Kazakhstan dictatorship oppresses dissent

This music video says about itself:

April 12, 2012 by Ilse Raf

Ballad of Zhanaozen by Laura Rafetseder: “This is a song about the oil workers’ struggle in Kazachstan and the massacre in Zhanaozen by the Kazakh regime. It is dedicated to all that were killed or still suffer from repression and to all those who keep up the fight.”

As the oil workers’struggle and the struggles against the undemocratic regime in Kazakhstan continue, I would ask you to donate directly to the campaign Kazakhstan (the donations will be used for the building of independent trade unions and social movements):

http://campaignkazakhstan.org/index.php/donate/

You can download the song for free (maybe against a donation) here:

http://snd.sc/J1837c

1) Zhanaozen o Zhanaozen
my thoughts they go out to Zhanaozen
they lie with the oil workers’ struggle there
and their families’ troubling grief

2) They had been on strike for more than 8 months
for decent conditions and higher pay
for trade union rights and nationalisation
so they could control the wealth of their creation

3) The profit making sharks could not tolerate this
nor could the president’s powerful clique
scared they might lose and scared they might fall
they were prepared to go to all lengths

4) A unions’ rep and another one’s daughter
were ruthlessly murdered and others were tortured
union men had to leave their homes
so they could be safe from the government’s thugs

5) on the 16th of December a rally was held
to underline the oil workers case
as the regime planned to celebrate
20 years of their capitalist rule

6) the regime went on to demonstrate
what they understood by freedom of speech
or what democracy means to them
compared to the profits they’re so eager to make

7) Nazarbayev’s men went into the demonstration
to provoke and to escalate tension
the riot police reacted with guns
with hundreds wounded and dozens dead

8) The only thing made public bout the incident then
was a statement by the Kazakh regime
saying ‘what is the fuss, there’s just 17 dead’
and then put the blame on the oil working men

9) They shot into an innocent crowd
of those who survived many were charged
for alleged provocation
of a massacre they hadn’t caused

10) So I wonder what happened to those unaccounted for dead
whose families still wait for them to come back
whose deaths had never been recognised
and whose lives might never be mourned

11) Its only been lately that rumours grew loud
of unnamed tombstones and graves in the yards
they grew by the numbers of quite a few
i wonder if they’ll ever be named

12) Another rigged election was held
Nazarbayev’s still head of the state
the oil workers still fighting for their rights
and the system still out against them

13) A system that’s rotten, a system that’s cruel
that calculates lives for the money of few
the regime must not get away with its lies
and the system must be overthrown

14) Zhanaozen oh Zhanaozen
please shout out the story as loud as you can
the workers’ names might soon be forgotten
but we shall never forget

From daily The Morning Star in Britain:

Kazakhstan regime moves to ban opposition parties

Thursday 22 November 2012

Kazakhstan moved today to ban opposition media outlets and political parties including the Communist Party, which has been suspended for a year.

State prosecutors for the authoritarian regime told a court that the Alga Party and joint Alga-Communist Party organisation the People’s Front were involved in the Zhanaozen oil dispute last year.

Workers who had been sacked for striking staged protests which ended in a violent police crackdown that left dozens dead.

Alga Party leader Vladimir Kozlov has already been jailed for his alleged role in the dispute.

The government, which employs shadowy British firm Tony Blair Associates as an adviser, also wants to shut down the Respublika and Vzglyad newspapers and TV station K+, saying they promote “extremism.”

President Nursultan Nazarbayev was slated by international observers last year when he won re-election with 95 per cent of the vote amid accusations of ballot-rigging and voter intimidation.

That did not stop Mr Blair appearing in a promotional video in April advertising investment in the state.

Related articles

• Witness In Zhanaozen Riots Case Found Dead (rferl.org)