Congress of the USA and human rights violation problem in Kazakhstan (1991-2001)

This paper is devoted to the transformation of the position of the United States Congress on the issue of human rights violations in Kazakhstan in 1991-2001. The problem of the study is the contradiction between the official rhetoric and the established practice: the continuation of cooperation between the White House and the Government of Kazakhstan, although human rights were regularly violated in the Republic. The purpose of the paper is to establish the reasons for the absence of the US Congress sanctions against Kazakhstan for human rights violations in 1991-2001. The paper is based on the materials of the US Congress. Methods of study were the historical genetic method and Ishikawa cause-and-effect diagram. The result of the historical genetic method was the creation of periodization, which reflected the transformation of the position of Congress about human rights violations in Kazakhstan (1991-2001). The Ishikawa cause-and-effect diagram method was used to find the reasons for Congress’s inaction. The USA was interested in Kazakhstan as primarily an independent state. Kazakhstan satisfied this interest while maintaining independence. The presence of nuclear weapons in Kazakhstan was perceived by the United States as a potential danger. American leadership sought to immediately disarm the republic. The USA wanted Kazakhstan to follow the western path of development. For this purpose, American and Kazakh NGOs appeared in the country. The ША Congress did not impose sanctions on Nursultan Nazarbayev’s regime, for a number of reasons of internal and external nature. The Kazakh side fulfilled most of demands of American colleagues: nuclear disarmament, preservation of sovereignty from Russia, orientation towards Western development, access to oil resources. As a result, Kazakhstan received little criticism from US legislators on human rights violations during 1991-1997. After most agreements have been resolved, as well as their partial non-compliance, the US began to exert pressure for human rights violations in Kazakhstan since 1998. After September 11, 2001, this policy did not stop and the criticism continued, but the issue of security and counter-terrorism came to the fore. Geographically, Kazakhstan was in a strategically important region for the United States, where allies were needed, for which reason criticism of the Congress did not turn into sanctions of the Nursultan Nazarbayev’s regime. The bifurcated essence of American power during William Clinton’s presidency did not allow such adamant decisions to be made.

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