Recently, members and family of the Atajurt Human Rights organization in Kazakhstan were intercepted by the police on their way to the U.S. Embassy in Astana. The members had planned to explain to the embassy about several members being convicted, as well as the case of the organization’s leader, Bekzhati Maksutkhan. As of now, Oralkhan Abyen and Asen Nurssan, who were taken away by the police, have lost contact, raising concerns about their safety.
On May 25th around 3:50 pm, Bekzhati’s wife, Nurgul Ibrayeva, took a train to Astana to meet with U.S. Embassy officials regarding the sentencing of several Atajurt members and her husband’s case. Nurgul was taken off the train by police before it even departed, escorted to the train station police station, and detained for about an hour and a half. Local officers mentioned that the deputy chief of the Almaty City Police Department, Rusjet Yerkenuly Sharibayev, ordered her detention.
Subsequently, Nurgul was taken to the police station where two plainclothes individuals, identified only as Mukhit and Mural, interrogated her for about two hours without showing any official identification. They questioned her on why she was heading to the U.S. Embassy and what she intended to explain to the embassy personnel, suggesting she inform the police instead of visiting the embassy.
According to Nurgul, the individuals then pressured her, stating that she would not make it to Astana no matter if she took a taxi, train, or plane, and advised her to return home.
In a separate incident on May 28th, Dina, a Kazakh businesswoman from Xinjiang who had been detained in camps, mentioned that she was also intercepted on her way to Astana. She stated, “I am on my way from Almaty to Astana, and tomorrow, the U.S. Embassy is scheduled to receive us at 11 am. But before reaching Astana, we were stopped midway, and I was taken back to Almaty.”
Dina revealed that she was accompanied by Yerbeq’s wife, saying, “She is the wife of Yerbeq Nurlakh, and we were en route to the U.S. Embassy together. After being detained for over five hours by two police officers from the Almaty Police Department, we have just returned home after nearly five hours.”
On the same day, Oralkhan Abyen and Asen Nurssan were traveling by taxi from Almaty to the capital, Astana. The police intercepted their vehicle without providing a reason and halted the driver from proceeding. The two men were then forced to walk for about two hours before continuing their journey to Astana by hitching rides with passing vehicles. However, the police kept contacting the drivers of the vehicles they boarded, claiming that “someone is pursuing them,” leading the drivers to stop picking them up. Oralkhan Abyen and Asen Nurssan had to repeatedly disembark and find alternate transportation to Astana.
As they were nearing Astana, after driving nearly 1500 kilometers, the police took the two men off the vehicle at a location referred to as the “Silk Road Checkpoint.” Since then, there has been no communication with them from the outside.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Kazakh-language media reported that Asen Nurssan and Oralkhan Abyen stated during live social media broadcasts that the authorities prevented them from entering Astana. In their last contact with the outside world, they claimed to be close to the Astana area. The report also mentioned that the Astana City Police Department spokesperson stated that the department had no information on the whereabouts of the two individuals.
The Atajurt organization has long been concerned about the detention of Kazakh, Uyghur, and other Muslim groups in the Xinjiang region of China. Last year, 19 members of the organization protested against the Chinese Communist Party’s repression policies in Xinjiang by burning CCP flags and the portrait of CCP leader Xi Jinping in Kazakhstan.
According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Kazakh-language media, on April 13th, the Taldykorgan Court in Kazakhstan convicted 19 Atajurt members on charges of “inciting ethnic hatred.” Some were sentenced to five years in prison, while others received restrictions on their freedom, and all were banned from engaging in public and political activities for three years.
As of the time of writing, the whereabouts of Oralkhan Abyen and Asen Nurssan remain uncertain. Concerned parties are urgently seeking clarification on where the two individuals have been taken, whether they are still under police control, and if they are in safe physical condition. They demand that the Kazakh authorities explain the legal basis for taking the two individuals into custody.