Opinion ID: 2546
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Allegations of Persecution

Text: Arkin Aliyev claims that, because of his Uyghur ethnic background and political opinions, he was mistreated both by Kazakh officials and by ethnic Kazakhs to whose actions the Kazakh government, in effect, granted immunity. His allegations include the following facts and events: In 1995, Aliyev helped to found the Yardem organizationan Uyghur youth group comprised of roughly 550 members. This group, very secretly, [was involved] in political actions such as providing refuge for Uyghur political activists fleeing from China, where Uyghurs make up a sizeable minority in Xinjiang province. In early 1996, two of Aliyev's cousins disappeared, one of whom had been quite active politically in the Uyghur cause. Although the disappearance was reported to the police, nothing was ever done, until August 1996, when an American ethnographer in Kazakhstan offered to investigate. The ethnographer and Aliyev conducted interviews and asked people about the missing men. Thereafter, they both were arrested by the police. Aliyev was held overnight and beaten; he was hit several times in the face and body. In October 1996, Aliyev was again arrested and questioned at length about his activities with the Yardem organization, his contacts with other Uyghur groups, and whether he was assisting Uyghurs fleeing China. He was later released. In January 1998, Aliyev, in conjunction with Yardem, placed caution signs alongside a dangerous stretch of road, and notified a local television station of the action. During the television interview, Aliyev criticized the police and politicians for their negligence with respect to that road. A few days later, he was attacked and badly hurt by several Kazakh men who yelled ethnic slurs at him. In May 1998, Aliyev organized and took part in a demonstration outside the Chinese Embassy in Almaty, in order to protest the Chinese government's treatment of Uyghurs. Aliyev was arrested, questioned, roughed up, and released the next day. Later that month, when Yardem opened a new stadium it had built, the police attended the event and questioned the organizers, asking whether the event was political, and seeking to discover what [the] Uyghurs [were] up to. On October 28, 1998, four Kazakh nationalists stopped Aliyev in the street. The leader of the group, a man named Berik, whose uncle was universally known to be second-in-command at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, demanded Aliyev's furniture business. He told Aliyev that he wanted the business because Aliyev was a Uyghur, and Uyghurs were not allowed to have anything. Berik told Aliyev that he w[ould] not allow Uyghurs [to] raise their heads on [his] land, and that Uyghurs were `living and eating up our land.' Aliyev refused to give up his business and was attacked and beaten. Because of his injuries, Aliyev was not able to file a complaint until two days later, at which point the police sent him to the hospital for an examination and injury report, but subsequently did nothing further. On November 2, 1998, Berik contacted Aliyev and told him that he, Berik, knew that Aliyev had been to the police, and that the police would be of no help. Berik again ordered Aliyev to hand over the business and threatened Aliyev's life. Aliyev again refused to give Berik his business, but Aliyev closed the business down. On November 8, 1998, Aliyev and his wife went to a wedding, and on their return, spent the night with Aliyev's father. That night their own house was destroyed by an explosion which damaged some of the other homes in the vicinity. When Aliyev reported that his house had been destroyed, a local sheriff came over, but nothing further was ever done. After the explosion, Aliyev and his family left for the United States, and subsequently went on to Canada.