Page 64 - bne magazine February 2022_20220208

64 I Special focus I Kazakhstan bne February 2022
Kazakh and Belarus peacekeeping forces deployed to quell unrest in Kazakhstan have been wearing the blue UN helmets, despite the fact that UN is in no way involved in putting down the protests in the country
Kazakh and Belarusian CSTO peacekeepers spotted wearing blue UN peacekeeping helmets
In response to online criticism, the Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan to
the United Nations released a statement that “measures were taken to prevent the use of any equipment bearing the UN inscription” but the mission failed to explain why the helmets were being used.
And the KAZBAT troops were not alone in using UN emblems. The Belarusian Ministry of Defence published photos showing soldiers of the CSTO mission deployed to Kazakhstan, in Belarus’ first ever foreign mission since the fall of the Soviet Union, wearing UN patches on their sleeves. Following public outcry, the United Nations expressed “concern” over the unauthorised use
of its trademark symbols.
The reason for publishing these photos is not clear. However, they may be intended to add legitimacy to President Tokayev’s and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s dubious narrative that Kazakhstan
is under attack from international terrorism, and to justify the government's heavy-handed response.
An estimated 164 people were killed in the protests, with Tokayev blaming the violence on some “20,000 terrorists”, but the government has been unable to produce any evidence to support this claim as all the bodies of those killed have been stolen, the government asserts.
“[The terrorists] cunningly broke into the morgue and stole the bodies of the dead comrades, so there may be no evidence”,
Dominic Culverwell in Berlin
Kazakh state media caused a stir after it photographs of state security forces wearing blue UN helmets at a checkpoint in Almaty on January 9.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called in Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) peacekeepers from Russia and the other member states to quell violent protests that threatened to topple the government, and blamed international terrorist groups. However, this was not a UN operation nor was the UN approached for help, raising the question of why are the Kazakh
troops wearing the trademark UN blue helmets?
Experts quickly pointed out that
the soldiers were part of KAZBAT,
a peacekeeping military unit in Kazakhstan’s army trained to United Nations standards. However, despite their training, KAZBAT is not authorised to wear UN insignia unless they are on an official UN peacekeeping mission.
www.bne.eu
A UN spokesperson told Germany’s
Bild newspaper: "United Nations troops and police stations may only use the
UN badges if they are performing their mandated tasks within the framework of a United Nations peacekeeping operation mandated by the UN Security Council."
Alongside the CSTO peacekeeping forces headed by Moscow, KAZBAT
“Despite their training, KAZBAT is not authorised to wear UN insignia unless they are on an official UN peacekeeping mission”
soldiers were deployed to quell
last week’s demonstrations caused
by a sharp fuel price increase. Disenfranchised citizens organised strikes and street protests, and even stormed government buildings. More than 10,000 people were arrested and over a dozen were killed, according to the authorities during the unrest.
the Kazakh president said on state TV on January 10 in a bizarre address.
Videos allegedly showing armed militia groups and foreign protesters-for-hire have also been debunked or doubted by experts. Even the reports of protesters killing security forces conflict with
one other. Disinformation plagues