Your Excellency,
We are writing to express our dismay that Kazakhstan’s leading human rights defender, Mr. Yevgeniy Zhovtis, was not granted early release after the expiration of one-third of his four year sentence for vehicular manslaughter. In spite of being the victim of arbitrary treatment while incarcerated, Mr. Zhovtis fulfilled all reasonable requirements for early release. He has also expressed his sincere regret for the loss of life that resulted from the accident in which he was involved and provided material compensation to the family of the victim, while firmly maintaining that he was not guilty of a criminal offense.
Independent observers and analysts have concluded that the investigation, trial, and appeal of Mr. Zhovtis’ case were marred by with fundamental violations of the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan and of international human rights standards. These flaws have had a profoundly negative effect on your country’s standing in the international community.
The continued incarceration of Mr. Zhovtis, who actively contributed to the drafting of your government’s National Plan for Human Rights reflects poorly on the state of human rights and rule of law in Kazakhstan. We encourage your government to take whatever steps are necessary, consonant with legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, to undo this miscarriage of justice. It is crucial for Kazakhstan’s government and justice system to be able to correct flaws such as those seen in the investigation, trial, and appeal of Mr. Zhovtis.
Your government’s failure to release Mr. Zhovtis calls into serious question Kazakhstan’s intention to fulfill its human dimension commitments as reiterated late last year at the OSCE summit in the Astana Commemorative Declaration.
We call on you to reverse the decision that keeps Mr. Zhovtis in jail.
Sincerely,
Aryeh Neier, President, Open Society Foundation
David Kramer, Executive Director, Freedom House
Harry Hummel, Executive Director, Netherlands Helsinki Committee
Steve Trent, Executive Director, Economic Justice Foundation
Bjørn Enfesland, Secretary General, Norwegian Helsinki Committee
Alain Deletroz, Vice President, International Crisis Group
Yuri Dzibladze, President, Center for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights
Gavin Hyaman, Global Witness
Ludmila Alexeeva, Moscow Helsinki Group
Brigitte Dufour, Director, International Partnership for Human Rights
Souhayr Belhassen, President, International Federation for Human Rights
Nadira Eshmatova, Director, Youth Human Rights Group, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Mary Lawler, Director, Frontline Defenders
Shuhrat Ganiev, Director, Humanitarian Legal Center, Uzbekistan
Beth Fernandez, Senior Programmes and Policy Officer, ILGA-Europe
Valentina Gritsenko, Director, Spravedlivost, Jalal-Abad, Kyrgyzstan
Jos Boonstra, Head of Programme, EU-Central Asia Monitoring
Abdumomum Mamaraimov, Chairman of the Board, Voice of Freedom
Nigina Bakhrievan, Director, Public Foundation "Nota bene" Tajikistan
Azuza Abdirasulova, Kilim Shami, Kyrgyzstan
Sergey Romanov, Director, Independent Centre for Human Rights Protection, Dushanbe, Tajikistan
Kate Watters, Executive Director, Crude Accountability
Aleh Hulak, Head, Belarussian Helsinki Committee
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch
Elisa Massimino, President and Chief Executive Officer, Human Rights First
Ellen Bork, Director, Human Rights and Democracy, The Foreign Policy Initiative
Dr. Leila Alieva, President, Center for National and International Studies, Baku, Azerbaijan
Sardar Bagishbekov, Director, Golos Svobody Public Foundation, Kyrgyzstan
CIVICUS World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Starys Kausinis, Director, Civil Defense Fund, Lithuania
Secretariat and Steering Committee, The World Movement for Democracy
Daniil Meshcheryakov, Chair, Centre for Civil Liberties, Ukraine
Umida Niyazova, Director, Uzbek German Forum for Human Rights