III 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 293 

Calling for a free and fair presidential election in the Republic of Kazakhstan. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 27, 2005 

Mr. MCCAIN (for himself, Mr. BIDEN, Mr. SUNUNU, Mr. BAYH, Mr. LEAHY, 

Mr. SMITH, Mr. GRAHAM, and Mr. LIEBERMAN) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Calling for a free and fair presidential election in the 

Republic of Kazakhstan. 

Whereas the Republic of Kazakhstan is scheduled to hold a 

presidential election on December 4, 2005; 

Whereas Kazakhstan freely accepted commitments on democracy, human rights, the rule of law, and other fundamental freedoms and rights when it joined the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) as 

a participating state in 1992; 

Whereas the United States supports the promotion of democracy and transparent, free, and fair elections in 

Kazakhstan, consistent with that country’s OSCE commitments; 
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Whereas the OSCE declared that, while the 2004 parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan reflected improvement over 

past parliamentary elections, the election process ‘‘fell 

short of OSCE commitments and other international 

standards for democratic elections in many respects’’; 

Whereas the OSCE election monitoring mission documented 

a number of shortcomings in the parliamentary elections 

in Kazakhstan, including the government’s barring of 2 

opposition leaders from running, a lack of transparency 

in the work of the Central Election Commission, discrepancies in voter lists, a lack of political balance in the 

composition of election commissions, a strong media bias 

in favor of pro-presidential parties, pressure placed on 

voters to support pro-presidential parties by local government officials and workplace supervisors, and other 

shortcomings; 

Whereas in April 2005, Kazakhstan amended its election law 

to ban political demonstrations in the period between the 

end of election campaigns and the announcement of official election results; 

Whereas on September 9, 2005, President Nursultan 

Nazarbaev issued a decree directing state authorities to 

undertake actions, which, if fully implemented, could improve on many of the shortcomings found in previous 

elections; 

Whereas other elements of Kazakhstan’s stated commitments 

to OSCE principles and to fulfilling the goals of democracy remain unfulfilled; 

Whereas there is currently no representation of the opposition in either the Majilis or the Senate, the lower and 

upper houses of the Kazakh Parliament, respectively; 
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•SRES 293 IS

Whereas some independent media exists in Kazakhstan, but 

self-censorship is common due to fears of official reprisal; 

Whereas the Department of State concluded in its Country 

Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2004 that ‘‘the 

[Kazakhstan] Government’s human rights record remained poor, and it continued to commit numerous 

abuses’’; 

Whereas a transparent, free, and fair presidential election 

process in Kazakhstan would mark an important step in 

that country’s progress toward its integration into the 

democratic community of nations; 

Whereas a genuinely free and fair election requires that citizens be guaranteed the right and opportunity to exercise 

their civil and political rights, free from intimidation, 

undue influence, threats of political retribution, or other 

forms of coercion by national or local authorities or others; and 

Whereas a genuinely free and fair election requires government and public authorities to ensure that candidates 

and political parties enjoy equal treatment before the law 

and that government resources are not employed to the 

advantage of individual candidates or political parties: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) calls on the Government of Kazakhstan to 

3 hold an orderly, peaceful, free, and fair presidential 

4 election in December 2005, in accordance with all 

5 Organization for Security and Cooperation in Eu6 rope (OSCE) guidelines; 
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1 (2) calls upon the Government of Kazakhstan 

2 to guarantee the full participation of opposition fig3 ures and parties in the upcoming election, and to 

4 permit the return of political exiles; 

5 (3) believes that it is vital that the December 

6 election be viewed by the people of Kazakhstan as 

7 fully free and fair, and that all sides refrain from vi8 olence or intimidation before, during, or after elec9 tion day; 

10 (4) calls upon the Government of Kazakhstan 

11 to guarantee unimpeded access to all aspects of the 

12 election process for election monitors from the Office 

13 for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of 

14 the OSCE, Kazakh political parties, representatives 

15 of candidates, nongovernmental organizations, and 

16 other private institutions and organizations, both 

17 foreign and domestic; 

18 (5) urges the international community and do19 mestic nongovernmental organizations to provide a 

20 sufficient number of election observers to ensure 

21 credible monitoring and reporting of the December 

22 presidential election; 

23 (6) calls upon the Government of Kazakhstan 

24 to guarantee freedom of speech and assembly; and 
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1 (7) calls upon the Government of Kazakhstan 

2 to meet all of its freely accepted OSCE commit3 ments on democracy, human rights, and the rule of 

4 law. 

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