More support for human rights defender Vadim Kuramshin - Human rights watch: EU should press Kazakhstan for concrete human rights improvements!

Campaign Kazakhstan (December 1, 2012)/Human Rights Watch (November 23, 2012): The Law Society, which represents over 150,000 solicitors in England and Wales, has taken action on the case of Vadim Kuramshin, writing the below letter to the Kazakhstan president Nazarbayev. (Update, December 4, 2012)



http://campaignkazakhstan.org/index.php/2012/12/01/law-society-britain-affiliates-to-campaign-kazakhstan/
From the letter:

"The Law Society is concerned for Vadim Kuramshin, a well-known human rights lawyer in Kazakhstan. Vadim Kuramshin is known in Kazakhstan for defending prisoners’ rights and exposing footage of police brutality against prisoners. Vadim Kuramshin was arrested on 31 October 2012 in the city of Petropavlovsk, northern Kazakhstan, when police burst into his house and arrested him without presenting any warrant. He was reportedly beaten during the arrest and while in detention in the detention facility in Petropavlovsk.---

We urge the authorities in Kazakhstan to:

1. Immediately drop all charges against the human rights defender Vadim Kuramshin, and consequently release him without delay, as it is believed that the charges are solely motivated by his legitimate and peaceful work in defence of human rights;

2. Ensure that the treatment of Vadim Kuramshin, while in detention, adheres to all those conditions set out in the ‘Basic Principles for Treatment of Prisoners’, adopted by General Assembly resolution 45/111 of 14 December 1990;

3. Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Kazakhstan are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions, including judicial harassment."





From Vadim Kuramshin's blog: http://www.kuramshyn.org/blog/2012-11-27-238

Guljan commentating: http://www.guljan.org/ru/news/informblok/2012/November/3006

Socializm kazakhstan info: http://socialismkz.info/article/1354256996


Front line defenders: The closure of independent media: http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/20905






Human Rights Watch: "The EU should articulate specific and concrete human rights improvements to guide further negotiations with the Kazakhstan government, Human Rights Watch said. Kazakhstan’s already poor human rights record has seriously deteriorated in the past year. ---

The External Action Service, the Commission, and EU member states should be sending this message to the Kazakhstan government, whose deteriorating rights record is at odds with the resolution’s emphasis on respect for human rights, ---

Human Rights Watch said.EU should press Kazakhstan for concrete human rights improvements, including on several human rights concerns"
http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/11/23/kazakhstan-eu-should-act-resolution

November 23, 2012 Human Rights Watch




http://www.hrw.org/world-report-2012/world-report-2012-kazakhstan
"Kazakhstan failed to carry out long-promised human rights reforms in the year following its chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Instead, its rights record suffered further setbacks. Control of the penitentiary systems moved from the Ministry of Justice to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, putting prisons back in police control, and a new restrictive religion law was adopted. Websites were blocked and legal amendments limiting media freedoms remained. A union lawyer was imprisoned for six years for speaking out on workers’ rights."





Update December 4, 2012: "Вадиму срочно необходимо провести пресс конференцию в пресс клубе! На которой будут представлены новые, сенсационные материалы изобличающие суд города Тараза в преступных методах по фабрикации обвинения. На которой так же намерены выступить ряд новых свидетелей из числа - присяжных. Просим откликнуться кто может помочь в организации пресс конференции." (via Vadim Kuramshin)

Human rights defender Vadim Kuramshin is in urgent need of help to organize a press conference. New materials will show the criminal methods of the court in Taraz. New witnesses.





Foto: familjen Lindén