Ten years after police massacred striking oil workers in Zhanaozen, Kazakhstan, human rights organisations and trades unionists are demanding an international inquiry into the killings.
Even now, the true number of victims is unknown. State officials admit that 16 people were killed and 64 injured on 16 December 2011 – but campaigners say there were dozens, perhaps hundreds, more.
The initial killings – by Kazakhstani law enforcement who fired into a peaceful, unarmed crowd – were followed by a three-day reign of terror in Zhanaozen, a town in the oil-rich Mangistau province in western Kazakhstan, and nearby villages.
