Zhanaozen Massacre (2011)

Fri Dec 16, 2011

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Image: Saturday, December 17th, 2011, a Kazakh riot police officer patrols in the center of Zhanaozen, Kazakhstan [thediplomat.com]

On this day in 2011, police opened fire on striking oil workers and their families in Zhanaozen, Kazakhstan, killing at least 17 and wounding dozens more. Anti-communist organizations such as Radio Free Europe supported the labor strife.

In the months leading up to the massacre, strikes had been taking place for several months in cities along the oil-rich Caspian Sea coast of Kazakhstan. A strike by workers from the Ozenmunaigas oil field was declared illegal by local courts and the state oil company fired nearly 1000 employees.

Some of the sacked workers then started a round-the-clock occupation of the town square in protest. Ahead of planned public celebrations for Kazakhstan’s Independence Day on December 16th, riot police assembled as authorities formulated plans to clear the area.

As police moved to evict the strikers on the 16th, they opened fire on civilians, killing at least 17 people and injuring dozens more. Other estimates, provided by Rob Jones of International Socialist Alternative (ISA), put the death toll as high as 50 - 150.

In an interview with openDemocracy, Galym Ageleuov, a reporter with the CIA-associated Radio Free Europe, claimed he received reports of agent provocateurs at the event who started disturbances while posing as workers. Radio Free Europe gave favorable coverage to striking workers, noting that protests expanded with “demonstrators furious over what they saw as a stranglehold on collective bargaining and labor rights by the government.”

Following the violence of December 16th, dozens of protesters were arrested. President Nazarbayev also subjected Zhanaozen to a 20-day curfew and state of emergency. Ageleuov has stated that 37 demonstrators were put on trial, and 13 were sentenced. 19 of those on trial claimed to have experienced torture under detention.

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair provided public relations advice to the government of Kazakhstan in the wake of the massacre, and helped President Nazarbayev craft an official statement on the matter.

Ten years later, the city of Zhanaozen would mark the point of origin of an unsuccessful nationwide uprising in January 2022.