oil workers believe that these events are directly related to the strike and that these crimes are an attempt to intimidate the strikers.
On December 16, the Independence Day of the Republic, workers went to a pre-announced rally in the central square of Zhanaozen, where the city authorities, in turn, were going to hold a festive event. It is reported that more than 5 thousand people took part in the action.
According to non-state media, at the height of the rally, a police UAZ deliberately crashed into the crowd, which provoked the protesters - the angry crowd overturned a police car, after which they set fire to a police bus.
Some of the protest participants managed to report on social networks that the unrest was started by an organized group of 30 people dressed in black jackets and hats (the striking oil workers came to the square in the Ozenmunaigas work uniform - blue and burgundy). This was also confirmed by a video recording from a mobile phone posted on YouTube. After the incident, the police left the meeting, but after some time internal troops were drawn to the square and opened fire on the demonstrators.
From social media posts: 70 people were killed and more than 500 injured. The Prosecutor General's Office of Kazakhstan confirmed the “death of 10 people.” A criminal case has been opened, and over 70 people have already been detained under the article “Organizing mass riots.”
Human rights activists learned about the situation only after an urgent collection of donor blood began in the Aktau hospital (the nearest large city). All non-state media and websites of human rights organizations are blocked, roads to Zhanaozen are blocked, cellular communications, telephone lines and the Internet are cut off in the area. Twitter was also blocked in Kazakhstan.
The protesters burned down the buildings of the city akimat (mayor's office), the Ozenmunaigas office, and a hotel, and seized several buildings. Marines were brought into the city, information about armored vehicles appeared. The local city hospital could not cope with the influx of wounded; it is reported that some of the victims were taken to Aktau.
On Saturday morning, an investigative team headed by the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the republic, Kalmukhanbet Kasymov, left for Zhanaozen. A few hours later, Kasymov announced that the unrest had been suppressed and repeated the figures previously announced by the Prosecutor General’s Office: 10 people were killed, 75 were hospitalized. The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs also said that “there is no one in the central square now.”
The Ozenmunaigas company issued an official statement that its workers did not take part in the riots. However, the day after the tragedy, the company was forced to announce that some of the workers did not go to work after the protest that ended with the shooting: “The absence of Ozenmunaigas workers on the night and morning shifts is explained by the fact that the workers fear for their safety, as well as the safety of their members.” families. In this regard, round-the-clock duty of workers already at the field was organized, which made it possible to maintain the daily level of production.”
In Aktau, 300 people were detained at a rally of solidarity with Zhanaozen workers, and “preventive conversations” were held with them. The solidarity rally in Almaty did not take place - the authorities blocked the square where the national patriots’ event was taking place at that moment, and a few hours earlier activists of the Socialist Movement of Kazakhstan were detained, transmitting information to journalists about what was happening in Zhanaozen.
The events in Zhanaozen occurred at the beginning of the election race. Elections to the Mazhilis (lower house of parliament) are extraordinary: in mid-November, President Nazarbayev dissolved this body of representative power, declaring “the need to develop pluralism and democratic processes in the country.” The opposition unregistered coalition “Halyk Maidan - Popular Front” has already demanded that the authorities postpone the elections to the Majilis of the Parliament of Kazakhstan due to the riots that occurred in Zhanaozen.
At the time of signing the issue, it became known that the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, signed a decree introducing a state of emergency in the city of Zhanaozen. A curfew has been announced.
In the center of things
Paul MURPHY, Member of the European Parliament, Socialist Party of Ireland:
— According to the information that I have: 70 protesters were killed, 500 were injured. According to the International Workers' Committee, the shooting of protesters began at 11.40 am (9.20 Moscow time). Workers occupied part of the buildings in the city, some buildings were burned. 1,500 marines and tanks were brought into Zhanaozen. At 12.30, oil production in the area was stopped.
Employee of one of the TV channels, Aktau:
“The fact that the demonstration was peaceful is not entirely true. I was born and raised in this area. Protests in Zhanaozen have been taking place since 2008. All it takes is a spark for the situation to become critical.
Zhanna BAYSALOVA, independent journalist, Almaty:
“We managed to get through to one Zhanaozen activist, Sholpan. She was in the hospital at the time of the demonstration. They are all shocked by the official information that the Prosecutor General's Office confirmed only 10 people were killed. She says she saw 25 bodies in person alone. Her husband was also wounded; he was shot in the legs. I also managed to say that there are no riots in the city right now, but there is “some kind of confusion”... Then the connection was interrupted. Domestic flights to Aktau (the closest large city to Zhanaozen. — E.K.) in Kazakhstan have been cancelled.
Today at 11 am a demonstration of solidarity with the workers of Zhanaozen was supposed to take place on Republic Square in Almaty. The authorities cordoned off everything, and eventually some kind of patriotic event took place there; nationalists laid flowers at the stele of the victims of the 1986 uprising. At 8.30 in the morning, the police came to our activists who were talking with journalists in Zhanaozen. Larisa Boyar, Arman Ozholbalbaev, Dmitry Tikhonov were detained, taken to the Bostandyk police station, and now released. Two policemen also came for me, I didn’t let them in, they stayed in the yard, waiting in the car for me to get out. They've left now, it seems.
Almost every person drew conclusions from the mass clashes in the city of oil workers.
Who and what thinks about the days of fear and pain? What lessons did Zhanaozen teach? By asking these questions, we are trying to understand where the line lies between democracy and violence, dialogue and blackmail, politics and politicking. Opinions vary, but most of us agree on one thing: what happened should be a serious call for unity, not discord. The culprits will be found and punished. What was destroyed was restored. The conflict will be extinguished - not by force, but by reason. But the lessons and conclusions that we draw from this drama will serve as a kind of test for the maturity and wisdom of the Kazakh nation for a long time.
Today marks the sixth day since a clash between hooligan elements and law enforcement agencies took place in the central square of Zhanaozen, after which the city was plunged into smoke. As a result of the riots, not only administrative buildings were burned, but - worst of all - people died. What were those days? And what were the main conclusions the Kazakhstanis made for themselves? Today we decided to ask experts, public figures and ordinary citizens about this.
Six days of one year
On December 16, 2011, mass riots occurred in the central Yntymak square of the city of Zhanaozen, where at that time a festive program dedicated to the 20th anniversary of Kazakhstan’s independence was taking place. According to the prosecutor's office, the initiators of the pogrom were young people, as well as fired oil workers who succumbed to their influence. At about 11 o'clock in the afternoon they tried to block the movement of the festive column of townspeople, among whom were children.
The police managed to take control of the situation at approximately 11.40, but soon a fight broke out between a group of hooligans and law enforcement officers. As a result, six police officers received various injuries, and one was taken to the hospital in a coma. Hooligans overturned the New Year tree, destroyed yurts and the stage, set fire to a police bus, and set cars on fire.
At 12.35 the riots spread beyond the city square. About 500 people attacked the block office of the Ozenmunaigas company and the Aru-ana hotel, which were burned. The crowd looted ATMs located in the buildings. At 12.50, about 70 more hooligans broke into the city akimat building, where they began destroying furniture and office equipment and setting fire to offices. Closer to noon, information appeared about the first victims of the riots. 86 people were taken to hospitals with various injuries. Of these, 10 people died, four people were in intensive care.
At approximately 17.00, the crowd set fire to the house of the director of the Ozenmunaigas company, Eshmanov, at 19.00 smoke appeared above the Sulpak trading house, and at 23.00 the akimat building of the suburban village of Tenge was on fire. Information was also received about additional law enforcement forces being deployed to the city. At 17.30, active actions began to restore stability in Zhanaozen and pacify the rioting crowd. Special units have launched a targeted clearing operation of the area.
Criminal cases have been opened into the mass riots; the investigative group was headed by the Minister of Internal Affairs Kalmukhanbet Kasymov. By that time, 70 rioters had been detained. The identities of the most active rowdies have been established and measures have been taken to detain them.
The country's President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Saturday signed a decree on a state of emergency in the city of Zhanaozen “in order to ensure the safety of the population,” restore law and order, and protect the rights and freedoms of citizens. A curfew was also introduced, which will be in effect from 23.00 to 7.00 and will last from December 17 this year to January 5, 2012.
“The perpetrators will be punished to the fullest extent of the law. At the same time, I believe that the oil workers’ labor dispute cannot be confused with the actions of bandit elements who wanted to take advantage of the situation for their criminal plans. We will reveal where the funding comes from and who is doing it,” the president noted.
Nursultan Nazarbayev appointed Amanzhol Kabylov as commandant of Zhanaozen. Freedom of movement, holding meetings, and using copying and duplicating equipment, radio and television transmission equipment, and audio and video recording equipment are limited in the city. Schools in the city were suspended until order was restored. The President also created a government commission headed by Deputy Prime Minister Umirzak Shukeyev on a range of issues in Zhanaozen.
In total, as a result of the riots on December 16–17 in the city of oil workers, 46 buildings were burned and looted, including 8 banking facilities (ATMs, banks): 20 shops; 2 cafes; Notarial office; 2 pawn shops; 2 akimats (city akimat and Tenge village akimat); photo salon; 2 police strongholds; Hotel "Aru-ana"; building of the Ozenmunaigas company; 3 private houses; More than 20 cars were burned and damaged; The stage, yurts, musical equipment and the New Year tree in the central square were destroyed. The next day, information appeared that the number of victims of mass riots in the west of the republic had increased to 14 people.
After order was restored in Zhanaozen, the foreign policy department informed about the situation in the city, which announced the official position. Moreover, the events in western Kazakhstan have caused concern on the part of Astana’s foreign policy partners, including the UN. Of fundamental importance was the statement by Foreign Minister Yerzhan Kazykhanov that the striking oil workers have nothing to do with hooligan elements.
“The labor dispute of striking oil workers should in no way be confused with the actions of bandit elements who seek to use it for their criminal purposes,” said the head of the republic’s foreign policy department.
Voice of the people
Representatives of public and political organizations of the republic began to voice their position. Almost everyone said that there is no place for violence in Kazakh society, and whatever the disputes, they should be resolved within the framework of the law and in a civilized way. Kazakhstanis also said that they should not succumb to the provocations of criminal elements.
Nurlan Nigmatulin, Deputy Chairman of the People's Democratic Party "Nur Otan":
“Those who carried out pogroms and arson in the streets and squares in Zhanaozen broke the law. And we strongly condemn all illegal and criminal actions that are alien and unacceptable to our society. Peace, stability, unity – these are the fundamental values on which the dynamic development of Kazakhstan is based. And all of us, regardless of nationality, religion, party affiliation, regardless of political beliefs, must appreciate and protect these values.
Ziyabek Kabuldinov, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor:
– The most important conclusion is that we must be hyper-vigilant, super-consolidated, super-prepared for any events, we cannot be content with 20 years of independence, 20 years of achievements. However, we also need to solve the problems that we have in society, and a lot of them have accumulated over 20 years, they are very difficult to solve, many have been solved, but there are still enough left. Solutions to socio-economic problems not only in Zhanaozen cannot be ignored.
Shavkat Sabirov, vice-president of the Internet Association of Kazakhstan, general director of Kazinter LLP:
– The latest events in Zhanaozen have shown the entire Kazakh society (not just me alone) that one must be able to fight, resist attempts to bring chaos and discord into Kazakhstan. There will always be “good” people who want to take advantage of a “hot” situation or some kind of “smoldering” conflict. It is surprising that even foreign media did not avoid repeating outright misinformation about the oil workers at the rally, about the car ramming the crowd of demonstrators.
Nina Kayupova, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Honored Worker of the Republic of Kazakhstan:
- Of course, all this causes indignation, because in our state over these 20 years the successes that we have today are obvious. Yes, there are problems in any state, but all problems must be resolved peacefully, and what happened in Zhanaozen is completely beyond my comprehension.
For Kazakhstan, this is an unacceptable phenomenon, because our country is famous for its stability, tranquility and its dynamic development. Therefore, today, of course, I am appealing to young people: you shouldn’t give in to all sorts of talk, you need to have a reasonable approach and, of course, you need to do everything to ensure that our country continues to prosper.
I, as an obstetrician-gynecologist, stand at the origins of life, and when we give life to children, we make sure that our youth grow and prosper, are educated and healthy, because in our state everything is done for this. Of course, I condemn everything that happened in Zhanaozen, there is not the slightest doubt that what will be revealed, what forces are behind these actions, but I think that someone doesn’t like that we are prospering, that we have peace and stability in our state.
I have been to Zhanaozen twice. It is a small, cute and neat city. There is a wonderful maternity hospital there. I understand perfectly well the difficult conditions in which medical workers now have to work. When I looked at events in other countries, my heart sank. And when here, on your native land, and especially when you know this city, how it developed, you see burning buildings - it causes pain in your soul. Our people don't deserve this!
Visitor to the Kazakhstan Internet forum:
– It is necessary to pay more attention to the education of patriotism. After all, if we do not love, appreciate and believe in our homeland, then no one but us needs this. We are the great people of our country, we are the masters of our homeland, remember and be proud. You cannot succumb to provocations and follow some forces, mislead and bring discord to our country. We are a united Kazakhstan, which was left to us by our ancestors, and we will pass it on to our descendants. Our strength lies in the integrity of our people.
Law enforcement actions
The events in Zhanaozen became a test for law enforcement agencies. Moreover, restoring order in a city engulfed in mass clashes is not the easiest task. Even for well-trained law enforcement forces. And here we have to solve many problems at once: to avoid civilian casualties, to protect administrative buildings and residential areas of the city from looters, to ensure the stable operation of medical institutions and the uninterrupted operation of energy facilities. The Kazakh law enforcement forces also had to deal with all this these days.
Alexander Knyazev, professor, doctor of historical sciences, Kyrgyzstan:
– There is a lot of speculation in the media about this. I would not say, for example, that the use of force was excessive. There are different versions of what happened, much remains unclear. There is, for example, information about the arrival in Zhanaozen of a group of militants, which, according to some sources, was the core of the conflict, and not the oil workers. Who were they, were they? There are still more questions than answers. I think it is premature to draw any definitive conclusions.
Ziyabek Kabuldinov:
“I believe that in general the law enforcement agencies behaved normally and with dignity. From the video footage, of which there is a ton, on television and online, it is clear that they did not launch a frontal attack, even when the protesters went forward - the police retreated.
Shavkat Sabirov:
– Law enforcement agencies, represented by the Prosecutor General’s Office, work quickly, accurately and clearly. In fact, the daily briefing at the GP has truly become the most important and valuable source of information for the entire population of our country. This is also important because public trust and authority in law enforcement agencies has increased. The official representative of the GP spoke to us every day from television screens, radios and media news lines.
Investigation of circumstances
As it turned out, the events in the west of the republic were followed not only by ordinary Kazakhstanis, but also by the world community. Almost immediately after the unrest in Zhanaozen, the UN, represented by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navia Pillaya, expressed concern about the death of 10 people (data as of December 17 - Ed.).
“So that no one accuses us of a biased investigation, on the contrary, we are very interested in the investigation being objective, so that all the instigators of these criminal acts are named and appropriate measures are taken,” said Presidential Advisor E. Yertysbaev.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Yerzhan Kazykhanov, took exactly the same position. He assured that the republican authorities will provide unhindered access for representatives of the OSCE and other international organizations to the city of Zhanaozen so that they can directly assess the situation.
“We are open and, on the contrary, we oppose all speculation around the tragic events in Zhanaozen,” the minister said on Monday.
Ziyabek Kabuldinov:
– If this circumstance is left without investigation, as they say, left to chance, this situation could repeat itself in any region of Kazakhstan. The extent to which this will be investigated and what experience we will learn from the current situation will largely depend on the situation in other regions of Kazakhstan. It is definitely necessary to understand this, not only for law enforcement agencies, but also for others, such as the National Security Committee. It is necessary to solve this problem in a comprehensive manner.
Shavkat Sabirov:
– As you know, the head of state in his address ordered a thorough investigation into the events in the Mangistau region. The Ministry of Communications and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan organized a trip of almost all media representatives to the city of Zhanaozen to inform the public about events in the city. Thus, Kazakhstan did not support, but rather initiated an investigation into what happened in Zhanaozen. I have already said that within two days the opposition media began aggressive preparations for these events and are still trying to influence the process of restoring order in the city. There has been too much dirt, unreliable and panicky rumors in society these days. Government agencies clearly and quickly responded to the flow of disinformation.
Information front
Kazakhstan is interested in objective and impartial coverage of the situation in Zhanaozen. This was stated by the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Altai Abibullaev.
“As the head of state stated, Kazakhstan is interested in ensuring that all investigative measures are carried out as transparently as possible; accordingly, we are very interested in ensuring that all national and foreign media outlets carry out their journalistic activities without hindrance,” noted Altay Abibullaev.
This situation is due to misunderstandings and unverified information that has recently appeared in a number of foreign media. In particular, the discrepancies concerned the number of deaths and the establishment of order by law enforcement forces in the city. As it turned out, some of the information was untrue, while others required clarification.
According to Abibullaev, journalists from Reuters, Associated Press, RIA Novosti, Al Jazeera TV channel and other world news agencies are currently working in Zhanaozen. He also noted that previously published Russian media reports about the arrest of Lenta.ru and Kommersant journalists do not correspond to reality.
“According to information from the Prosecutor General’s Office, currently not a single foreign or local journalist has been detained; everyone is carrying out their professional journalistic activities as normal. As needed, they are provided with security, transportation, and security,” Abibullaev said.
Alexander Knyazev:
– Were there signs of an information war? All the signs are there. I would at least pay attention to the style of the headlines: “Bloody terror of the authorities”, “Protest rally in Alma-Ata was stopped by the police”, etc. Everything is aimed at creating panic, at pushing people to form a stable belief: “this cannot continue” , “life has become unbearable” and so on, there was an active flow of negative information.
The desire to reflect in the media a certain tragedy, a thirst for blood, is very indicative. This shows that current events are only part of a larger scenario. The fact of shedding blood can then be exploited to consolidate all those who are dissatisfied and to mobilize supporters. Nothing new; in Kyrgyzstan, one of the slogans of the 2005 coup d’etat was accusations against then-President Askar Akaev of “shedding blood” in the events in Aksy in the south in 2002, where six people died during the suppression of unrest.
Bloodlust is a “must-have” in such scenarios, and effective countermeasures must be found.
Shavkat Sabirov:
– With pride for our domestic media, I can say that the assessment of events was prompt and high-quality. Almost all television channels and online news resources promptly covered the events and tried to give an independent assessment of what happened. Foreign media still contains speculation, gossip and sometimes the most outright misinformation!
The information war (fight, etc.) continues constantly. This is especially visible now, when contradictions reach their critical mass and users (of the Internet - Ed.) begin to “get personal.” This is noticeable in the beginning hysteria of some opposition media before events such as artillery shelling before hostilities. This is noticeable by some signs on the Internet, including the massive involvement of foreign participants in the discussion. This is noticeable in the number of fake (false) accounts with panic messages on Twitter. On the Internet this is especially noticeable and appears immediately. By the way, it is immediately noticeable who is on whose side and what reasoning they adhere to. In general, the Internet today is a huge field both for expressing one’s thoughts and for carrying out political actions.
Andrey VERMENICHEV, Marat MAMAEV, Almaty
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Zhanaozen (formerly New Uzen) is a city of regional subordination in the Mangistau region in western Kazakhstan. Population about 90,000. Founded in 1968, there is an airport. Monotown - economy: oil and gas production, gas processing plant. The city-forming enterprise Ozenmunaigas is a joint Chinese-Kazakh subsidiary of KazMunayGas, the largest oil corporation in the republic. In June 1989, in what was then Novy Uzen, major riots occurred on ethnic grounds (against the dominance of Caucasians). Since 2006, strikes by oil workers have regularly taken place in Zhanaozen, putting forward economic demands.
The current peaceful strike began on May 17, 2011. According to trade unions, in June the number of strikers reached 18 thousand. The workers demanded promotion wages - bringing it into line with international standards, equations with the amounts they receive attracted Chinese specialists, improvements in working conditions, creation of an independent trade union. As a result, about 2,000 workers were laid off; More than 30 activists were arrested and convicted. Some of those arrested tried to commit suicide. Due to the protests, Ozenmunaigas was unable to fulfill its annual oil production plan.
Zhanaozen was rocked by two murders in the summer. On August 2, trade union activist Zhaksylyk Turbaev was found murdered at the Munayfilterservice enterprise. The murder occurred after a meeting where Turbaev initiated the re-election of the chairman of the trade union organization, who, according to the workers, was pursuing the employer’s policy. So far the police have no suspects. And on August 24, the body of the missing 18-year-old Zhansaule Karabalayeva, the daughter of the chairman of the trade union committee of workers of the Ozenmunaigas company Kudaibergen Karabalayev, was discovered. Oil workers believe that these events are directly related to the strike and that these crimes are an attempt to intimidate the strikers.
On December 16, the Independence Day of the Republic, workers went to a pre-announced rally to the central square of Zhanaozen, where the city authorities, in turn, were going to hold a festive event. It is reported that the action was attended by more than 5 thousand people.
According to non-state media, at the height of the rally, a police UAZ deliberately crashed into the crowd, which provoked the protesters - an angry crowd overturned a police car, after which they set fire to a police bus and began to destroy everything around.
Some of the protest participants managed to report on social networks that the riots were started by an organized group of 30 people, dressed in black jackets and hats (the striking oil workers entered the square in the Ozenmunaigas work uniform - blue and burgundy). The same circumstance was confirmed by a video recording from a mobile phone posted on YouTube. After the incident, the police left the meeting, but after some time internal troops were drawn to the square and opened fire on the demonstrators. According to the International Workers' Committee, the shooting of protesters began at 11.40 am (9.20 Moscow time). At 12.30, oil production in the area was stopped.
Human rights activists learned about the situation only after an urgent collection of donor blood began in the Aktau hospital (the nearest large city). All non-state media and websites of human rights organizations were blocked, roads to Zhanaozen were blocked, and cellular communications, telephone lines and the Internet were cut off in the area. Twitter was also blocked in Kazakhstan.
Protesters armed with batons, broken pipes and bottles of gasoline took over several buildings. Fighting between law enforcement forces and rioters continued until the evening. The buildings of the city akimat (mayor's office), the Ozenmunaigas office, a hotel, branches of two banks, 20 shops - a total of 46 buildings - were burned; More than 20 cars were burned and damaged. The authorities brought 1,500 marines into the city, tanks were brought in, and helicopters were lifted into the air. The local city hospital could not cope with the influx of wounded; it is reported that some victims were transported 150 km to the regional center of Aktau.
From social media posts: 70 people were killed, more than 500 injured(an eyewitness informant from an independent journalist from Almaty, Zhanna Baysalova, reported that she personally saw 25 bodies of the dead). Prosecutor General's Office Kazakhstan confirmed " 14 people died, more than 90 were injured(of which 9 are police officers).” A criminal case was opened under the article “Organization of mass riots”, over 70 people were detained.
Around 6 pm in Aktau, 300 workers went to the central square to rally in support of the protesters in Zhanaozen and were detained by the police. “Preventive conversations” were held with them.
On the morning of Saturday, December 17, an investigative and operational group headed by the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the republic, Kalmukhanbet Kasymov, left for Zhanaozen. A few hours later, Kasymov announced that the unrest had been suppressed. The Ozenmunaigas company issued an official statement that its workers did not take part in the riots (who accepted it then?).
In the evening of 17.12 near Shetpe station near Zhanaozen several hundred people blocked the railway tracks and stopped a passenger train in protest against the actions of law enforcement forces in Zhanaozen. Rioters set fire to a diesel locomotive, a New Year tree, they smashed cars and store windows, and threw Molotov cocktails at the police. According to the authorities, the police opened fire in Shetpe “forcibly” in response to the actions of the protesters. Total losses: one person died, 19 were injured(of which 8 are police officers).
On the same day, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev made a televised address to the people of Kazakhstan, calling the participants in the riots “hooligans.” Nazarbayev announced the introduction of a state of emergency in the city of Zhanaozen for a period of 20 days(until January 5). A curfew would be introduced in the city, movement would be limited, rallies would be prohibited, photography and video shooting and the use of copying equipment would be limited, and winter holidays would begin early in schools. A government commission was created under the leadership of First Deputy Prime Minister Umirzak Shukeyev to resolve socio-economic, humanitarian and other problems that arose in connection with the riots in Zhanaozen.
Events in Zhanaozen came at the beginning of the election race. Elections to the Mazhilis (lower house of parliament)) extraordinary: in mid-November, President Nazarbayev dissolved this body of representative power, declaring “the need to develop pluralism and democratic processes in the country.” Opposition unregistered coalition"Halyk Maidan - Popular Front" demanded from the authorities postpone elections to the Majilis of the Parliament of Kazakhstan due to the riots that occurred in Zhanaozen.
At 17.12 in Almaty, Karaganda and Astana, the Socialist Movement of Kazakhstan planned to hold solidarity actions with the workers of Zhanaozen. But the police stopped the protests by detaining movement activists. In Aktau, peaceful solidarity rallies were held every day on December 17, 18 and 19, gathering from 200 to 500 participants. On Sunday, December 18, in Zhanaozen, three Russian journalists representing Kommersant and Lenta.ru were detained for several hours without explanation.
On Monday, December 19, a peaceful protest also took place in Zhanaozen. About 3,000 local residents took to the streets demanding the withdrawal of troops from Zhanaozen and an open investigation into the riots and deaths. In Zhanaozen, power supply and telephone communications are being restored, preparatory work is underway to clear the streets from the consequences of the riots, and garbage is being removed.
The investigative and operational group is actively carrying out operational search activities and investigative actions, identifying and taking measures to detain the organizers and the most active participants in mass riots and looting. Residential buildings are inspected to identify weapons and ammunition, explosives and stolen property. As of December 20, over 90 houses were inspected; canisters containing an incendiary mixture of gasoline and diesel fuel (Molotov cocktail) were found in the attics and basements of some of them. Looted property was also found - mainly furniture and office equipment from looted and burned stores.
According to the official representative, from December 16 to December 20, 38 people were prosecuted. 10 people remain detained on suspicion of committing a crime, eight of them, with the sanction of the court, were arrested on suspicion of committing crimes based on the facts of “Mass riots” and “Looting”.
Today, December 20, everything is calm in Zhanaozen.
