by Gabriel Levy, on peopleandnature.wordpress.com (December 13, 2015)
Who ordered police to shoot down oil workers demonstrating for fair living standards? Who organised the torture of activists in police cells?
Four years after police killed at least 16 demonstrators and injured 60 more in the oil city of Zhanaozen in western Kazakhstan, trade unionists and human rights campaigners are demanding answers.
They will spell out their calls for justice again on Wednesday this week, the fourth anniversary of the massacre, on 16 December 2011.
After the killings, some rank-and-file police officers who opened fire were jailed, and some local officials punished for corruption offences. But those who organised and instigated the crackdown have so far escaped justice.
The well-documented use of torture against trade union activists after the massacre has gone unpunished.
Demands for an independent international enquiry, by the United Nations and international trade union federations, have not been met.
In the Kazakh oil fields, workers have been told they will be sacked if they dare to mark the anniversary on Wednesday. Activists in Ukraine, Russia and elsewhere will demonstrate at Kazakhstan’s embassies. If you live in another country, you can mark the anniversary by sending a message of support, or taking any other type of solidarity action. (See links at the end.)
Here is an update on the campaign for justice for those killed, injured and tortured while fighting for workers’ rights.
For the full text, please, see Gabriel Levy’s peopleandnature blog.