Young Kazakh activist joins Peace Boat to Advocate for Nuclear Justice

Peace Boat was honored to welcome Alisher Khassengaliyev, a youth activist from the Central Asian country of Kazakhstan, as a Guest Educator on board the 120th Global Voyage. Alisher is the co-founder of the Steppe Organization for Peace (STOP), an organization of young people working for nuclear justice in Kazakhstan. He is also a member of the organisation Youth for TPNW, an international youth movement advocating for the full implementation of the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). 

While onboard, Alisher gave lectures on the legacy of nuclear testing in Kazakhstan.  “The former Soviet Union conducted a total of 456 nuclear tests in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan between 1949 and 1989, exposing more than 1.5 million people to radioactive fallout. At the test site called the Polygon, the energy released by the atmospheric and underground tests even before 1963 equaled approximately 2,500 Hiroshima bombs.” 

Alisher also highlighted the work of his organization, STOP, in advocating for justice for affected communities in the region. STOP members work with Kazakh government officials, NGOs in affected areas, and experts engaging in the TPNW to bring attention to the health and economic impacts of the tests on local populations and collaborate with their government to create policies that will  support and compensate the victims.

“The trauma of the survivors is multifaceted,” emphasizes Alisher, “The local residents lived in a state of false normality and lack of informed consent, suffering as a result from various health problems, miscarriages, birth defects of newborns, stigma, suicides caused by ionizing radiation, and intergenerational trauma. The survivors say that they were guinea pigs in an unspoken war.” Furthermore, a documentary film about the Semipalatinsk Test Site, “I Want To Live On: The Untold Stories of the Polygon”, directed by Kazakh filmmaker Alimzhan Akhmetov, was screened on the ship, followed by commentary from Alisher. He pointed out the individual tragedies of affected people and the necessity to listen to survivors’ voices. 

In addition to lectures, Alisher held a Q&A session to engage in dialogue about nuclear colonialism. As the world’s largest producer of uranium, Kazakhstan caters to the needs of nuclear-armed states like Russia and China. According to Alisher, this is the epitome of neo-colonialism and exploitation by foreign powers. During the Cold War, when the Soviet government conducted numerous nuclear tests in Semipalatinsk, it claimed that the site was a barren wasteland and ignored the communities, culture, and lives of the local people. As Alisher emphasizes, “Kazakh people were considered as worthless, as expendable, and the Soviets believed that they could use our environment and our local people as their resource to do these deadly experiments.” 

Alisher showed the onboard community that the experiences as well as the fight for nuclear justice for Global Hibakusha (people impacted by nuclear violence around the world) can be passed on, embodied, and strengthened by the younger generation. Youth leaders like Alisher are a shining example of how, if we work together across borders and generations, we can create a brighter, nuclear-free world together by delivering justice in the form of compensation, medical aid, and recognition to communities that require them. 

For more information on STOP, visit their instagram page @stop.nuclear