A former OSCE employee travels to Zhanaozen to find out the true

From the 12th to the 17th of October, Pedro Luis Rubio, employed at the OSCE Center in Astana, visited the city of Zhanaozen in order to make further research on the massacre and the reasons that lead to it. His investigation included interviews with relatives of the victims, injured civilians, and a visit to the morgue, the cemetery and the buildings that were burned down that day.

The aim of the visit was to provide the international public opinion, with a clearer understanding of the massacre that the regime had orchestrated pursuing the end of the oil workers’ strike. He admitted to be terribly powerless when listening to families of the victims, relating how their sons’ only fault was to attend the concerts ran by the town council, where they would then be murdered.

All the families agreed that the tragedy was long planned by the government. To support their argument, militias had been brought from other regions some days in advance, some unidentified men in black clothes set fire to the akimat and the offices of Uzen Munay Gaz, and snipers were presumably shooting from the hotel once standing between the 2 buildings. Moreover, locals were offered high sums of money for setting up their yurtas on the main square, in an attempt to disperse the protesters.

The documents and testimonies gathered will bring unknown truth to decision-makers at the European Parliament, where the information will be released. It will also help to reinforce the importance of the OSCE mission in Astana and its commitment towards democratic values.

SOURCE:

http://socialismkz.info/?p=10279