On 7 April 2021, political prisoner Aset Abishev cut his veins to protest against the illegal and humiliating search of his personal belongings. In response to this, officials at colony LA-155/14 (Zarechny settlement, Almaty region) illegally sent Aset Abishev to a punishment isolation cell for 15 days, where there are no conditions for providing him with proper medical examination and treatment (as in the entire colony).

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We demand from the Kazakhstani authorities:

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1) to immediately hospitalise political prisoner Aset Abishev in a hospital where he can get proper examination and treatment.

 

2) to iImmediately and unconditionally release Aset Abishev.

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3) to prosecute the officers of the pre-trial detention facility who violated his rights.

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We thank the U.S. Embassy for its public statement on the situation of Aset Abishev. We welcome that the US Embassy's public statement touched on the broader contextual but critical issue that "people should not be imprisoned for peaceful activism.

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Civil activists and human rights defenders are politically persecuted and imprisoned for peaceful civil and human rights activities. Public and targeted (with mentioning of names) response from democratic countries is crucial to protect human rights in dictatorial countries like Kazakhstan - it saves lives.

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We also call on the British and Canadian embassies to respond publicly to human rights abuses in Kazakhstan.

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While we welcome the public statement by the Delegation of the European Union to Kazakhstan, we are extremely concerned about its contents. We urge not to welcome the "assurances" of the Kazakhstani authorities, including the Ombudsman, without a full, fair assessment of the situation and concrete real action. The Kazakhstani authorities fail to implement the European Parliament resolution of 11 February 2021 on the human rights situation in Kazakhstan and do not release Aset Abishev.

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We call on the European Union Embassy to demand the hospitalisation and immediate release of Aset Abishev.

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We call on the EU and the US diplomats to visit Aset Abishev in prison.

 

Human Rights Foundation "Freedom Kazakhstan"

Human Rights Protection Fund "Qaharman" 

Human Rights Movement "405"

Human Rights Movement "Veritas"

Human Rights Movement "Elimay"

Human Rights Initiative "Femina Vertute" 

Human Rights Movement "Article 14"

Human Rights Movement "BostandyQ Kz"