The Open Society Justice Initiative and the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law filed the complaint. The case highlights systemic flaws in Kazakhstan’s judicial system, including its vulnerability to political interference, and signals an urgent need for serious reform.
Kazahstan’s first time in UNHRC
This is the first time a communication concerning Kazakhstan has been received by the UN Human Rights Committee since the country became a party to the Optional Protocol in 2009, which allows for the submission of complaints.
In September 2009, Zhovtis was sentenced to four years of imprisonment after he was involved in a fatal traffic accident in which he struck a man walking down the middle of an unlit road at night.
International observers noted a number of flagrant procedural violations in both the investigation and the trial, which the subsequent appeals process only reinforced. In particular, Zhovtis was never given equal opportunity to present evidence and expert witnesses on his behalf.
Zhovtis has been sent to a new prison near the border with the People´s Republic of China and close to Mongolia—more than 1,000 kilometers from his family and colleagues in Almaty, and far from journalists and diplomats in Astana. In prison, Zhovtis’s correspondence and meetings are strictly monitored, and he has been singled out for arbitrary restrictions.
Silenced HR defender
Zhovtis v. Kazakhstan alleges numerous violations of Zhovtis’s rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Ri
ghts, including his rights to fair trial, privacy, and freedom from arbitrary detention, as well as his right to be treated with dignity in detention and to be protected as a human rights defender.
The unfair judicial process, excessive prison term, and degrading treatment imposed on Yevgeniy Zhovtis suggest an effort to silence him as a human rights defender and stifle civil society activism in Kazakhstan.
For further details of the case, a litigation summary and supporting documents are available here.
HRH Oslo, based on Norwegian Helsinki Committee‘s press release.
Related links:
Kazakhstani HR defender receives the 2010 Sakharov Award
Kazakhstan: Protests against court decision on Evgeniy Zhovtis
Kazakhstan’s OSCE chairmanship: Kazakhstan must implement its Human Rights obligations
