This day will be a turning point in the history of Kazakhstan

December 16, 2011 has forever been entered into the history of modern Kazakhstan in bloody ink by the hand of the criminal Nazarbayev regime. On this day, hundreds of striking workers and civilians suffered wounds from the automatic rifle fire of federal troops and police and the exact number of victims has not yet been calculated. All of this was the result of police provocation, arranged against a peaceful rally of striking oil workers and local supporters staged in the central square of Zhanaozen. The workers and their family members took to the square to protest against the authorities’ actions, which are fully supported by the employers, and to demand the resumption of negotiations and the release of Natalia Sokolova.[1]

According to local news reports and messages from the workers, around 11 am a police jeep drove into a crowd of protesters at high speed, which aggravated the protesting workers and spurred them on to radical action. Obviously, this was a deliberate provocation by the police in order to force the strikers to take extreme measures. Unable to withstand the abuse and harassment, the protesting workers broke threw police barriers, and occupied the Zhanaozen Akimat [the mayor’s office] and the production branch office of “Ozenmunaygaz” [the recently fired workers’ erstwhile employer], the Arua Hotel and other administrative buildings. Subsequently the pro-government yellow press fabricated a story about how enraged workers allegedly attacked children carrying flags and balloons at a concert devoted to 20th anniversary of Kazakhstan’s independence. The fact that this was a scurrilous lie became clear to all, but this information was persistently spread on the Internet until the 15-hour blockade on social networks was finally lifted.

Sometime around 12.45 riot police and national guard troops were brought in, who then used live ammo against the strikers and the local supporters.[2] It was at that moment that we had our first dead and wounded. Smoke bombs, tear gas, light and stun grenades were all employed to oust the protesting workers from the square. Despite the use of live ammunition, workers began to disarm the police and towards evening almost the entire city was occupied. Meanwhile, the authorities decided to deploy part of a special marine brigade and armored vehicles to the city, which had already been readied for the task. As a result of the command to use force on the workers, dozens of people were killed and by 14:00 local time the number of those dead exceeded 70 people. This information was provided to us by the protesting oil workers themselves, who regularly called our office with updates.

By the evening armored vehicles and marines began to enter Zhanaozen, and the oil workers and local supporters who taken to the streets en masse were again forcibly driven out of the square and the central areas to the outskirts of the city. But the indiscriminate use of violence has been of little good to authorities, since by the evening all workers in Ozenmunaygaz’s oil and gas fields had gone on strike. Then the workers of all mining enterprises in the Mangistau district joined the strike. Some of the workers resisted the troops until the morning, and there was a skirmish on the outskirts and street clashes with military units. Meanwhile the true number of victims is still unknown, but we do know that during their retreat the workers carried away the bodies of their fallen comrades. Additionally, by the afternoon on December 16 Zhanaozen and Aktau’s hospitals were filled with wounded people and were constantly in need of blood donations.[3]

All possible forces and resources have been brought to bear on the struggling oil workers. On top of these overtly repressive measures electricity was cut in both Zhanaozen and in the surrounding villages. Cellular and internet communication were likewise cut and continue to be curtailed. In order to prevent the spread of information about the number of dead and wounded, all social networking sites and our website socialismkz.info were blocked. All sites of the Committee for a Workers’ International (CWI) were also blocked in Kazakhstan, where constant updates about ongoing events appeared. In replying to these complaints, the Oil Minister at first denied the existence of dead and wounded, and only late in the evening did the authorities admit to any deaths from police fire – albeit only 10 people.

To date, the event continues to develop, but one thing is clear, the class struggle in Kazakhstan has assumed an intensified form, and now the continued success of the labor movement will depend on the cohesion of the workers and the ability to quickly link itself to the worldwide worker struggle. The situation is now also painfully reminiscent of Bloody Sunday in January 9, 1905 and the worker massacre in Lena in 1912, which marked a turning point in the development of consciousness of the workers as a class and the formation of a clear political direction. Authorities for their part have also shown that they intend to drown the oil workers’ struggle in blood and not allow for any concessions. The regime has once again let slip its mask and show its true face to all the workers. It simply stands for protecting the interests of employers and the oligarchic bourgeoisie. These events have once again raised questions of self-organization and a clear program of action. Our positions on these issues are unchanged. We demand the creation of unified trade unions and the formation of a workers’ political party.

We believe that the most immediate demands of the workers in Zhanaozen should be the following:

1. Stop the slaughter, withdraw troops and police from the Mangistau region;

2. Immediately conduct an investigation under the control of local residents to establish who gave the order to fire;

3. Fulfill all the demands of workers;

4. Release all political prisoners, including Natalia Sokolova;

5. The immediate resignation of the President and the Government;

6. Create action committees of workers and residents in all regions and businesses to coordinate protests and other social actions;

7. Prevent provocations and divisions along ethnic lines, for the unity of workers of all nationalities in the common struggle;

8. Everyone take to the streets with the goal of organized protest and a general strike!

9. Boycott the parliamentary elections and complete freedom to form social, political and trade union organizations!

10. All the wealth of Kazakhstan and the management of enterprises and banks be placed under the control of committees of workers;

11. For the creation of a mass party of working people;

12. For convening a constituent assembly workers and affiliated groups to form a new democratic government.

Notes:

1. Sokolova is a lawyer represented the interests of the striking oil workers. She was arrested and sentenced to six years of imprisonment by the Kazakh government for supposedly aiding in the organizing of illegal strikes and protest actions and “instigating social strife”. See “Kazakhstan: Aktivist zabastovok v kompanii ‘Karazhanbaysmunay’ Natal’ya Sokolova osuzhdena na shest’ let”, Ferghana News, August 9, 2011 and James Kilner, “Kazakh court imprisons lawyer who helped oil strikers“, The Telegraph, August 8, 2011.
2. The police have already admitted to opening fire on the protesters, albeit claiming that it was in self-defense. See “Kazakhskaya politsiya priznala, shto streyala po tolpe“, NTV republished on Mail.ru, December 18 2011.
3. Reuters in Aktau similarly reported, “One oil worker, who declined to be named, said he had visited a blood donor centre in Aktau. ‘It is working round-the-clock. If only 10 people were killed, why is it working round-the-clock?’ he asked. Nurlan Mukhanov, deputy chief doctor at the Mangistau regional hospital in Aktau, said 35 wounded had been brought from Zhanaozen and another three from Shetpe. ‘The majority have gunshot wounds,’ Mukhanov said. ‘We should be ready for any situation.’” See “Kazakhstan protesters face armed police after bloody clashes” Reuters, published in Guardian, December 20, 2011.

Kazakhstan: Support striking oil workers!

Since May 2011 two towns in Western Kazakhstan have been seeing protest actions in the oil sector that still involve thousands of workers. Massive lay-offs have hit over a thousand workers, affecting their families, their children. Some of the protest action participants suffered detention, disciplinary punishments, and criminal prosecution, including Natalya Sokolova, a union legal officer, who was sentenced to 6 years in prison for so-called “incitement to social animosity”. This sentence creates a dangerous precedent for the whole trade union movement in the country and has been widely denounced by trade union and human rights organisations from all over the world.

The Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Kazakhstan, supported by international trade union organisations, is campaigning for the resolution of the conflict.

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You can help! Go here to send a message to Kazakh President Nazarbayev.

June 2, 2010: The Colombia Solidarity Campaign (London, UK) organised a picket outside the BP HQ in support of Colombian oil workers who have occupied a BP plant.

Claire Hall, Espacio Bristol-Colombia

A five month long mobilisation against BP in the Casanare region of Colombia has escalated after the Colombian army entered the BP installations with force this week and confronted workers who have been peacefully occupying BP installations since May 23 to protest BP´s failure to conclude negotiations with the workers and community.

At midday on Wednesday a heavily armed commando group of the National Colombian Army leapt over the security fence of the Tauramena Central Processing Facility and subjected the group of workers to physical and verbal aggression. Oscar Garcia, of the National Oil Workers Union said “this war-like handling of a group of workers is an excessive use of force and treats a labour conflict as though it were an issue of public order. This shows how BP is bent on war against workers who are only demanding that their fundamental rights be respected.”[i]

The calm response by the striking workers brought the situation temporarily under control but the army remains present and tensions are high. Colombia continues to have the highest level of trade union murders in the world with 17 trade unionists murdered so far this year.

“It is no secret that since BP arrived in the early nineties we have not been able to organize workers until now due to the presence of paramilitary groups operating in the oil fields,” said Edgar Mojica from the National Oil Workers Union.

At night workers sleep chained to machinery under temporary shelters as a precaution against any further attempts to violently remove them.

“BP thinks that we will give up, tired and afraid but we will put up with these conditions as this is a struggle for everyone,” said Ramiro from the Movement for Dignity of Casanare. “We will only leave here when BP signs an agreement on salary increases, more dignified working conditions, security guarantees for all involved in the mobilisations, and honours the pre-agreements made in the environmental, human rights, social investment and goods and services commissions.”

The workers are saddened but not surprised at the measures they are forced to take to try to reach agreements with BP. The mobilisation started in February of this year. Workers were forced to take direct action and block access roads to BP’s installations after the oil corporation refused to recognise the workers rights to a union and to a collective bargaining agreement. The blockades were violently attacked by ESMAD, the notorious Colombian riot police, in an operation to end the protest.[ii]

This is not the first time that civil society movements against BP have been met with violence. In 2003, communities protested against BP, demanding action on ecological, social and labour issues. BP refused to negotiate. In the months following community leaders involved in the mobilisation were assassinated (2004 Oswaldo Vargas, 2005 Parmenio Parra).[iii] Furthermore, a preliminary public hearing held in 2007 in the UK on BP’s activities in Colombia confirmed that there is sufficient evidence to conclude that BP has a case to answer that it is complicit in the extermination of social organisations in Casanare as part of direct strategy to maximise profits.”[iv]

Despite the history of repression, the response to the ESMAD attack in February was overwhelming. Two thousand people marched in support, fifteen more road blockades spontaneously sprung up, community members and local businesses joined the strike and the Movement for the Dignity of Casanare was born. BP was forced to listen and agreed to participate in the five commissions. Popular assemblies where held to decide on the bargaining demands which were later presented to BP on March 23. However, after two months of dialogue, the labour commission had made no advances and the current strike began.

Casanare is a region characterised by extreme levels of poverty, in spite of the oil that flows out of the region to the United States. This poverty has been worsened by the environmental degradation caused by the oil exploration and extraction, and the susbequent contamination and loss of water sources, according to local farmers whose livelihoods depend on water.

“We have heard about the BP incident in the USA. We send our condolences to the families and fellow workers of those who died due to the failure of BP to take the necessary measures to ensure safe operations and protect the lives of people working for them,” said Garcia of the National Oil Workers Union. “Here in Colombia, BP has also shown their lack of respect for life. They have brought about a war that has left over 9000 people dead.”

He added, “We categorically hold BP to blame for this latest catastrophe in the USA and we demand that BP repairs to the extent possible the damage they have caused. We extend our solidarity to the Northamerican people affected and we ask for your solidarity with the Casanarean people and you are welcome to visit and see how things are here.”

BP continues to provide support to the 16th Brigade, which was created in 1991 in order to provide security to the oilfields in Casanare. They have a long, cruel and documented history of human rights violations, including: extrajudicial executions, disappearances, murders, torture, rape and the forced displacement of campesino communities. However the grave humanitarian crisis in Casanare and its relationship to the oil industry – in particular to BP – is not deterring the Movement for the Dignity of Casanare.

“Despite BP´s misinformation campaign we are determined and united and we will keep resisting with dignity,” said Ramiro. “And if we can unite with people from the USA we will be even stronger and achieve much more.”

Notes:

[i] http://usofrenteobrero.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=840:arremetida-del-ejercito-nacional-contra-trabajadores-en-tauramena-casanare&catid=35:nacional&Itemid=143

[ii] http://www.colombiasolidarity.org.uk/events/26-upcoming-events/493-police-assault-bp-oil-workers-in-colombia

[iii] http://espacio.org.uk/bp/CasanareMission2007Report.pdf

[iv] http://espacio.org.uk/bp/PUBLIC_DECLARATION_Glasgow.pdf

Espacio Bristol-Colombia is an autonomous collective of people working in solidarity with communities and organisations fighting for peace with social justice in Colombia. We are based in and around the city of Bristol (England), with a growing membership from across the country, and are part of the international Network of Friendship and Solidarity with Colombia (Red de Hermandad).

From: http://redantliberationarmy.wordpress.com/2010/06/06/colombian-army-attacks-striking-bp-workers/>