NEW YORK, January 9. /TASS/. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced the order by President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to shoot to kill those who refuse to put down their arms, saying that it should be rescinded.
"I condemn that statement, and if that’s the national policy, condemn that policy, the shoot to kill," he said in an interview aired by CNN on Sunday. "I spoke to my counterpart in Kazakhstan just a couple of days ago. The authorities in Kazakhstan should be able to deal with the challenges that they’re facing peacefully, to make sure that the rights of those who are protesting peacefully are protected, to protect the institutions of the state and law and order, but to do it in a way that is rights-respecting," Blinken added.
"The shoot-to-kill order, to the extent it exists, is wrong and should be rescinded," Secretary of State said during an interview aired by ABC.
"Kazakhstan has the ability to maintain law and order, to defend the institutions of the state, but to do so in a way that respects the rights of peaceful protesters and also addresses the concerns that they’ve raised - economic concerns, some political concerns," he said, adding that "these ought to be things that the Government of Kazakhstan can handle on its own and handle in a rights-respecting way."
Blinken also repeated that Washington was seeking answers from Kazakhstan officials on why they needed to call in Russian-led security forces to resolve domestic unrest. "We're asking for clarification on that," he said.
Protests erupted in several Kazakh cities on January 2, escalating into mass riots with government buildings getting ransacked in several cities a few days later. The ensuing violence left scores of people injured, with fatalities also being reported. Subsequently, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev turned to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) requesting assistance from the Russia-led bloc. As a result, peacekeepers have already been deployed to Kazakhstan. Law and order, Kazakh authorities affirm, was restored to all of the country’s regions by the morning of January 7.