A Campaign by the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Kazakhstan, the Confederation of Labour of Russia, and supported by the International Trade Union Confederation is seeking justice for oil workers in Kazakhstan, and asking people to sign an email   that calls on the President of Kazahkstan to make sure that justice is done.

At the end of 2011, months of dispute between oil workers and oil company managers ended in uncontrolled police violence, resulting in  17 deaths and dozens of injuries to oil workers and to Kazakhstan citizens who were not involved in the dispute.

The campaigners say,

“Dozens of people, whose involvement is contestable, were subsequently charged. Many of them were sentenced to different terms in prison. During the process, international observers, representatives of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and OSCE, human rights defenders and journalists recorded numerous violations in the trial processes. Almost all defendants and some of witnesses stated that they were tortured in the course of the investigation, but the trials were not suspended. The trials were conducted in an environment of extreme tensions and close to a state of emergency measures in the region.

The international trade union movement demands that the sentences be reconsidered, that all cases of torture and provocation be thoroughly investigated, and that national legislation that envisages criminal responsibility for “calling for social strife” and that is used selectively to put pressure on trade unionists, human rights activists and public figures, be changed.”

Please sign the email that calls on the President of Kazahkstan to carry out these demands.