Kazakhstan social issue

http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/sca/154481.htm

http://akademikozgurluk.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/basc4b1n.jpg

http://cpj.org/Gl.Censorship1.jpg

When I was in Kazakhstan, my host-family and I eventually got on the topic of government. I asked if the government followed the rules of Human Rights well, and at first they were hesitant to tell me, but then they told me that the government was rather dubious when it came to freedom of speech. He, the father of course, told me that the government had recently begun to limit the spectrum of freedom of speech, and had taken upon itself to protect its reputation. He said they use restriction laws, harassment, license regualtion, restriction of internet access, and conviction. The government harasses the media with lawsuits and fines and the threat of such to keep the media from criticizing the government. the freedom of speech of individuals is also targeted by the government, discouraging people from criticizing the government in similar ways. The government goes further by completely prohibiting slandering the president's name, his family, or any other important political figure. Some people are completely prohibited from having free speech, and if these people try to voice their opinions, they are charged with inciting terrorism. Most of the radio stations in the more urbanized areas have, through government action, been consolidated under one company favored by the government. He said that a similar incident is suspected to have happened with the television station as well. The government has put a time limit on how much foreign media can be aired on the radio and television. Journalists are continuously persecuted by the government, they have forced some media to omit stories that went against the government's wishes. The government makes it a goal of their's to eliminate opposition media through harassment and intimidation. He said that the police do not equally protect journalism-related people from crime and violence as they would most other citizens. Instead, in the case of a crime victimizing a journalist, they will often ignore the incident or down play the event. He said that when Kyrgyzstani nationals killed a Kazakhstani  citizen intending to set an opposition newspaper, they searched for suspects and published their finds, but never followed up on the incident in the intention of justice, they just swept it under the rug. Ultimately, I could tell that Kazakhstan's government was very proud of itself and intended to keep its good looks at the cost of its citizens' opinions.