In Nur-Sultan, a group of Kazakhstanis held on December 3, the International Day of Disabled Persons, a rally near the European Union. Activists called on the EU to impose sanctions on Kazakh officials who, in their opinion, infringe on the rights of people with disabilities. About it informs Kazakh service of Radio Liberty.
The rally was attended by people with disabilities from Nur-Sultan, Kokshetau, Ust-Kamenogorsk and Shchuchinsk. The activists stated that their rights are not respected in Kazakhstan, which has ratified the UN Convention.
“All of our basic rights prescribed in the Convention are being violated. Based on this, we are forced to demand personal sanctions against the Minister of Social Protection Shapkenov, the Minister of Internal Affairs Turgumbayev, the head of the KNB Massimov and the akim of the city of Kulginov. As far as I understand, these ministers, these officials give orders in terms of persecuting disabled people, preventing them from defending their rights, arranging some kind of repression against disabled people, intimidating them, “the activists said.
According to them, before the rally, they were subjected to psychological pressure. “Being a disabled person of the first group, I drive a car. When I was leaving the yard, several people prevented me from leaving. They restricted me, tried to restrict me. They began to say in an orderly tone:” Sit at home, where are you going? “- says one of those present Ermek Bekishev.
Dozens of people have signed up to a petition to the European Parliament calling for sanctions against Kazakh officials. Those gathered tried to hand over the appeal to the diplomats, but the guards did not let the protesters into the building. Later one of them went inside and left a petition there.
On the eve of December 3, thousands of Kazakhstanis signed a petition demanding to double the amount of benefits for people with disabilities. The signatories note that, despite the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the situation of persons with disabilities in the country has practically not changed.
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