Posted June 23rd, 2014 by English PEN staff & filed under Campaigns.
PEN is deeply concerned at reports that the Kazakh prison authorities are denying medical treatment to imprisoned poet Aron Atabek
Poet Aron Atabek is reportedly suffering intense spine and leg pain due to injuries sustained during an assault by a police officer in 2006. According to Atabek’s son, the poet’s left leg is now so swollen at the knee that he cannot bend it and he is finding it very difficult to walk. His pleas to be examined by a doctor, he says, have been refused. He has also been denied the use of a cane as a walking aid.
PEN calls on the Kazakh authorities to provide immediate medical care to Aron Atabek and to comply with the UN’s Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, which state that a prisoner complaining of ill health must be examined on a daily basis by a prison medical officer.
For further information on Aron Atabek, please visit the PEN International website.
TAKE ACTION
Please write messages of support to Atabek in jail. He has already received a number of letters from PEN members, and, according to his son, these have helped maintain his morale;
Call on the Kazakh authorities to comply with the UN’s Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners by providing Atabek with adequate medical attention;
Write to your ambassador to Kazakhstan and, if appropriate, your MEP, urging him/her to raise the issue of Atabek’s health and lack of proper medical attention with the Kazakh government;
Tweet: #Kazakhstan must provide jailed 61 yr old poet #AronAtabek with medical attention for injuries @MVD_RK @pen_int
Addresses
Prison Address:
(Russian)
Арон ЕДИГЕЕВ (АТАБЕК)
Учреждение АП-162/1, 140000, г. Павлодар, ул.Циолковского б\н.
(English)
Aron EDIGEEV (ATABEK)
Uchrezhdenie АП-162/1, zip-code: 140000, Pavlodar City, Tsiolkovskogo Street b/n
President of Kazakhstan
President Nursultan Nazarbayev
President’s Office,
010000 Astana
Kazakhstan
Fax: +7 7172 559338
Minister of Internal Affairs
Kalmukhanbet Kassymov
Ministry of Internal Affairs
Tauelsizdik Avenue, 1
010000 Astana
Republik of Kazakhstan
Email: [email protected]
Please send copies of your appeals to the Embassy of Kazakhstan here in the UK:
His Excellency Mr. Kairat Abusseitov
The Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan
125 Pall Mall
London
SW1Y 5EA
Fax: +44 (0)207 930 89 90
Email: [email protected]
AMBIT ACTION
Aron Atabek was the first writer at risk to be featured in ‘Ambit Action’, a collaboration with the team at Ambit Magazine to help raise greater awareness of some of our cases of concern and their work. Head over to their website now to read Atabek’s poem ‘My Throat Will Die‘, translated by Niall McDevitt and Alfia Nakipbekova.
SAMPLE APPEAL
You may wish to write to the authorities using the form below. A sample letter is provided, but we would highly recommend personalising your appeal.