The Socialist 3 July 2013

Tories - cuts, Lib Dems - cuts, Labour - cuts

Tories - cuts, Lib Dems - cuts, Labour - cuts

National Shop Stewards Network seventh annual conference

RMT reaffirms support for the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition

What the other half get paid

St Petersburg Pride rally attacked

Cameron and Blair's support for Kazakhstan regime blasted

Them & Us

65th anniversary of the NHS - How workers won the National Health Service

Mass street protests as Egypt is swept by revolution and counter-revolution

Teachers strike in North West

Rochdale 'Future Directions' strike solid

Model motion from the NSSN

Workplace News in brief

'Sick Of Your Boss?' week of action 8-13 July

Fighting back against hated bedroom tax

Letter to student left groups to discuss joint call for a national demo

Impressive national youth organisers meeting

Leeds: Building support for workers in South Africa

The Year of the Paper - boosting the sales of the Socialist

Fighting Fund target smashed!

PO Box 1398, Enfield EN1 9GT

020 8988 8777

[email protected]

Link to this page: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/772/17048

Search the site	Printable version

Home | The Socialist 3 July 2013 | Join the Socialist Party

Subscribe | Donate | PDF | ebook

Cameron and Blair's support for Kazakhstan regime blasted

The following letter was printed in the Guardian on 2 July; it was sent in response to an article about prime minister David Cameron's trade deals with the repressive regime in Kazakhstan.

I continue to be astonished at the hypocrisy of both David Cameron and Tony Blair in their dealings with the Kazakh regime of Nazarbayev.

Your article correctly highlights the lack of human and democratic rights that exist there.

I visited Kazakhstan last November as part of a trade union delegation to investigate the killing of oil workers at Zhanaozen.

The official number of workers shot in the back by the police and killed is 12 as your article reports.

However, after speaking to eyewitnesses and survivors, I am convinced that the actual number of those killed is nearer to 70.

This figure does not include those who, a year after the attack, are still too injured to work. Neither does it include those who were rounded up and imprisoned for the 'criminal' offence of publicly opposing the regime by being on the square at Zhanaozen.

Many of these, including the lawyers that tried to defend them, like Vadim Kuramshin, are still held in Kazakh jails.

The Kazakhstan state officially sanctions the repression of any opposition elements. This ranges from threats and intimidation right up to murder.

The activists that I spoke to claim that the situation is getting worse not better. Blair and Cameron are experienced politicians who are acting as apologists for one of the most repressive and corrupt regimes in the world.

Blair's friendship with the Kazakh regime might have something to do with an alleged salary of millions of pounds sterling from Nazarbayev for his 'advice'.

Cameron shows that he is more interested in getting deals for the 1% than securing human rights for the 99% - in Kazakhstan as in the UK.

Trade unionists in the UK and across Europe will continue to campaign for human and democratic rights in Kazakhstan.

Mike Whale, Secretary, Campaign Kazakhstan

While David Cameron is building links with Kazakh dictator Nursultan Nazarbayev and his cronies, workers in Britain were linking up with their counterparts in Kazakhstan.

The recent RMT transport union conference agreed unanimously to support Campaign Kazakhstan and donate £1,000 to support the work.

At the 29 June National Shop Stewards Network conference it was agreed to send a message of support to Kazakhmys workers in their dispute with management.

For more information see www.campaignkazakhstan.org

In this issue

Socialist Party news and analysis

Tories - cuts, Lib Dems - cuts, Labour - cuts