From: Eurotop@aol.com Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2000 02:30:17 EST Subject: Urgent request for help from Kazakhstan Dear friends in the gay world, both in the US and overseas, Less than an hour ago, the following message was sent from a deeply troubled part of the world. The rapes, beatings, and murders of gay people scream out. Perhaps you could pass on this message to your friends or readers and develop some strategies that could empower Ivan Shibitov and his friends to move forward. Who knows, instead of going to Hawaii, you might even visit Kazakhstan. I certainly would. I rarely have read a contemporary account which reminds me as much of the crimes committed during Third Reich as the letter. It dwarfs all woes that we might have here in the US. Please help, if you can. Thanks and regards from the city of brotherly love where once men (and some women) came together to empower themselves and a whole country. Eurotop@aol.com << Subj: Date: 2/4/00 1:35:55 AM Eastern Standard Time From: kontrast1@nlrk.kz (Schibitov Ivan) To: Eurotop@aol.com CC: euro-gueer@GueeNet.ORG, americanvoices@wxs.nl, chodora@pha.pvtnet.cz, BBawer@aol.com, Thurber95@aol.com, roman@blackout.online.ee, j.cole@geography.unimelb.edu.au, artrobert@hotmail.com Homophobia in Kazakhstan I am, Ivan Shibitov, a citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan, being of president of human right protection foundation for gay and lesbian people "Kontrast", officially informing that the article is written in clean mind and health consciousness. All presented facts and documents are truth. I wrote 12 articles that expose Kazakhstan authorities and President actions violating basic human rights. Those articles were released in mass media of Russia, Austria, Great Britain, and the USA. Also I often was making speeches on state and private TV stations of Kazakhstan and on BBC broadcasting with a theme what sexual minorities are people too needing in respectability. Since 1992 I began to read lectures about human rights for sexual minorities in universities and institutes. Such newspapers as "Arguments & Facts", "Komsomolskaya Pravda" "Caravan", "Gay-Times", "Pride" and other were writing about "Kontrast"'s work. 18 of July 1999, the International Academy of Informing by the UN has released a CD for PC telling about my life and work. In 1998 I appealed at President and Parliament of the RK with a demand to cancel an article directed against gays in the new Penal Code of the RK. Otherwise we promised a row of different protest actions and appellation at International human right organizations for help and support. President and Parliament found needful to listen to our opinion. Article 104p1 of the Penal Code was cancelled. However situation for gays didn't get better. There were fixed dozens occurs of murders of gays, beatings and burglaries of their homes. So, on Sayran Lake (Alma-Ata) was cruelly raped and after hang head down gay Andrei N. In own car on suburb of Alma-Ata was burnt out young gay Andrei. In own flat was killed famous lawyer the gay Sergei. Popular gay strip dancer was beaten up and killed after his show in gay nightclub. For time of my gay right protection activity I was more than once beaten up. I have broken a rib, a hand, nose, my spine was harmed too. If before gays were being arrested according to article 104p1 of the Penal Code of Republic of Kazakhstan the police tactic changed after that article canceling. At the present time police forces arrest gays and set them in prisons according another articles of the Penal Code - public order infringement, insulting of the President, participation in illegal meetings and demonstrations. Policemen get their bonuses (like awards, money, and ranks) depended on number of arrested people. Here still kept a practice of finding out of gay people, their ties, addresses and acquaintances. So for example, in Public Park at 11 p.m. 6 cops arrested of two guys Sergey and Michael. They guiltiness was that they were setting holding each other on a bench. They were accompanied at the police car and policemen threatened them of imprisonment if they would refuse to make oral sex to all cops. Sergey and Michael were made to do that. Doctors from the 5AIDS center exchanges the lists of homosexuals and co-operating each other those brought to light new ones. Gay people twice in a year are violated to give analyses on the AIDS. If anybody is not agree to give those then the doctors send the notices to his work place or educational institution and house. It's cleanly that after the notice all - parents, friends, colleagues find out that he is a gay. If a person does not visit AIDS center during a year police in right to start a juridical case against him according article 116 of the Penal Code. So he can get a prison till 3 years. Our AIDS centers do not provide any anonymity. Many of young people the NGO activists were made to leave the state after calling in police stations and beatings up there. Recently head of youth Eco-NGO Pavel L. was beaten out in police station where he was accompanied from meeting for nature protection. He has heard in police station that if his NGO do not stop its activity then will be much worst to him. General G. Kasymov in his TV speech during President elections said that after he would elected as President he either shout down all gays or imprison them. He didn't get a post of President but he entered in Kazakhstan Parliament. Persecutions of gays by bandits still go on. Gay people are being beaten, robbed and our police stone coldly watch on those crimes. There were cases when policemen let free to bandits after getting of bribes. Gays never have got any protection from police side and do not get it. PERSECUTIONS OF GAYS AT WORK, ARMY AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Last years persecutions of gay people at work, in army and educational institutions are intensified. Except that also increased persecutions of the political opposition in Kazakhstan. Opposition journalist Andrei Grishin was beaten up and poured over with paint by three KGB employees after his critic article against president Nazarbaev. A couple months ago his working place was rounded up. A week later he was fired from his work as company's head was feared of possible actions from the side of political police. Soldiers Sergei Sh. and Aleksei T. were convicted by military tribunal for 2 years of prison because of their sexual relations each other. After our petitions the Parliament of the RK rejected an Article 104p1 of the Penal Code in January 1998, but it no means that gays are able to drop together and register their unions as NGO in the Justice Ministry. For a period from 1991 to 1999 there was no gay organization registered as NGO. In 1991 "KONTRAST" succeed passed through process of registration due to the bribes and only as NGO doing the AIDS prophylactic. At the present moment there are 8 gay groups in Kazakhstan. In Alma-Ata, the largest city of Kazakhstan, lot of people still doesn't know an Article 104p1 rejected. In the province nobody heard about that. In the official mass media there was no any information about that historical fact. As in the province gays still do not heard about rejecting of Article 104p1 nothing prevents to police to persecute gays like in the past, to start juridical cases against them and afterwards to close those by getting bribes. In last times after my speeches in institutes and universities, in mass media relations to gays from heterosexual people changed. Many of those interested to know more about "gay sex". In the Penal Code is existing an Article 120 - raping, according to that a criminal could be judged from 3 to 15 years. But in our country nobody punishes those who violently raped man. So, recently Jakov S. and Murat B. have raped a drunken man and murdered his. They were judged only for murdering. All correspondence coming from me either "loses" or perlustrates in post office. As a chief of "KONTRAST" I was being called to Justice department where they offered me to stop gay rights protection. But I decided to go till the end. I was more than once accompanied to police stations where policemen broke my right hand, nose and harmed my back. After beatings there were put 6 sews on my face in the hospital. In prisons and camps of the RK police relate to gay people like slaves, also raping of gay is normal thing there. They make them to do hardest work. According the OSCE dates Kazakhstan turns at totalitarian state. Attempting to persecute all other-thinking the authorities began to lock all mass media with any hint of opposition. By my dates there were closed newspapers "Dojivem do ponedelnika", "DAT", "Sovershenno besplatno", "Birlesu", "Koleso", "Diapazon", "Kovcheg" and much more. The same lot has got TV channels "Totem", "Family Channel", "TV-M", "Malina", "Tzesna TV" and other. Any critic of the President according to Article 318 of the Penal Code is equaled to insulting what leads till 3 years of prison. In his wish to keep the people under dependence and fear the government demonstrated on TV execution of the criminals. Charles Dickens wrote: "It's hard to image more agly show than watching of execution; I convicted - there is no thing influencing more immoral than one public execution". In this hard time for the state when is existing total unemployment (according to my dates 57%), when we are on 1st place with tubercles, again have appeared plague, cholera, appeared the AIDS, when salary approximately $30-40 per month, when total escaping people from the country is going on (according to my dates already about 2,5 million), fund "KONTRAST" will keep its fight for human rights for gay people. We hope that International human right protection organizations will give to us support and help in our hard but justify struggle. We will win! My address: Ivan Shibitov PO Box108 Almaty 96 Kazakhstan My E-mail :kontrast1@nlpub.freenet.kz >>