Uwazi

Ainara Aidarkhanova, the lawyer of imprisoned Kazakh activist Aigerim Tileuzhanova, told RFE/RL that her client was additionally charged with "inflicting bodily damage" over a brawl with another inmate. The lawyer added that the fight was most likely provoked to frame her client. Tileuzhanova, a noted civil rights activist, was sentenced to four years in prison, while her four co-defendants, all men, received eight years in prison each, after a court found them guilty in July of "organizing mass unrest at Almaty airport" during unprecedented anti-government protests in January 2022 that turned deadly. All pleaded not guilty.

On the morning of March 1st, 2024, reports surfaced alleging that Abzal Dostiyarov, an activist, was subjected to severe brutality by law enforcement officers. The incident occurred as he was taking his young daughter to kindergarten.

According to his live streams and relatives, Dostiyarov was seized and violently beaten by the police, resulting in head injuries and to his arm.

Following his detainment at the District Police Department, a court delivered a verdict in the evening, without thorough investigation, sentencing him to 20 days of detention in Shonja city. The charges against him stem from his alleged participation in and broadcasting of protests linked to the trial of independent journalist Duman Mukhammedkarim. Additional sources suggest that the arrest may be linked to the four applications submitted on March 3rd to hold a rally in Almaty in support of the accused journalist.

While Dostiyarov was not among those who appealed for a rally, it is likely that the police preventively detain known activists and political opposition. At least 5 more people have been arrested in the last three weeks just because they were suspected of attending the trial of Mukhammedkarim.

This is not a new phenomenon, as the state has been found prosecuting people who stand in solidarity with political prisoners. Previously almost 20 people were prosecuted for attending and publicly supporting Aigerim Tleuzhanova, another activist and journalist charged over her involvement in a plot to seize the country’s main airport during the January 2022 unrest.

Duman Mukhammedkarim is an independent journalist, who previously made a career working for a state-owned news channel. In 2021, he left the public sector and started his own YouTube channel, Ne Deidi (What’s said?). Known for his coverage of the events of Bloody January in 2022, his channel served as platform for political activism and critique of Kazakh authorities and institutions. His coverage on elections, activism, and rally organizing, has resulted in several of his arrests and much time spent in custody. In May 2023 a criminal case had been opened again Mukhammedkarim, during which he was already under administrative detention for allegedly violating regulations on peaceful assembly. By June, has been implicated as a suspect under two sections of the Criminal Code: “Participation in the activities of a banned organization” (Article 405, part 2) and “Financing of extremism” (Article 258, part 1). With the latter accusation risking imprisonment for five to nine years. According to a lawyer, Galum Nurpeisov, both criminal cases are linked to an interview he conducted with Mukhtar Ablyazov, an exiled opposition leader in December 2022. Ablyazov is the head of the opposition movement, Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, which has been recognized as an extremist organization by Kazakhstan authorities.

Duman Mukhammedkarim’s trial began on the 12th of February 2024. The judge granted Saken Kenesov’s, (the prosecutor), request to hold the trial behind closed doors, citing the risk of security concerns. Moreover, supporters and journalists were denied entry into the courtroom on the pretext of insufficient space in the courtroom. The closure of the trial results in limited access to information regarding the development of the case.

Closed trials are prevalent occurrences in Kazakhstan particularly when it comes to political activists and members of opposition. This was quite common with key cases related to the Bloody January events, with individuals such as Marat Zhylanbayev, a government critic and leader of unregistered party ‘Alga Kazakhstan.’ His trial was closed to the public and on November 30th was sentenced to seven years in prison on unfounded charges. Closed-court proceedings are frequent for government officials accused of malpractice, including torture and other human rights violations. For example, 11 officials charged for their involvement in the Bloody January protests have had their cases closed to the public, with many ending prematurely due to “insufficient evidence.”

Almost a year in detention, Mukhammedkarim criticised the conditions in the temporary detention centre, addressing issues regarding food, sanitation, and treatment of other detainees. Moreover, on the 1st of November, he described his multiple hunger strikes, self-harm incidents, and a suicide attempt made to attract the attention of authorities to the horrible conditions of his detention, but to no avail. The international response comprises of Human Rights Watch (HRW) statement, on the 8th of February, urging authorities to dismiss the baseless case against Mukhammedkarim and called for his immediate release. This comes amidst a surge in prosecutions against critics on similar grounds. HRW reveal that Mukhammedkarim is the second government critic to go on trial on broad extremism charges in recent months.

Both Mukhammedkarim and Dostiyarov are victims of the repressive tactics employed by Kazkakh authorities to silence and suppress activist dissent, while the attackers and officials guilty of torture have yet to be brought to justice.

On February 3, 2024, woman human rights defender Veronika Fonova was targeted while holding a solo protest in the city center in Almaty, Kazakhstan, aimed to raise awareness about the ban of the 2024 International Women’s Day March in Almaty by the city authorities. On 21 April 2023, the Specialised Inter-district Administrative Court of Almaty ruled to support the Akimat of Almaty’s ban of the International Women’s Day demonstration and a march in 2024. Following the attack, Veronika Fonova filed a complaint to the police.

Veronika Fonova is a feminist activist and woman human rights defender from Almaty, Kazakhstan. She is one of the founding members of the 8MarchKZ, a grassroots feminist movement that unites to organize the annual feminist and women’s march in Almaty on International Women’s Day. The organizing committee of the initiative includes a diverse group of women human rights defenders, who work to promote and protect women and LGBTQI+ rights. The first Women’s March in Almaty took place in 2017. Veronika is also a founding member of KazFem, a feminist collective that focuses on shifting public discourse on domestic violence in Kazakhstan.

On February 3, 2024, woman human rights defender Veronika Fonova held a solo protest in the city center of Almaty, Kazakhstan, after acquiring permission from the city authorities. She was holding a poster that had multiple statements in Kazakh and Russian languages, calling for the freedom of assembly and promoting criminalization of domestic violence. The poster also said: “We need a Demonstration on March 8.” While Veronika Fonova’s friends recorded a video of her holding a poster and explaining her message, a man wearing a medical mask pushed her, attempted to hit her, and snatched the poster from her. The attacker also requested to call the police on a woman human rights defender. The police arrived on site and collected statements both from Veronika Fonova and from her attacker.

Women human rights defenders from 8MarchKz suggested that this was an orchestrated attack. An attack like this could serve as a justification for the decision of the Almaty city authorities to ban the peaceful demonstration because it is a threat to public safety. Earlier, on February 1, 2024, 8MarchKZ held a press conference in Almaty’s Press Club, where the representatives outlined the timeline of their contend with the city authorities, which commenced in April 2023, discussed systemic resistance on the side of the authorities, and publically discussed security considerations that the organizers have for the Demonstration they have envisioned. They also focused on the need for spaces where women can raise their voices and repeated that the safety of women in Kazakhstan – the theme of the 2024 demonstration – is a pressing issue in the country.

In March 2023, right after the International Women’s Day protest in Almaty, the 8MarchKZ requested a permit for the next year's demonstration “For the Rights of Kazakhstani Women.” In April 2023, the city authorities of Almaty refused to issue the permit, citing a significant threat to security and public order. Women human rights defenders from 8MarchKZ took this decision to court; in April 2023, the Specialised Inter-district Administrative Court of Almaty ruled in support of the prohibition of the International Women’s Day March in 2024 by the Almaty city authorities. In June 2023, representatives of 8MarchKZ appealed this decision, and in the following September, the Court refused to lift the ban. In December 2023 and in January 2024, 8MarchKZ representatives requested another permit for their peaceful demonstration, announcing that the new theme of the demonstration would be “For Safety and Security of Women in Kazakhstan”; both of these requests were denied by the city authorities of Almaty, citing similar “threat of disturbing public order” reasoning.

Front Line Defenders condemns the attack against woman human rights defender Veronika Fonova and urges the Kazakhstani authorities to promptly investigate the attempted assault and bring the persons responsible to justice. At the same time, Front Line Defenders urges the Kazakhstani authorities not to misuse this attack against Veronika Fonova as a justification for the continued refusal to approve the 2024 Women’s March. Front Line Defenders continues to condemn the city authorities of Almaty's denial of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly to feminist and women’s rights defenders from 8MarchKZ. Front Line Defenders calls upon the authorities of Kazakhstan to ensure that the 8MarchKZ feminist initiative can exercise their rights to protect and promote women’s rights, and feminist agendas, and to peacefully assemble and march for the cause of International Women’s Day.

Kazakhstan's Culture and Information Ministry said it has blocked the Selftanu.kz website, which focuses on LGBT relations. The ministry said the move was made "to protect children's rights" while taking into account "the culture and traditions of Kazakhstan’s society and culture." Although homosexual relations were decriminalized in Kazakhstan in the 1990s, the European Parliament noted in 2021 that LGBT citizens in the country are still discriminated against and that members of that community routinely face violence or harassment in the oil-rich Central Asian nation.

Opposition activist Madina Koketaeva has been sentenced to 15 days in jail for attending a peaceful protest in Almaty against the detention of activists who were detained during unrest at the city's airport. Zhanar Balgabaeva, Koketaeva's lawyer, said her client was handed the sentence on January 25. Koketaeva says she was beaten during her arrest -- which coincided with the arrival of President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev on January 24 -- to the point where she needed hospitalization. "They are not going to let me go until Toqaev leaves the city," she told RFE/RL's Radio Azattyk.

On January 15, police in the Kazakh capital, Astana, detained about a dozen protesters who approached the presidential office demanding justice for their relatives who were killed during anti-government protests in January 2022. At least 238 people, including 19 law enforcement officers, were killed across Kazakhstan during the mass unrest caused by the dispersal of the protests after President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev ordered security forces "to shoot to kill," claiming that "20,000 terrorists trained abroad" had taken over the country's largest city, Almaty. The authorities have provided no evidence proving Toqaev's claim about foreign terrorists.

Three activists from the Wake Up, Kazakhstan movement were arrested in Almaty on January 3 after they held a protest against the jailing on December 16 of three of their colleagues who had called for the commemoration of victims of the 1986 Kazakh youth uprising against the Kremlin and January 2022 anti-government protests. The activists detained on January 3 have been charged with holding an "illegal action." The December 16 protesters were sentenced to 25 days in jail. Their appeal of the case was rejected by the Almaty City Court.

Kazakhstan's Interior Ministry on December 27 added to its wanted list Dinara Smailova, the self-exiled leader of the NeMolchiKZ group, which monitors domestic violence cases in the Central Asian country. Kazakh authorities said earlier that they launched an investigation of Smailova (aka Dina Tangsari) on fraud charges. Smailova registered her group in Georgia, where she ived for some time, but after Georgia refused to allow her back in the country after an international trip earlier this year, she moved to an EU member state.

A Kazakh court on December 28 issued an arrest warrant for Dinara Smailova, the self-exiled leader of NeMolchiKZ group, which monitors domestic violence in Kazakhstan. Kazakh authorities said on December 28 that Smailova (aka Dina Tangsari) was accused of fraud, violating laws on privacy, and spreading false information. Smailova registered her group in Georgia, where she lived for some time, but after Georgia refused to allow her back in the country after an international trip earlier this year, she moved to an EU member state.

Ghalym Nurpeisov, a lawyer for jailed Kazakh journalist Duman Mukhammedkarim, said on December 15 that his client’s pretrial detention was extended by at least one month. Mukhammedkarim, whose Ne Deidi? (What Do They Say?) YouTube channel is very popular in Kazakhstan, was sent to pretrial detention in June on suspicion of financing an extremist group and participation in the activities of the banned opposition Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan movement, charges that he and his supporters have said are politically motivated.

A court in Kazakhstan's western city of Oral on December 14 sentenced local activist Marua Eskendirova to 25 days in jail after finding her guilty of calling for an anti-government rally. The charge stemmed from posts on Eskendirova's social network account calling for protests against the policies of the Central Asian country's government. Eskendirova has rejected the charge, arguing that she had not used the social network account since her mobile phone was stolen two years ago. Eskendirova was handed a parole-like sentence in February for having links with the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan -- a banned opposition group.

The Qaharman rights group in Kazakhstan said on December 22 that a court in Astana handed an additional 15 days in jail to activists Aset Abishev and Aidar Syzdykov two days earlier on a charge of disobeying police orders. The two were arrested on December 6 near a detention center where they were awaiting the release of their colleague and sentenced later to 15 days in jail each on hooliganism charges which they rejected as politically motivated. Rights activists in Kazakhstan say pressure on dissent has increased as the second anniversary of unprecedented anti-government protests that turned violent approaches.

A court of appeals in the western Kazakh city of Oral on December 26 rejected an appeal filed by activist Marua Eskendirova against a 25-day jail term she was handed almost two weeks before on a charge of calling on the Internet for an anti-government rally. Eskendirova has rejected the charge, arguing that she had not used the social network account where the calls in question had allegedly appeared, saying her mobile phone was stolen two years ago. Eskendirova was handed a parole-like sentence in February for having links to Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, a banned opposition group.

The Almaty City Court on December 29 rejected appeals filed by activists Bota Sharipzhan and Ravkhat Mukhtarov of the Oyan Qazaqstan (Wake Up, Kazakhstan) movement against their incarceration. The activists were sentenced to 15 days in jail each earlier this week on a charge of violating regulations for public gatherings. On December 16, Kazakhstan’s Independence Day, Sharipzhan, Mukhtarov, and several other activists rallied in Almaty with posters calling for the commemoration of victims of the 1986 Kazakh youth uprising against the Kremlin and the January 2022 anti-government protests. Several activists were handed up to 25 days in jail before and after Independence Day.

A court in Astana on November 29 sentenced the chairman of Kazakhstan's unregistered Algha Kazakhstan (Forward Kazakhstan) party, Marat Zhylanbaev, to seven years in prison after finding him guilty of taking part in a banned group's activities and financing an extremist group. Zhylanbaev rejected the charges against him, calling them politically motivated. He has been on a hunger strike since late October protesting against a court decision to hold his trial, which started on November 1 behind closed doors. Human Rights Watch has urged the Kazakh authorities to immediately release Zhylanbaev.

Police in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, have blocked five Kazakh men and women from approaching the Chinese Consulate, where they planned to demand the release of their relatives imprisoned in so-called reeducation camps in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang.

The protesters, who planned to picket the Chinese Consulate on December 4, told RFE/RL that it was the 1,000th day of their rallies "against China's genocidal politics against ethnic Kazakhs, Uyghurs, and Kyrgyz," as well as other indigenous peoples of the region.

According to the protesters, their relatives in Xinjiang were incarcerated either for being practicing Muslims or for posts on the Internet.

China has been accused of human rights violations against Kazakhs, Uyghurs and other mostly Turkic-speaking indigenous ethnic groups over the existence of mass detention camps in Xinjiang.

Beijing denies that the facilities are internment camps, saying its actions are aimed at combating terrorism. People who have fled the province, however, say people from the ethnic groups are undergoing "political indoctrination" at a network of facilities officially referred to as reeducation camps.

Amid ongoing rallies and pickets in front of China's diplomatic missions in Kazakhstan, the Chinese Embassy said in March 2021 that all ethnic Kazakhs incarcerated in Xinjiang are Chinee citizens and are being held there for breaking Chinse laws.

Several relatives of the protesters were released and allowed to travel to Kazakhstan in recent years.

Kazakh authorities refrain from openly criticizing the policies of China, one of their main creditors.

The U.S. State Department has said that as many as 2 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and members of Xinjiang's other indigenous, mostly Muslim ethnic groups have been taken to detention centers.

Kazakhs are the second-largest Turkic-speaking indigenous community in Xinjiang after Uyghurs. The region is also home to ethnic Kyrgyz, Tajiks, and Hui, also known as Dungans. Han, China's largest ethnicity, is the second-largest community in Xinjiang.

A Kazakh court has delivered a suspended sentence to Nazym Tabyldieva for her online posts slamming President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev and three regional prosecutors. Tabyldieva's supporters waiting outside the court in Almaty on November 10 were relieved because the prosecutor had demanded imprisonment on charges of "disseminating false information" and "defaming officials." The judge has ruled that the 36-year-old anti-government activist will be on probation for a year and a half and will be banned from political and social activities, including publications on social media, for five years. The verdict can be appealed. One of the charges concerned a video Tabyldieva made, accusing President Toqaev of "pursuing Russian policies."

The Almaty City Court on November 10 rejected the appeals of five activists against prison terms they were handed in July after a lower court found them guilty of "organizing mass unrest at Almaty airport" during unprecedented anti-government protests in January 2022 that turned deadly. Noted civil rights activist Aigerim Tileuzhanova was sentenced to four years in prison, while the other activists, all men, received eight years in prison each. Some were also charged with storming a building, vehicle hijacking, and robbery. All have denied wrongdoing, saying they did not commit any crimes while taking part in the demonstration.

Dozens of activists and oil workers in the restive southwestern Kazakh town of Zhanaozen have demanded the immediate release of of independent trade union leader Amin Eleusinov, who was sentenced to 15 days in jail for violating regulations for public gatherings on November 7. Late on November 8, the oil workers warned that they would "carry out all actions allowed by law" if Eleusinov was not released. In early January 2022, protests in Zhanaozen against fuel price hikes led to unprecedented nationwide unrest that turned deadly. In 2011, at least 16 activists were killed in Zhanaozen when police violently dispersed a protest.

Kazakh rights activist Sanavar Zakirova told RFE/RL on November 8 that an Astana court sentenced her to 15 days in jail for "online calls for unsanctioned rallies." The charge stems from a Facebook post last month calling for a protest rally. Zakirova insists that she was tagged in the post but did not write it. Another activist, Makhabbat Qusaiynova, told the court that she authored the post, but the judge ignored her statement. Zakirova, an outspoken critic of the government, has been sentenced to several jail terms in recent years.

An interdistrict court in Astana has rejected a complaint by an unregistered movement called Atazhurt protesting the Kazakh Justice Ministry's refusal to grant it registration, according to the group's local representative.

Kapar Ahatuly said the special court concluded on September 29 that the complaint was groundless based on the presence of deceased people on Atazhurt's petition for registration as well as an Excel formatting mistake.

Ahatuly dismissed the accusation that the list of at least 700 petitioners might include any dead people.

Contacted by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, the Justice Ministry declined to comment.

Atazhurt was started by Serikzhan Bilash, an ethnic Kazakh from Xinjiang who moved to Kazakhstan in 2000 and received citizenship in 2011, and later helped highlight alleged mass abuses against Uyghurs in western China.

Kazakh officials have bristled at China's treatment of ethnic Kazakhs and Uyghurs but have avoided joining international condemnations of Beijing for the alleged mass roundups and brutality.

China is a major trade partner with Kazakhstan and a significant investor in Kazakh projects.

Bilash led the Atazhurt Eriktileri (Volunteers of the Fatherland) group, which in 2018-19 staged several gatherings of ethnic Kazakhs from Xinjiang who have resettled in Kazakhstan and asked for help securing the release of their relatives and friends from reeducation camps in Xinjiang.

Kazakh authorities in March 2019 arrested Bilash and charged him with inciting ethnic hatred. They held him in custody for five months before fining and releasing him.

Bilash later fled Kazakhstan.

Kazakh officials reject accusations that they withhold registrations for political reasons.

On September 20, 2023, the Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan released a register listing 240 individuals and legal entities receiving support from foreign countries and international and foreign organisations. Among the listed entities are human rights organisations, environmental funds, legal foundations, media outlets, and individual journalists. Among others, the list features two FIDH member organisations, namely the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights, and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. Concerningly, the list also included personal information on individual journalists, including their personal identification numbers.

Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Finance explained the publication by the need to "increase the level of trust of citizens – both in the state and in non-governmental organisations". The signatory organisations fear, however, that such justifications are merely rhetorical, and that the real intention of the authorities is to discredit and stigmatise the legitimate work of the civil society organisations listed in the register. The publication appears to imply that all foreign funds are automatically suspect.

Following the register’s publication on September 25, 2023, the public association "Echo" had its bank account temporarily frozen. Nurbank, the organisation’s account manager, identified withdrawals of funds from the United States and requested documentation to confirm their designated use.

The register appears amid Kazakhstan’s persistent attempts to harass NGOs over the reception of foreign funding. In December 2015 and July 2016, tax authorities imposed demanding reporting requirements on non-profit organisations receiving foreign funds. In 2020-2021, a dozen local human rights groups were targeted with fines and possible suspension over alleged financial reporting violations. FIDH member organisations, the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the International Legal Initiative Foundation, faced temporary suspension over minor financial reporting inaccuracies.

Alarmingly, these efforts to curtail the ability of civil society organisations to access foreign funding, and the publication of the list, echo the Russian Federation’s so-called foreign agent legislation and practice. For over a decade, Russian authorities have used the foreign agent legislation to stigmatise, silence, shut down civil society groups, human rights initiatives, independent media and others. The Russian legislation has been criticized by various international entities for infringing upon the freedom of association. Back in 2009, Margaret Sekaggya, former Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, emphasized that the right to freedom of association inherently includes the ability of human rights organisations to seek, receive, and utilise funding. She further highlighted that civil society should have access to foreign funding as a component of international cooperation, on a par with governments.

The Observatory, and FIDH’s member organisations, the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights, ILI Foundation, and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, urge Kazakhstan’s authorities to halt their endeavors to restrict civil society actors from receiving foreign grants and to cease their attempts to discredit organisations that receive such funding. Instead, the signatory organisations call on the authorities to regard civil society initiatives as a resource and to facilitate a strong and vibrant civil society throughout the country.

Police in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, have detained three civil rights activists on unspecified charges. Abzal Dostiyarov, Marat Turymbetov, and Maira Gabdullina were detained separately on September 22. Dostiyarov's lawyer Zhanar Balghabaeva told RFE/RL that her client is suspected of violating a law on mass gatherings. Police gave no more details, the lawyer said. Human rights activist Rinat Rafqat said the trio's detainments were linked to their participation in a rally in front of a court on September 19, demanding the release of imprisoned activist Aigerim Tileuzhan.

In a video shot in a prison in northern Kazakhstan, a man sporting a shaved head and prison overalls tries to respond as a penitentiary officer accuses him of violating protocols.

“You have been warned twice! Why are you refusing? Why do you refuse to clean?" the officer demands in the footage before ordering a group of subordinates to “use the special equipment.”

The men then proceed to grab the prisoner and pin him to the floor, face down.

“I’m not refusing!” the prisoner can be heard saying, before a man begins striking his lower body with a baton.

The prisoner’s protestations are replaced by screams.

That widely shared footage was initially published by an opposition social media channel that indicated it was shot on August 24.

Around a dozen staff at the No. 1 jail in Atbasar, some 200 kilometers from Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, are believed to have been suspended amid the uproar.

Some of those men have recorded a video defending their actions, arguing that the measures taken against this prisoner and others captured in the footage were necessary to prevent a riot.

President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev’s position on such practices would appear to be clear cut.

Speaking two months after regime-shaking political unrest last year that left at least 228 people dead and evidence of systematic torture of detainees, Toqaev condemned “barbaric medieval happenings…that contradict the principles of any progressive society.”

But since then there have been proportionally few officers convicted or even dismissed over their roles in those manifold abuses.

The identity of the prisoner in the video, moreover, is awkward for Toqaev.

Timur Danebaev, 38, is best known as the activist who attempted to sue the president over comments he made during that crisis, which began with peaceful protests over a spike in fuel prices before spiraling out of control.

That fact, combined with the mystery about how and by whom the video was leaked, has fueled pernicious theories that the leak was no accident at all.

“It seems to me that the video…is not at all an oversight by prison staff,” wrote Lukpan Akhmedyarov, a well-known journalist, in a September 5 Facebook post.

“The video was made public by order of the authorities. None of the prison employees will be held accountable. Because this video is actually a DEMONSTRATION of power,” he claimed.

‘Breaking’ Prisoners

Whether Akhmedyarov’s prediction will hold, only time will tell.

It is not easy to track the career trajectories of low-ranking officers involved in torture scandals, especially when their identities are not made public.

A September 6 press release by the Committee of the Criminal Executive System of the Kazakh Internal Affairs Ministry stated that Akmola Province’s top penal officer, his deputy, and the head of the Atbasar jail had all been recommended for dismissal from their posts as part of an ongoing investigation.

Eleven penitentiary guards were likewise recommended for dismissal from the Interior Ministry after the investigation found “signs of employees exceeding their official mandate,” the statement said, without naming names.

That is presumably the same 11 who released the video this week denying wrongdoing. The video was filmed in the darkness of night, and all of the men were wearing face coverings.

“There was no torture of defendants, but enforcement of compliance with the regime of confinement by legal physical means,” said the group’s speaker.

The speaker went on to claim that more than 40 prisoners had arrived at the prison in late August “with aggressive intent…. They wanted to start a riot.”

“All of our actions were agreed with the supervisory organs,” the speaker noted.

Many will find that last part all too easy to believe.

Vadim Kuramashin, a journalist who some 15 years ago spent a stint in the same jail where Danebaev was shown being beaten, told RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service that the process of “breaking” new residents of the jail is more or less a routine.

Having been imprisoned in early 2007 over a newspaper article, Kuramashin was isolated in a room where he was forced to clean toilets with a toothbrush, he said.

“When I asked them to show me the norm or law [that mandates cleaning], they began to beat me severely,” Kuramushin recalled.

Elena Semyonova, a longtime antitorture activist, was permitted to visit Danebaev this week.

Semyonova said that his health was “more or less [OK]” despite his body showing evidence of beatings.

“But he is psychologically depressed,” Semyonova told RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service, known locally as Azattyq. “A person who has never been in this system, who has completely different ideas.... He didn't expect this to happen. It came as a shock to him.”

‘Men With Epaulets And Uniforms’

In addition to criticizing Kazakhstan’s government, Danebaev has regularly criticized its ally Russia over the Kremlin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

He was also critical of Moscow’s intervention during the January 2022 crisis in Kazakhstan, when Toqaev invited a detachment of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to bolster his government’s control.

In December of last year, the activist was charged with inciting hatred and “insulting the national honor and dignity of citizens” in online videos and posts published on October 10 and November 12, 2022.

But he had already attracted the attention of authorities in February of that year after he tried to initiate a false information lawsuit against Toqaev over the president’s claim that “20,000 terrorists” had descended on Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, during the unrest.

“I have the right to file a complaint against the president or any other citizen,” an impassioned Danebaev told Azattyq in an interview last year.

“Because my rights are absolutely the same as the president’s.”

Well, maybe in theory.

In reality, Danebaev’s filing was ignored, and the police soon showed up on his doorstep, marking the beginning of a campaign of pressure that would culminate in his arrest.

In June of this year, he was sentenced to three years in prison on the charges.

In his Facebook post on the case, the journalist Akhmedyarov argued that Danebaev’s case was one of several that indicated Kazakhstan’s police state is once more baring its fangs, having been somewhat chastened by public criticism during last year’s violence.

Back then, Toqaev was promising a New Kazakhstan after effectively sidelining former President Nursultan Nazarbaev -- the architect of Kazakh authoritarianism and a man who had continued to overshadow his successor Toqaev’s presidency prior to the crisis.

But the political reforms promoted by Toqaev since then have been widely criticized as cosmetic, while a reshuffle of the cabinet and other positions this month mainly saw old politicians recycled into new roles.

One of them, noted Akhmedyarov, was Marat Akhmetzhanov, who swapped the post of interior minister for that of governor of Akmola Province, which surrounds Astana and includes the town of Atbasar in its territory.

Such an appointment echoes trends in Kazakhstan’s northern neighbor, Russia, Akhmedyarov argued.

It also indicates “that positions that were previously occupied exclusively by civilian 'suits' will now gradually be given to men with epaulets and uniforms,” the journalist forecasted.

Notwithstanding Toqaev’s affirmations, the government is doing little to convince the public that it takes torture seriously.

In the aftermath of the January 2022 events, dozens of former detainees complained of mistreatment and many still had the broken ribs to back it up.

But most cases have either been thrown out or have otherwise not made it to court.

Cases that involved deaths in detention during the unrest have been harder to ignore.

One recent conviction concerned the case of Eldos Kaliev, who died in a jail in the city of Semey.

The officer accused in that case was sentenced to six years imprisonment by a city court at the beginning of August.

But two other officers found guilty on August 23 of torturing another young Semey resident to death fared better.

They were handed suspended sentences and ordered to pay compensation -- just under $10,000 each – to the family of the deceased.

Kazakh authorities should swiftly investigate the recent use of force against journalist Diana Saparkyzy, prosecute those involved, and ensure that members of the press can cover events of public importance without obstruction, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday.

On Friday, August 18, Saparkyzy, a correspondent for independent news agency KazTAG, was attempting to report on an accident at the Kazakhstanskaya mine in the central Karaganda region when around five unidentified men forcibly ejected her from the mine’s grounds, dragging her by her arms, took her phone, and deleted video footage, according to news reports and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ by messaging app.

Five miners died in a fire at the mine on August 17. The company that owns the mine, ArcelorMittal Temirtau – part of the global ArcelorMittal Group – describes itself as Kazakhstan’s largest steel and mining producer. The company has been noted for the high number of fatalities at its mines in the region and Saparkyzy told CPJ it has restricted access to its sites for journalists for several years. She believes the company forcibly removed her to suppress coverage of the disaster.

CPJ emailed ArcelorMittal Temirtau for comment but did not receive a reply.

“The violent ejection of journalist Diana Sapakyzy while reporting on a mining disaster seems a deliberate and brutal stifling of coverage that is clearly in the public interest,” said Carlos Martínez de la Serna, CPJ’s program director, in New York. “Kazakh authorities should investigate and prosecute those involved to send a message that violence against journalists will not be tolerated and that the press’s right to report on public disasters will be upheld.”

Saparkyzy told CPJ that she decided to report from the site of the Kazakhstanskaya mine after ArcelorMittal Temirtau published limited information about the fire in press releases and allowed journalists only to attend a pre-arranged press conference.

She said she entered the company’s office at the Kazakhstanskaya site without identifying herself as a journalist and recorded several interviews with deceased miners’ relatives. When staff from the company’s press service recognized her, they told security guards to “chuck her out.”

Rather than uniformed guards, who were also present, Saparkyzy said around five plainclothes men who did not identify themselves grabbed her tightly by the arms and dragged her out of the building. The men took her backpack and threw out her belongings and equipment, including glasses and a tripod, as they escorted her to the mine’s gates, she said.

When Saparkyzy began filming the men on her cell phone, one of them grabbed her by both arms from behind and another man took her phone, according to the journalist and footage of the incident from the phone shared with CPJ. The man deleted video Saparkyzy had recorded, but she was able to restore it after retrieving her phone, which the men dropped while she was struggling with them, she said.

The journalist suffered bruising on her arms and filed a complaint with police and underwent a forensic medical examination. As of August 22, police have not opened a criminal case over the incident, Saparkyzy said.

In a statement August 21, local press freedom group Adil Soz called for the perpetrators to be criminally prosecuted for obstructing journalistic activity, saying they had been encouraged to act so “brazenly” by Kazakhstan’s low rate of prosecution for the offense. Only two cases of criminal obstruction have reached the courts in the country’s 30 years of independence, the rights organization said.

CPJ’s calls, emails, and messages to Karaganda Region Police Department and email to Karaganda Region Prosecutor’s Office went unanswered.

Kazakhstan journalist Sandugash Duysenova, known for her investigative work on social issues and corruption, was humiliated and tortured by investigators during detention. The journalist was brought into custody over an article she wrote, all charges against her were later dropped. The Coalition For Women In Journalism vehemently condemns the abuse by police and calls on authorities to investigate Duysevnova’s allegations immediately and prosecute those responsible.

On August 11, 2023, Sandugash Duysenova was detained by police in the Zhetysu region of southeastern Kazakhstan. The journalist was charged with privacy violation and disclosing personal information after publishing an article that revealed the identity number of a convicted murderer.

During her time in police custody in Taldykorgan, Sandugash Duysenova was forced to strip naked and was filmed by investigators, who tortured and humiliated her. They also threatened to harm her family if she did not confess to the charges against her.

Such acts of police torture and harassment against journalists have far-reaching and devastating consequences. They inflict physical and psychological trauma, undermine freedom of expression, erode public trust in law enforcement agencies, discourage investigative journalism, and instill fear, effectively silencing journalists.

Upon her release, Duysenova called for an investigation into the police abuse she endured and for those responsible to be held accountable.

Her case has garnered attention from both local and international media, as well as human rights organizations. Local journalist organizations issued an open letter to the Kazakh President, urging the prevention of torture and degrading treatment of journalists within law enforcement agencies. Activists also highlighted that forcing the reporter to strip naked and recording her can be seen as an attempt to pressure Duysenova due to her journalistic work.

Human rights organizations called on Kazakh officials to adhere to their constitution which prohibits torture as well as the United Nations Convention Against Torture, which the country has ratified.

On August 15, 2023, the prosecutor general's office dismissed the criminal case against Duysenova due to a lack of evidence. The journalist welcomed the decision and expressed gratitude to her supporters for their solidarity.

Despite the trauma she experienced, the award-winning journalist remains determined to continue her important journalistic work and political activism. Last year, Duysenova was presented with the International Media CAMP Award for her photograph depicting the toppled statue of Nursultan Nazarbaev in Taldykorgan during the period of crackdowns in Kazakhstan in January 2022.

The Coalition For Women In Journalism stands in solidarity with Sandugash Duysenova and calls for justice to be served. We call on Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev to urgently condemn the horrific treatment of Duysenova in police custody and urge the Human Rights Ombudsman and Public Prosecutor to conduct a thorough investigation into the journalist’s claims and hold those responsible to account.

Kazakhstan's Supreme Court on August 21 rejected an appeal filed by lawyers of opposition activist Erulan Amirov over a lower court ruling to sentence him to seven years in prison on terrorism charges. Amirov's relatives and supporters chanted "Shame!" after the ruling was pronounced. Amirov was sentenced in May last year over his posts on social media that criticized Kazakh authorities, as well as for his participation in unsanctioned protest rallies organized by the banned Koshe (Street) political party. Kazakh human rights organizations have designated Amirov as a political prisoner and have demanded his release.

Residents of the village of Maraldy in the East Kazakhstan region said on July 20 that local activists have clashed with workers constructing a gold-producing facility in the area. According to the villagers, the activists demanded a halt to the construction work, citing environmental issues. A local resident, Nurzhaqyp Qabylbaev, told RFE/RL that the company's security brutally dispersed the villagers and journalists who were at the site before police arrived. Local residents have been protesting the construction of the gold-producing plant in the area for years.

On July 3, the Saryagash District Specialized Administrative Court in Kazakhstan’s southern Turkestan region sentenced Batyrbekov, chief editor of local independent newspaper S-Inform, to 20 days’ administrative detention over a March 10 Facebook post accusing a parliamentary deputy of corruption. He was taken from the courtroom to begin his sentence.

Batyrbekov denied the charges and said he plans to appeal the verdict.

In a statement, the local free speech group Adil Soz described the ruling as “unlawful,” saying the court failed to prove Batyrbekov had knowingly spread false information.

In 2019, Batyrbekov was sentenced to two years and three months on insult and defamation charges. In January 2022, he survived an assassination attempt allegedly organized by a local official in retaliation for his reporting.

“The 20-day prison sentence for Kazakh journalist Amangeldy Batyrbekov, who has been frequently targeted with defamation charges and even attempted murder for his reporting, is deeply troubling,” said CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Gulnoza Said, in London. “Kazakh authorities should free Batyrbekov immediately and reform their defamation laws to ensure that journalists are not jailed for their reporting.”

In the March 10 post, Batyrbekov alleged that parliamentary deputy Bolatbek Nazhmetdinuly was connected to corruption cases, pointing to a 2019 fraud case in which Batyrbekov said Nazhmetdinuly was allegedly a suspect and that police had “mysteriously closed.”

In court, Batyrbekov showed what he said was a signed police document identifying Nazhmetdinuly as a suspect, according to Adil Soz. However, the investigator whose signature was purportedly on that document told the court that he denied signing it, saying Nazhmetdinuly was a witness and not a suspect.

Nazhmetdinuly told CPJ by email that his lawyer contacted Batyrbekov in the comments section under that post and asked him not to spread inaccurate information and to delete the post. When Batyrbekov refused to take down the post, Nazhmetdinuly filed a defamation complaint on March 15, he said.

Nazhmetdinuly told CPJ that investigators in the March 15 defamation case provided Batyrbekov with a document stating that the parliamentarian had not been a suspect in that case.

Judge Berik Kaipov ruled Batyrbekov had spread information without checking its accuracy, and that simply fining the journalist would be “insufficient” punishment, according to Adil Soz.

A person close to the journalist told CPJ that Batyrbekov believed authorities had falsified the document to favor Nazhmetdinuly’s description of the case.

That person, who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal, said Batyrbekov had frequently written posts and articles critical of Kaipov and that the judge had twice previously convicted the journalist of defamation. Those rulings were later overturned by higher courts, that person said.

CPJ’s calls and messages to Batyrbekov’s lawyer and email to the Saryagash Specialized Administrative Court went unanswered.

In 2020, Kazakhstan decriminalized defamation but maintained punishments of up to 30 days’ detention for the offense in its administrative code.

Kazakh activist Malik Akhmetqaliev has been detained in the northern city of Kokshetau on charges of illegal drugs possession, which his supporters call retaliation for his frequent criticism of the activities of authorities. Local media quoted law enforcement on June 23 as saying that Akhmetqaliev was detained two days earlier and his pretrial restrictions have yet to be decided by a court. Akhmetqaliev, who is a member of the Public Council group that monitors local authorities' activities in the capital of the Aqmola region that surrounds Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, has been known for his criticism of the authorities for years.

Kazakh journalist Duman Mukhammedkarim has been remanded in custody on a new charge instead of being released as expected after serving out a 25-day jail term for a video on his YouTube channel that called for Kazakhs to protest against a deal giving visa-free travel to Chinese nationals.

According to attorney Ghalym Nurpeisov, his client on June 22 now faces charges of financing extremism and being involved in the activities of a banned group.

Nurpeisov added that the charges against Mukhammedkarim stem from his online interview with the fugitive banker and outspoken critic of the Kazakh government, Mukhtar Ablyazov, whose Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement was declared extremist and banned in March 2018.

Nupeisov said that Mukhammedkarim's health is currently poor after he developed kidney problems following a hunger strike he recently held to protest his arrest.

Mukhammedkarim will most likely be placed in pretrial detention no later than June 23, Nurpeisov said, emphasizing that if convicted, his client could face up to 12 years in prison.

Mukhammedkarim was handed a 25-day jail term on charge of violating regulations for public gatherings in late May, just two days after he had finished serving a similar sentence.

Those charges stemmed from a video on Mukhammedkarim's YouTube channel that called on Kazakhs to defend their rights and his online calls for residents in the Central Asian country's largest city, Almaty, to rally against the government's move to introduce visa-free access to Kazakhstan for Chinese citizens.

Rights watchdogs have criticized authorities in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic for persecution of dissent, but Astana has shrugged the criticism off, saying there are no political prisoners in the country.

Kazakhstan was ruled by authoritarian President Nursultan Nazarbaev from independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 until current President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev succeeded him in 2019.

Over the past three decades, several opposition figures have been killed and many jailed or forced to flee the country.

Toqaev, who broadened his powers after Nazarbaev and his family left the oil-rich country's political scene following the deadly, unprecedented anti-government protests in January 2022, has promised political reforms and more freedoms for Kazakhs.

However, many in Kazakhstan, consider the reforms announced by Toqaev, cosmetic, as a crackdown on dissent has continued even after the president announced his "New Kazakhstan" program.

Police in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, and the country's largest city, Almaty, detained at least 14 activists from the unregistered Algha, Kazakhstan (Forward, Kazakhstan) political party on June 8. Almaty-based human rights defender Bakhytzhan Toreghozhina told reporters on June 9 that the detentions were made to prevent rallies the party planned during the ongoing two-day Astana International Forum, where participants discuss a broad range of issues including climate change, and food and energy security.

Kazakh journalist Duman Mukhammedkarim has launched a hunger strike to protest against a 25-day jail term he was handed on May 28, two days after he had finished serving a similar sentence. Mukhammedkarim’s lawyer told RFE/RL that a court in the southern town of Qonaev sentenced his client on a charge of violating regulations for public gatherings because of a video on Mukhammedkarim's YouTube channel that called on Kazakhs to defend their rights. His previous 25-day sentence was on the same charge over his online calls for Almaty residents to rally against the government's move to introduce visa-free entry to Kazakhstan for Chinese citizens.

On May 23, the court of the city of Uralsk sentenced Aslan Otepov, the leader of the "People's Against Corruption" public association, to 8 years in prison.

Aslan Otepov, the leader of the People Against Corruption group in Kazakhstan’s northwestern city of Oral, has been sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of fraud and bribe-taking that he and his supporters have rejected as politically motivated. Otepov reiterated that the case against him amounts to retaliation by local authorities for his anti-corruption activities, adding that he will appeal the verdict. Otepov also said that he will continue a hunger strike he launched two days earlier over his case.

The chairman of Kazakhstan’s unregistered Algha Kazakhstan (Forward Kazakhstan) party, Marat Zhylanbaev, has been sent to pretrial detention for two months instead of being released after serving a 20-day jail term. He was jailed for holding a picket in March to demand the release of political prisoners and to ask Western nations to impose sanctions on top Kazakh officials for "helping" Russia evade sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. A court in Astana ruled on May 25 that Zhylanbaev must stay in custody until July 23 on charges of taking part in a banned group's activities and financing an extremist organization.

The chairman of Kazakhstan’s unregistered Algha Kazakhstan (Forward Kazakhstan) party, Marat Zhylanbaev, was not released on May 23 despite serving out a 20-day jail term he was handed for holding a picket in March to demand the release of political prisoners and for Western nations to impose sanctions on top Kazakh officials for "helping" Russia evade sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine. Several police officers and men in civil clothes searched Zhylanbaev's home in Astana on May 23. They confiscated a memory stick, a telephone, and several T-shirts emblazoned with Algha symbols, Zhylanbaev's relatives say.

A number of Kazakh activists who planned to hold protest rallies against the government’s plan to introduce visa-free travel for Chinese citizens coming to Kazakhstan have been jailed or fined ahead of the China-Central Asian summit in the ancient city of Xi'an.

Kazakh officials have said an agreement on visa-free visits for visiting Chinese citizens for up to 30 days will be signed during the summit hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping and attended by the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan on May 19, the second day of the meeting.

Ahead of bilateral meetings held between the countries and Beijing, a court in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, sentenced Bekzatqan Maqsutuly, the leader of the unregistered Atazhurt (Fatherland) party, to 15 days in jail.

Maqsutuly's lawyer, Shynquat Baizhanov, told RFE/RL on May 18 that his client was found guilty of violating regulations for holding public gatherings. The charge was related to a previous unsanctioned public event. On May 16, Maqsutuly announced online his party's plan to organize a rally against the agreement on visa-free travel for Chinese nationals entering Kazakhstan.

A court in the northwestern city of Aqtobe sentenced activist Akhmet Sarsenghaliev to four days in jail on the same charge.

Three other activists in Aqtobe -- Almira Quatova, Ainagul Tobetova, and Bauyrzhan Maratuly -- were also convicted of violating regulations for holding public gatherings and ordered to pay fines between $380 and $535. All four activists planned to organize a rally in Aqtobe on May 18 to protest via-free travel for Chinese citizens entering Kazakhstan.

Activists in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic’s northern city of Pavlodar said on Facebook that they had faced police pressure over their plan to organize a rally against the visa-free travel agreement in the city.

Held a protest, detained, released, detained again

Vlada Yermolcheva has been demonstrating with a poster stating “We were robbed of elections” in the central pedestrian street in Almaty on March 26, a week after the parliamentary election. She was swiftly detained that day, but later released. On May 6, police officers approached her in a cafe and demanded she follow them to a police station. On the night to May 7, she was found guilty of a violation of Article 488(7) of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Darkhan Sharipov has also been detained for a protest on November 20, 2022. On the day of the presidential election, a group of activists unfurled a banner reading “Will we live to (see) fair elections?” on the main square in Almaty. All were detained by the police in less than ten minutes and released the same day without charge. On May 7, the night court found Sharipov guilty of a violation of Article 488(6). Police and court violated the procedure

In his interview to The Village Kazakhstan Yermolcheva’s attorney, Talgat Miyermanov, pointed out numerous procedural violations. No document stating the time and date of Yermolcheva’s first detention in March has been provided in the court materials. The detention report is dated 27 March – a day after the initial detention – but includes information from 19 April. Moreover, possible penalties stated in the law include a fine, an arrest is imposed only in exceptional cases – for instance, when a person has a previous conviction. The court, however, chose the harshest punishment – arrest with the maximum term, despite the fact that Yermolcheva had no criminal record. Penalties for peaceful assembly without permission

Kazakhstan’s law “On Peaceful Assemblies” is heavily criticised by civil society for violating the right of peaceful assembly. While the Constitution grants the right to peacefully gather to all Kazakhstani citizens, and the Law states that it is sufficient to inform local authorities without obtaining explicit permission to organise a demonstration, in fact there is a very limited space where such gatherings could be held, and the organisers need to “book” them in advance by the same city council, who has the ability to veto the assembly. For the mobile demonstrations such as rallies, notification is not enough – one has to apply for a written approval of the authorities.

Read more on Novastan: Women’s Day in Kazakhstan: hundreds gather for rally in Almaty

Human rights defender Tatiana Chernobil, commented to Novastan on why the authorities acted so long after the pickets took place, says one can be held liable within one year after the peaceful assembly itself.

“This law prohibits the holding of peaceful assemblies without the so-called sanction of the Akimat (city council), – explains Chernobil. – Pickets under this law are considered to be peaceful assemblies, which means that holding them, the same as with other peaceful assemblies, without notification and, importantly, without obtaining the necessary reciprocal approval of the Akimat will be illegal.

Darkhan and Vlada held their actions without notifying the Akimat out of principle, rightfully believing that holding of solitary pickets should not require the approval of the authorities. Fair enough because these are international human rights standards. But our government and the law believe otherwise. Therefore, holding even single pickets without Akimat approval in Kazakhstan is fraught with penalties.

What is interesting is that, in general, the limitation period for administrative responsibility established by the Code of Administrative Offences is 2 months, but a special period of 1 year is established for violating the legislation on peaceful assemblies.

It is also interesting to see what other administrative offences have such a long limitation period of 1 year. These are ‘corruption offences, unlawful interference of officials into entrepreneurial activity and also for offences in the sphere of inspections of private enterprise and other forms of control and supervision with visits to private enterprise, taxation, environment protection, protection of competition, customs, legislation on pension provision, on obligatory social insurance, on energy saving and improvement of energy efficiency, on state secrets, on natural monopolies, subsoil and subsoil use.’ This is the kind of company that peaceful assemblies find themselves in,” – concludes Chernobil. Verdict upheld

On May 11, after Yermolcheva’s verdict was upheld in the court of appeal, she declared she is going on a hunger strike.

In his letter from detention center, Darkhan Sharipov sends warm greetings to his fellow activists: “You must not be ashamed for your civic position; the president and the state must be ashamed of imprisoning citizens for dissent. Until there is one person willing to fight for their rights and freedoms, I have no doubt about the future of this country.”

Zhanar Sekerbayeva, board member of EL*C and of Feminita Kazakhstan Feminist initiative, reports that on 3 and 5 May: “The Police and several national security agencies, NSD and MSU tried to disrupt our feminist meetings in Astana. Four people came to the first meeting and sat in the corridor (“waiting for an English lesson”) then a district police officer appeared and started searching for a “LGBT meeting”.

At the first meeting four agents of the National Security department (NSD) and a district police officer came to the building. During the second meeting, the officers of the Mobile Security Unit (MSU) entered the building (in bulletproof vests), but too late, the meeting was over and they didn’t find me. Then, the police searched the building again.”

Feminita, an organization focusing on the rights of LBQ women in Kazakhstan, has been trying to request an official registration since 2017 and they have been denied around 10 times. Feminita, an organization focusing on the rights of LBQ women in Kazakhstan, has been trying to request an official registration since 2017 and they have been denied around 10 times. In the past 2 years, despite the promises from the government for a “New and Fair Kazakhstan” promoting democracy and respecting human rights, the situation for LGBTIQ activists has not improved.

After the 2022 demonstrations, civil unrest, and the intervention of Russian forces in the country, human rights activists denounce that it has become even more difficult to protect LGBTIQ rights and their enjoyment of freedom of assembly and expression is limited. LGBTIQ civil society organisations struggle to continue existing as it is impossible for them to legally register in the country.

Kazakh journalist Duman Mukhammedkarim has been sentenced to 25 days in jail on a charge of violating regulations on public gatherings. Mukhammedkarim's lawyer, Ghalym Nurpeisov, said on May 2 that a court in the southern town of Qonaev sentenced his client overnight. Mukhammedkarim was detained on May 1. The charge stems from an online call he allegedly made to Almaty residents to hold a rally against the government's move to introduce visa-free entrance to Kazakhstan for Chinese citizens. Last month, Mukhammedkarim served 25 days in jail on a similar charge.

A court in Almaty has sentenced Kazakh activist Alnur Ilyashev to five days in prison for violating a court-imposed ban on taking part in public gatherings. The court pronounced the sentence on May 4, three days after Ilyashev participated in a gathering of an unregistered group. In June 2020, Ilyashev was handed a parole-like sentence and banned from participating in public events for three years on a charge of distributing false materials that he rejected as politically motivated.

Kazakh journalist Duman Mukhammedkarim was handed a 25-day jail term on March 21 after he announced his plan to hold a rally to protest the official results of parliamentary and local elections held over the weekend. Mukhammedkarim's lawyer, Ghalym Nurpeiisov, said his client was jailed on a charge of violating the laws on mass gatherings. The ruling Amanat party won a majority in the general elections on March 19. International observers said the polls showed some progress over previous votes, while several opposition politicians claimed that the balloting was unfair.

Police detained three Kazakh activists in Almaty on March 27 after they demonstrated near the Chinese consulate to demand the release of their relatives from China’s Xinjiang Province.

Activists Akikat Kaliolla, Nurzat Yermekbay, and Zauatkhan Tursyn were taken to the police department of the Medeu district, according to another activist, Baibolat Kunbolatuly, son of Tursyn. They were held at the police department for several hours and released without charge, Kunbolatuly told RFE/RL.

There was no comment from authorities, and calls by RFE/RL to the police department were not answered.

Kaliolla published a video on Facebook purporting to show the demonstrators and police officers following behind them.

One of the demonstrators, Almakhan Myrzan, held a photograph of her brother, religious researcher Baqytkhan Myrzan, who died earlier this month in custody in a penitentiary in Xinjiang.

Myrzan sharply condemned the authorities for her brother's death, which she confirmed to RFE/RL on March 9. He had been sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2018 for performing an Islamic ritual at a religious event.

She also said that authorities in Xinjiang had ignored demands by Myrzan's relatives in China and Kazakhstan to release him due to a medical condition.

Almakhan Myrzan has been among dozens of people who for more than two years have been picketing the Chinese Embassy in Astana and the consulate in Almaty to demand the release of relatives held in correctional facilities in China.

China has been accused of human rights violations against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities over the existence of mass detention camps in Xinjiang Province. The crackdown has seen Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and Xinjiang's other indigenous ethnic groups sent to the camps.

Beijing denies the facilities are internment camps, saying its actions are aimed at combating terrorism, but people who have fled the province say people from the ethnic groups are undergoing "political indoctrination" at a network of facilities officially referred to as reeducation camps.

The demonstration and detentions in Almaty took place as Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev met in Astana with Ma Xingrui, the Communist Party secretary in Xinjiang.

Toqaev hailed the "eternal friendship" with Beijing as he welcomed the "deepening all-round cooperation with China," Kazakhstan's presidency said.

China is among key investors in the oil-rich country, which is home to a large Uyghur diaspora, while around 1.5 million ethnic Kazakhs live in Xinjiang.

Ma said Kazakhstan was a "priority area" of mutual cooperation.

"In general, China's cooperation with Kazakhstan is carried out through Xinjiang," Ma added.

Ma's visit to Astana, which was not widely reported, took place 10 days after the Kazakh ambassador to China, Shakhrat Nuryshev, made a trip to Xinjiang and met with Ma.

Kazakh authorities refrain from openly criticizing the policies of China, one of their main creditors. They have responded to the demands of ethnic Kazakhs for the release of their relatives by saying that what is happening in China is an internal affair of the country, and have said the applications of separated family members are considered "through diplomatic channels."

Police in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, have detained dozens of oil workers from the Central Asian nation's southwestern town of Zhanaozen, who were demanding jobs after their company lost a tender in recent weeks that would have provided work.

Artur Alkhasov of the Kazakh Bureau of Human Rights and Rule of Law told RFE/RL that more than 80 former workers of the BerAli Manghystau Company were detained on April 11 after they spent a night in front of the Energy Ministry's building, demanding jobs at the OzenMunaiGaz company, a subsidiary of the oil-rich nation's KazMunaiGaz energy giant.

The workers said they lost their jobs after their company had lost a tender for oil work in the energy-rich western region of Manghystau recently.

Last week, dozens of women in Zhanaozen staged a protest demanding permanent jobs for their sons and husbands, while hundreds of former oil-industry employees gathered in front of the offices of OzenMunaiGaz demanding jobs.

Zhanaozen was the scene of mass anti-government rallies in 2011 staged by oil workers that resulted in the deaths of at least 16 people when police opened fire on unarmed protesters.

In early January last year, other protests in the volatile town over abrupt energy price hikes quickly spread across the tightly controlled former Soviet republic and led to violent clashes in the country's largest city, Almaty, and elsewhere that left at least 238 people, including 19 law enforcement officers, dead.

President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev then moved to deprive influential former President Nursultan Nazarbaev of his lifetime post atop the Kazakh Security Council, taking the post himself.

The crisis prompted Toqaev to seek help from troops from the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to quell the unrest.

Toqaev's moves since then appear aimed at weakening Nazarbaev, his relatives and close allies.

Kazakh artist Dauren Makin has been sentenced to seven years in prison on a charge of propagating terrorism that he and his supporters say is politically motivated. A court in Astana pronounced the sentence on April 27. Makin, who pleaded not guilty, said he will appeal the sentence. The details of the charge remain unknown as the trial was held behind closed doors. Makin's lawyer, Zhasulan Komekov, said earlier that the charge against Makin stemmed from his statements about January 2022 antigovernment protests that turned into deadly mass disorder. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Kazakh Service, click here.

Police in Almaty on May 1 detained about a dozen people at an opposition rally called by fugitive Kazakh oligarch and opposition politician leader Mukhtar Ablyazov.

About 20 people gathered near the Central Park of Culture and Recreation for the afternoon rally before police began making arrests without explanation.

Some demonstrators held signs reading: “There is no road for China on Kazakh land,” while others demanded a fair investigation into unprecedented anti-government protests in the Central Asian nation in January 2022 that began over a sudden fuel price hike and grew into broader unrest against corruption, political stagnation, and widespread injustice. Violent clashes during the demonstrations left at least 238 people dead, including 19 law enforcement officers.

Ablyazov, an outspoken critic of the Kazakh government who received political asylum in France several years ago, is wanted in Kazakhstan and Russia on suspicion of embezzling some $5 billion. Ablyazov rejects the charge as politically motivated.

The fugitive tycoon established the opposition movement Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) and regularly uses the Internet to organize unsanctioned anti-government rallies across Kazakhstan. DVK was labelled as extremist and banned in Kazakhstan in March 2018.

Demonstrations were held on May 1 in other cities in Kazakhstan after civil activists announced peaceful rallies in support of Ukraine and Kazakhstan's withdrawal from the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in which Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan are also members.

Applications filed by some activists for peaceful assemblies on May 1 were refused by authorities citing other events and incomplete information on applications for rallies.

One human rights group reported police surveillance of civil activists in different Kazakh cities, and some activists reportedly were detained or summoned to the police department.

On 21 April 2023, the Specialised Inter-district Administrative Court of Almaty ruled in support of the prohibition of the International Women’s Day March in 2024 by the Akimat (local government) of the city of Almaty, making this the third consecutive year that the march has been refused. 8MarchKZ is a grassroots feminist human rights initiative in Almaty, Kazakhstan that unites for the purpose of organising the annual feminist and women’s march in Almaty on 8 March. The organising committee of the initiative includes a diverse group of women human rights defenders, who work to promote and protect women and LGBTQI+ rights. The first Women’s March in Almaty took place in 2017. On 20 March 2023, the 8MarchKZ initiative submitted a notification to the Akimat about holding a Women’s March on 8 March 2024, with the thematic focus of the March being “for the rights of the women of Kazakhstan” which was refused by the Akimat of Almaty. During a court hearing on 12 April 2023, the Akim (local governor) of Almaty, Erbolat Dosayev, justified the decision to disallow the march by stating that it is a threat to public security. The Akim of Almaty argued that the Akimat received letters of concern from an unidentified representative of a group called On Legalisation of Foreign Vehicles and from a concerned citizen of the Turkestan region of Kazakhstan, who called to ban the “feminist movement from organising peaceful protests in the city of Almaty.” Eventually, on 21 April 2023, the Specialised Inter-district Administrative Court of Almaty ruled in support of the prohibition of the Women’s March in 2024 by the Akimat of the city of Almaty. The local governing bodies of Almaty have a history of refusing women human rights defenders to march on International Women’s Day. In 2022, the Akimat of Almaty refused to approve a Women’s March due to alleged road works along the route. Women human rights defenders from 8MarchKZ however, reported that no road works were actually happening on 8 March. In 2023, the Akimat of Almaty once again refused to approve the march, citing that the route and the time-slot suggested were already booked by another civil society actor. Women human rights defenders who organise the Women’s March on 8 March have also been targeted for their human rights work. In 2019, some organisers, who submittted individual requests to the Akimat for the march to take place, received threats of expulsion from their educational institutions unless they retracted their requests. In 2020, two of the march organisers, woman human rights defenders Fariza Ozpan and Arina Osinovskaya were fined for the symbolic burning of a flower wreath in commemoration of the vicitms of gender-based violence. Arina Osinovskaya was fined for 66,000 KZT (approximately EUR 119) and Farisa Ospan for 13,000 KZT (approximately EUR 26). Front Line Defenders condemns the Akimat of Almaty’s refusal to approve the 2024 Women’s March, as well as their denial of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly to feminist and women’s rights defenders. Front Line Defenders calls upon the authorities of Kazakhstan to ensure that 8MarchKZ feminist initiative can exercise their rights to protect and promote women’s rights, feminist agendas, and to peacefully assemble and march for the cause of the International Women’s Day.

On 12 April 2023, human rights defender and journalist Lukpan Akhmedyarov was detained and sentenced to 15 days of administrative detention. Law enforcement officers stopped Lukpan Akhmedyarov’s car on the road, and informed him that he was being detained for violating the rules on public protest, an administrative offence envisioned by Article 488, part 7, of the Civic Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan. On the same day he was sentenced to 15 days administrative detention. Lukpan Akhmedyarov is a Kazakh human rights defender, journalist and former editor-in-chief of the newspaper Uralskaya Nedelya (Uralsk Week). Currently he works on his own YouTube project “Just Journalism,” where he covers human rights violations in Kazakhstan. The human rights defender has conducted several civil campaigns in defence of fundamental rights and freedoms. The authorities have repeatedly subjected Lukpan Akhmedyarov to unlawful arrests and detentions for his human rights work. In 2012, he received the Peter Mackler Award by the international human rights organisation Reporters Without Borders for his civil courage and protection of the principles of independent journalism. On 12 April 2023, on his personal Instagram account, Lukpan Akhmedyarov broadcasted a live video, which showed at least two local law enforcement representatives, accompanied by at least three representatives of Security Service Personnel of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Their faces were covered with black masks as theyapproached his car trying to force the human rights defender out. In the video Lukpan Akhmedyarov stated that he also noticed security service personnel in front of his house in Uralsk. The law enforcement officers then stated that on 9 April 2023, Lukpan Akhmedyarov participated in a protest that was not sanctioned by the authorities, where he called out restrictions on freedom of speech. The authorities cited his participation in this protest as the reason for his detention, stating that the human rights defender violated Article 488, part 7 of the Civic Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as he “organised and (or) held a meeting, rally, demonstration, march, picket or other public events held in violation of the procedure established by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the procedure for organising and holding peaceful assemblies, if these actions do not have signs of a criminally punishable act.” Lupan Alhmedyarov has stated that his detention and arrest were related to his publicly announced intention to visit Zhanaozen and report on the situation in the city, where oil workers are protesting their labor conditions and the recent detention of their colleagues in Astana. The Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan has been trying to silence the coverage of the protests by oil workers in Zhanaozen and in Astana; some journalists covering the protests in Astana were detained, and there are reports of internet shutdowns in Zhanaozen. Front Line Defenders condemns the judicial harrasment of human rights defender and journalist Lukpan Akhmedyarov for his legitimate and peaceful human rights work. Front Line Defenders expresses serious concerns about a pattern of targetting human rights journalists with arrests and detentions in order to prevent them from covering human rights violations. Systemic attacks against independent human rights journalists negatively impact the development of civil society in Kazakhstan.

A journalist has been assaulted in Kazakhstan amid a series of attacks against independent reporters as early parliamentary elections in the oil-rich Central Asian nation draw near.

Daniyar Moldabekov says he was attacked in the morning on February 22 in the corridor of his apartment building by a masked man in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty.

Moldabekov told RFE/RL that he was returning home from a coffee shop when a man wearing a medical mask hit him in the jaw with a single blow that dazed him.

"He hit me and shouted 'Hey, don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong!' and quickly left the premises," Moldabekov said, adding that the attack was most likely linked to his latest investigative reports about alleged corruption in the city.

"I will not stop. I will continue working as a journalist. That is for sure. And I will write about anyone I want to," Moldabekov said. He did not say which of his reports could be behind the attack.

The Almaty city police department told RFE/RL that the attack is under investigation.

Attacks against journalists in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic have been on the rise since early January as the country gets ready for early parliamentary elections scheduled for March 19.

On February 20, another Almaty-based journalist and vlogger Vadim Boreiko said that two cars belonging to his cameraman, Roman Yegorov, were burned in an arson attack.

Boreiko and Yegorov said the attack was linked to their professional activities.

In early February, the chief editor of the Ulysmedia.kz news website in Almaty, Samal Ibraeva, received a box from unknown people that contained a hunk of meat and pictures of her children. She described the package as a fresh attempt "to intimidate" her and her staff.

Several other attacks were registered in Kazakhstan last month.

International human rights watchdogs and the embassies of several Western nations have urged Kazakh authorities to investigate the attacks.

Police in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, have launched a probe into an alleged attack against the son of noted journalist Dinara Egeubaeva by an unknown person armed with a pistol.

The Almaty city police department said on February 6 that it had registered Egeubaeva's complaint and started an investigation into it.

Egeubaeva said a day earlier that her son was approached by a man with a pistol in his hand late in the evening and managed to escape an attack by fleeing and then hiding in a residential building.

Egeubaeva insists that the attack was linked to her professional activities.

Last month, unknown attackers broke a window of Egeubaeva's car before setting the vehicle on fire. Egeubaeva linked that attack with her professional activities as well.

Police said later that they apprehended a group of teenagers suspected of the arson attack, but it remains unclear who ordered the assault.

The Almaty-based Adil Soz (A Just Word) group, which monitors journalists' rights, said last month that at least five journalists have been attacked in Kazakhstan since January 1.

Egeubaeva has been writing and reporting about the first anniversary of the violent dispersal of anti-government protests that turned into mass disorder and left at least 238 people, including 19 law enforcement officers, dead.

She has also announced her decision to take part in early parliamentary elections scheduled for March 19.

Last month, the New-York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the embassies of several Western countries urged the Kazakh authorities to investigate the attacks on journalists.

The chief editor of the Ulysmedia.kz news website in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, says she received a box from unknown people that contained a hunk of meat and pictures of her children, a parcel she called a new attempt "to intimidate" her and her staff.

Samal Ibraeva told RFE/RL that the box was delivered to the website's office on February 8. She linked the box's delivery to the professional activities of her team, which she said has been the target of other intimidation attempts.

On January 18, Ulysmedia.kz had to suspend its operations following a hacking attack. Ibraeva said at the time that the attack was most likely linked to the website's work, adding that it had faced several previous similar attacks.

The incident comes at a time when the independent press in Kazakhstan is coming under pressure.

The Almaty-based Adil Soz (A Just Word) group, which monitors journalists' rights, said earlier that there have been at least five attacks against journalists in the Central Asian nation since January 1.

The subjects of the attacks, including Ulysmedia.kz, have been writing and reporting about Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine and the first anniversary of the violent dispersal of anti-government protests in Kazakhstan that turned into mass unrest that left at least 238 people, including 19 law enforcement officers, dead.

On January 20, presidential spokesman Ruslan Zheldibai said President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev, who has initiated a series of changes since last year's deadly protests aimed at creating what he calls a "new Kazakhstan," has ordered law enforcement to investigate each attack against journalists.

Ibraeva said to RFE/RL on February 8 that, despite the presidential order to investigate the attacks, it remains unclear who is behind the assaults.

International human rights watchdogs and the embassies of several Western nations have urged Kazakh authorities to investigate the attacks.

As Kazakhstan gears up for parliamentary elections this spring, the Almaty City Prosecutor’s office on January 26 charged the opposition leader of the unregistered Democratic Party of Kazakhstan, Zhanbolat Mamay, with “organizing mass riots,” for his alleged role in the January 2022 protests in Almaty. The charge carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence.

Oddly, this “new” charge comes just two months after the prosecutor’s office dropped an identical charge, reclassifying his alleged actions as “violating the procedure for organizing and holding peaceful assemblies.” Mamay was placed under house arrest after spending just over eight months in pretrial detention. Mamay also faces lesser charges of “insulting law enforcement officers” and “disseminating false information.” His trial on those began November 7, 2022 and is set to resume on February 6. Mamay remains under house arrest. Kazakhstan does not allow any genuinely independent opposition parties; Mamay’s party has not been able to register.

The new 59-page indictment asserts that Mamay decided to “organize mass riots, accompanied by violence, pogroms, arson, destruction, property damage, the use of firearms, as well as armed resistance to the authorities.” At least 238 people died in the January 2022 events in Kazakhstan, most of them in Almaty. The authorities have failed to ensure accountability for the hundreds who died or who alleged ill-treatment and torture following the violence.

What is lacking in the indictment is any evidence that Mamay committed the alleged crime.

The prosecutor argues that in order to organize mass riots, Mamay uploaded videos to Facebook calling on Almaty residents to join the peaceful protest on January 4, that he misinformed the crowd by saying tens of thousands of people had gathered in the city of Zhanaozen, and that he acted on people’s heightened emotions to call for a fair government, a fair election, political reform, the dissolution of Parliament, and registration of political parties in Kazakhstan.

Expert analyses commissioned by the prosecution concluded that Mamay “promoted destructive attitudes of civil and political behavior” and “contributed to the growth of protest activism on January 3-4, 2022.”

However, the indictment does not say Mamay carried out any violent acts or called for violence because there is no evidence he did.

Calling for political reforms is not a crime, but locking Mamay away for 10 years most certainly would be.

Kazakh authorities should thoroughly investigate a recent spate of attacks on independent journalists, hold all those responsible to account, and ensure that members of the press are able to work safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday.

Since January 12, journalists throughout Kazakhstan have seen their cars set on fire, apartments attacked, and offices vandalized, according to media reports and journalists who spoke to CPJ. Police have detained five suspects in relation to two of those incidents.

“While Kazakh police should be applauded for their swift work in apprehending suspects in two recent attacks on journalists, authorities must ensure that all the recent instances of harassment against the press are thoroughly investigated and that those who ordered them are held to account,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “Authorities’ rhetoric about a ‘new Kazakhstan’ will remain empty words unless they are able to ensure journalists’ safety.”

On January 12, attackers smashed the glass entrance to an office building that houses the independent outlet Elmedia in the southern city of Almaty, according to media reports and posts on Facebook by Elmedia editor-in-chief Gulzhan Yergalieva, which said that it was the sixth such attack on the outlet’s office since October.

Elmedia covers politics on its YouTube channel, where it has about 100,000 subscribers.

Since August, people have also filed false reports to police about bombs in Elmedia’s office and Yergalieva’s home and car, sent the journalist a funeral wreath, and placed her phone number and photo on websites advertising sexual services.

In messages sent to Elmedia’s Telegram account and posted by Yergalieva on Facebook, individuals who claimed to have carried out the attacks threatened “maybe the next brick will be to your forehead,” and told the outlet to “put a muzzle on” Yergalieva, “otherwise we will shut her up.”

Separately, on the night of January 13, a vehicle belonging to independent journalist Dinara Yegeubayeva was set on fire in Almaty, according to news reports and a post by the journalist on Instagram.

Yegeubayeva, who is also a political activist, said in an interview with independent journalist Vadim Boreiko that she believes the attack was related to her journalistic posts on Instagram and YouTube, where she has a combined 94,000 subscribers and has covered allegations of rights abuses by authorities during 2022 mass protests in Kazakhstan and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Police have arrested five suspects aged between 15 and 17 who confessed to carrying out the arson attack on Yegeubayeva’s car and the most recent attacks on Elmedia, saying they were paid to commit them by unidentified individuals who contacted them on the internet, news reports said.

Separately, on January 16, unidentified individuals injected construction foam around the apartment door of Gulnara Bazhkenova, chief editor of the independent news website Orda, in Almaty, for the third time since September, the journalist told CPJ by phone and wrote on Facebook. Bazhkenova said unidentified people also mailed her a tombstone featuring her image and the date “2023” in December, and that her outlet’s website has faced consistent distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks since July 2022.

Also, on January 18, hackers infiltrated the website of the independent news website Ulysmedia, based in the capital city of Astana, and placed the personal data of chief editor Samal Ibrayeva and her children online, according to news reports and a statement by the journalist posted on Telegram.

Following the doxxing, unidentified users flooded Ulysmedia’s social media accounts with an identical message, saying: “This is just the start of your new life full of pain and sorrow. We know about everything that you hold dear.”

Ibrayeva told CPJ by messaging app that Ulysmedia’s website and social media accounts have repeatedly been targeted by DDoS and spam attacks since July 2022.

Separately, in the early hours of January 19, unidentified attackers injected construction foam around the door of journalist Vadim Boreiko’s apartment in Almaty and wrote graffiti featuring a lewd image and the name of Boreiko’s YouTube channel, according to news reports and a Facebook post by the journalist.

On his YouTube channel Giperborei, which has about 250,000 subscribers, Boreiko has covered topics including the war in Ukraine and the 2022 protests, which he told CPJ by messaging app were “the most undesirable topics for Kazakh authorities.”

Ibrayeva and Boreyko told CPJ that they had not received any information about the suspects in their cases.

Bazhkenova told CPJ police arrested two young people in November who admitted to some of the previous harassment of Orda and Elmedia, and who told police they had also been paid by unidentified individuals who contacted them online.

On January 20, a spokesperson for Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev wrote on Facebook that the president had ordered a “thorough investigation” into the attacks on journalists, saying that “not only the perpetrators, but also those who ordered these illegal acts” must be identified.

CPJ emailed the Kazakhstan Ministries of Internal Affairs and Information for comment, but did not receive any replies.

More than a dozen activists of the opposition movement Oyan, Qazaqstan! (Wake Up, Kazakhstan!) have been detained in the country’s largest city, Almaty, as the Central Asian nation marks the 31st anniversary of its independence.

RFE/RL's correspondents in Almaty say that Bota Sharipzhan, Mira Ongharova, Fariza Ospan, Naghashybek Bekdaiyr, Aidana Aidarkhan, Beibarys Tolymbekov, Bauyrzhan Adilkhanov, and Asem Zhapisheva are among those who were detained on December 16.

Many of the activists were detained while they were making their way to the Independence Monument in the city center to commemorate the anniversaries of two violent crackdowns on protests that coincide with Kazakhstan's Independence Day.

One is the 1986 anti-Kremlin youth demonstrations, known as Zheltoqsan, in Almaty that erupted after Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev replaced Kazakhstan's long-term ruler, Dinmukhammed Konaev, with Gennady Kolbin, an ethnic Russian sent by Moscow to head the then-Soviet republic.

Demonstrations against the appointment were put down by a violent crackdown by Soviet authorities. Hundreds of people are believed to have been killed by security forces, although officially only several people were said to have lost their lives during the demonstrations that lasted for three days.

Also, 11 years ago police opened fire at protesting oil workers in the southwestern town of Zhanaozen, killing at least 16 people and one person in the nearby town of Shetpe.

Several opposition activists across the Central Asian nation were detained before December 16 on charges related to their previous participation in unsanctioned rallies.

Kazakh rights activist Sanavar Zakirova has been sentenced to 10 days in jail on a charge of "disobeying police." Zakirova was detained along with several other women on December 20 after they demonstrated in Astana demanding that President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev meet with them over social problems faced in the country. It is not known if the other detained women faced trials as well. Zakirova has been sentenced to several jail terms in recent years and has been prevented from registering her Nashe Pravo (Our Right) political party.

Kazakh authorities should release investigative journalist Mikhail Kozachkov immediately and ensure that members of the press are not prosecuted in retaliation for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.

On Sunday, December 18, officers from Kazakhstan’s Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA) in the southern city of Almaty arrested Kozachkov, who covers alleged corruption and abuses by government officials and prominent business figures for independent news website Vremya and his Telegram channel, according to news reports and a report by local free speech organization Adil Soz.

In a statement on its Telegram channel, FMA accused Kozachkov of helping a criminal group carry out illegal hostile takeovers of local businesses by publishing information discrediting the takeovers’ victims. The statement added that the journalist was under investigation for spreading state secrets.

CPJ was not able to obtain contact information for the journalist’s lawyer, but Adil Soz told CPJ that the journalist, via his lawyer, denied the accusations. A news report, citing a Facebook post that Adil Soz confirmed as authentic, said the journalist denied the accusations, calling them retaliation for articles he wrote about FMA and its head.

An open letter to Kazakhstan President Qasym-Zhomart Toqayev published by Adil Soz and signed by dozens of prominent Kazakh journalists, media outlets, and free speech organizations said there were numerous indications that Kozachkov’s arrest was a “political order, linked to his journalistic investigations.”

“The arrest of Mikhail Kozachkov, a well-known anticorruption journalist who frequently published allegations against state officials, law enforcement agencies, and wealthy businessmen, is concerning, especially given reports of procedural and rights violations against him by the investigating body,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Kazakh authorities should reveal the nature of the charges or release Kozachkov pending a transparent and impartial investigation of his case and ensure that his legal rights are fully upheld.”

In its statement, FMA accused Kozachkov and an acquaintance of the journalist of receiving 52 million tenge (US$111,200) from the criminal group to obtain and publish information discrediting several of its victims. FMA said the group was run by a man identified by Kazakh media as an assistant of the brother of former President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

FMA officers searched Kozachkov’s home following his arrest, those reports said, and the journalist’s lawyer told local news outlet Nege.kz that Kozachkov was placed in 48-hour detention, and that a court would decide on further custody measures.

Officers conducted the search without a lawyer present, detained the journalist for “several hours” without the chance to communicate with his lawyer, and did not allow the journalist to talk privately with his lawyer, Adil Soz reported.

In articles for Vremya and on his Telegram channel, Kozachkov offside, which has around 91,000 subscribers, Kozachkov regularly reported allegations of corruption against government and law enforcement agencies and had recently covered alleged abuses by FMA, according to a Vremya statement and a CPJ review of the journalist’s reporting. The FMA statement claimed Kozachkov published articles critical of FMA after learning that it was investigating Kozachkov’s associates.

In its statement, Vremya said it stood by Kozachkov’s reporting, saying he always verified information and that the outlet “scrupulously” checked his articles and consulted legal advisors before publication.

Kozachkov had recently received threats against him and his family, been subjected to online slander, and complained of surveillance, the open letter and Vremya statement said.

CPJ emailed FMA for comment but did not receive a reply. In response to the open letter, President Toqayev’s spokesperson, Ruslan Zheldibay, said Kozachkov’s legal rights must be “fully observed” and called on the prosecutor general’s office to ensure that any investigation into him was legal.

Kazakh activist Marat Abiev has been placed in pretrial detention for two months after serving a 15-day jail term for organizing an unsanctioned protest rally on November 26, the day of President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev's inauguration. The Astana City Court on December 14 did not specify what charges Abiev faced. Toqaev was reelected in an election held on November 20. A monitoring mission by the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights said after the election that the election lacked "competitiveness."

Kazakh activist Marat Abiev has been handed a 15-day jail term for organizing an unsanctioned protest rally on November 26, the day of President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev's inauguration. A court in Astana sentenced Abiev on November 28 after finding him guilty of "violating the law on holding public events." Toqaev was reelected in the early election held on November 20. A monitoring mission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights said after the election that the election lacked "competitiveness."

Unknown assailants have broken a window at the offices of the Elmedia television channel in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty. The attack came weeks after a similar attack shattered the office's glass doors and a large inscription was left in red on the sidewalk in front of the office in what employees believe was a warning to independent media. Elmedia said on Telegram on November 23 that the office's doors were also broken in the overnight attack. Intimidation and attacks on independent media outlets in the country have been frequent for years.

Authorities in Kazakhstan have detained seven people suspected of planning to organize "riots" during this weekend's presidential election, the security service said on November 17.

"The National Security Committee, with the assistance of prosecutors, suppressed the activities of a criminal group involved in planning and organizing mass riots on November 20 of this year," the security services said in a statement.

The statement said the group was not only organizing large-scale riots but also planning to attack administrative buildings and law enforcement offices using arms and projectiles. Weapons confiscated include Kalashnikov assault rifles, sawn-off shotguns, ammunition, and materials for Molotov cocktails as well as walkie-talkies, it said.

The former Soviet republic on November 20 is set to hold a snap presidential election expected to cement incumbent President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev's grip on power months after nationwide protests against fuel prices turned violent and left more than 200 dead.

The unrest occurred in January after a peaceful demonstration in the western region of Manghystau over a fuel price hike tapped into deep-seated resentment of the country's leadership, leading to widespread antigovernment protests.

Thousands of people were detained by officials during and after the protests, which Toqaev said were caused by "20,000 terrorists" from abroad, a claim for which authorities have provided no evidence.

Human rights groups have provided evidence that peaceful demonstrators and people who had nothing to do with the protests were among those killed by law enforcement and military personnel.

Kazakh authorities in recent weeks have detained or sentenced opposition activists on various charges related to activities linked to the upcoming election.

Several opposition and rights activists have been detained across Kazakhstan as the day of an early presidential election scheduled for November 20 nears.

Police in the southwestern town of Zhanaozen on November 15 detained noted opposition activist Estai Qarashaev, who was sentenced to six days in jail several hours later on a charge of violating regulations for holding public gatherings.

Qarashaev was among oil workers who protested in 2011 to demand higher wages. Police brutally dispersed the protests, killing at least 16 people.

In the country's largest city, Almaty, on November 15, police detained Aset Abishev, a member of the founding committee of the Algha Qazaqstan (Forward, Kazakhstan) party that has been trying unsuccessfully for eight months to get registered for the election.

It is not clear why Abishev was detained. Last week, five other members of the unregistered party were detained for taking part in an unsanctioned rally in August.

Kazakh authorities have warned citizens of the Central Asian nation against holding rallies on November 20 when voting will take place in an early presidential election.

The Prosecutor-General's Office said in a statement on November 18 that "a banned group has been calling for illegal rallies and other illegal activities" on the day of the vote, adding that "those who follow such calls will face legal prosecution."

The statement did not mention the group, but a day earlier, the Committee of National Security said it detained seven people suspected of planning "riots" during the presidential election, following online calls for action by exiled former banker Mukhtar Ablyazov, his Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK), and the Koshe (Street) Party, which are banned in the country as extremist.

In recent days, Ablyazov has called on Kazakh citizens to hold mass protests on November 20 saying the vote is illegal as no real opposition candidates were allowed to take part in the contest against President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev in the tightly controlled country.

Meanwhile Kazakh authorities have detained dozens of opposition and human rights activists in efforts to ward off the possibility of such demonstrations.

On November 18, a court in Almaty sentenced opposition activist Aigerim Tileuzhan to two months of house arrest for her role in unprecedented anti-government protests in January that were violently dispersed by police, leaving at least 238 people, including 19 law enforcement officers, dead.

Toqaev faces five opponents whom he is expected to easily beat in the November 20 snap leadership vote where a newly introduced seven-year term is up for grabs.

While he appears to be taking the election challengers lightly -- as evidenced by the fact that he sent a representative to the only televised debate among candidates last week -- opposition activists have been piling on pressure for an explanation of his decision to invite troops from the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to quell the January unrest, as well as his public "shoot to kill without warning" order.

The unrest occurred after a peaceful demonstration in the western region of Manghystau on January 2 over a fuel price hike tapped into deep-seated resentment of the country's leadership, leading to widespread anti-government protests.

Thousands of people were detained by officials during and after the protests, which Toqaev said were caused by "20,000 terrorists" from abroad, a claim for which authorities have provided no evidence.

Human rights groups have provided evidence that peaceful demonstrators and people who had nothing to do with the protests were among those killed by law enforcement and military personnel.

Police in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, have detained opposition activists who planned to hold a rally to challenge next month's early presidential election.

Bibigul Imanghalieva, a member of the unregistered Algha, Qazaqstan (Kazakhstan, Forward) party, told RFE/RL by phone that she and several of her colleagues were detained for several hours early in the morning in different parts of the city before they could hold the demonstration, which was to fall on October 25, Republic Day, which commemorates Kazakhstan's declaration of state sovereignty in 1990.

According to Imanghalieva, leading activists, Aset Abishev, Aidar Syzdyqov, and Qanatkhan Amrenov, were among those detained. She added that she and other activists were released three hours later.

Imanghalieva says she and other members of the unregistered party had officially filed a request with the Almaty city administration last week asking for permission to hold a rally on October 25.

Other activists told RFE/RL that the chairwoman of an independent group of election observers, Arailym Nazarova, was also detained by police. Her mobile phone has been switched off since the morning of October 25.

In the capital, Astana, police cordoned off a square near Zhengis (Victory) Avenue where activists had planned to gather, not allowing anyone to enter the site. At least two activists were detained there.

Opposition activist Amangeldy Zhakhin said on Facebook on October 25 that police did not allow him to leave the village of Shortandy on October 25 as they tried to prevent his trip to Astana, the capital, where he planned to organize a rally to question the election, scheduled for November 20, at which incumbent President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev will face off against five relatively unknown candidates.

Activists in the cities of Aqsai, Pavlodar, and Oskemen also said they were blocked from travelling to Astana to take part in a rally.

Toqaev, who has tried to position himself as a reformer, called the early presidential election on September 1 while also proposing to change the presidential term to seven years from five years. Under the new system, future presidents will be barred from seeking more than one term.

Critics say Toqaev's initiatives have been mainly cosmetic and do not change the nature of the autocratic system in a country that has been plagued for years by rampant corruption and nepotism.

Toqaev's predecessor, Nursultan Nazarbaev, who had run the tightly controlled former Soviet republic with an iron fist for almost three decades, chose Toqaev as his successor when he stepped down in 2019.

Though he was no longer president, Nazarbaev retained sweeping powers as the head of the Security Council. He also enjoyed substantial powers by holding the title of “elbasy” or leader of the nation.

Many citizens, however, remained upset by the oppression felt during Nazarbaev's reign.

Those feelings came to a head in January when unprecedented anti-government nationwide protests started over a fuel price hike, and then exploded into countrywide deadly unrest over perceived corruption under the Nazarbaev regime and the cronyism that allowed his family and close friends to enrich themselves while ordinary citizens failed to share in the oil-rich Central Asian nation's wealth.

Toqaev subsequently stripped Nazarbaev of his Security Council role, taking it over himself. Since then, several of Nazarbaev’s relatives and allies have been pushed out of their positions or resigned. Some have been arrested on corruption charges.

In June, a Toqaev-initiated referendum removed Nazarbaev's name from the constitution and annulled his status as “elbasy.”

Authorities in Kazakhstan should thoroughly investigate recent threats against independent news website Orda and its chief editor Gulnara Bazhkenova, and ensure the outlet and its staff’s safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.

On October 5, unidentified individuals sent a severed pig’s head to Orda’s editorial offices in the southern city of Almaty, with a torn photo of Bazhkenova in its mouth, according to news reports and Bazhkenova, who spoke to CPJ by phone.

The incident is the latest in a series of threats, online harassment, and cyberattacks against Bazhkenova, her family, and Orda, following the outlet’s publication of an investigation into alleged lobbying practices by a company reportedly connected to Kazakhstan’s former president, Nursultan Nazarbayev. Bazhkenova told CPJ she believes these incidents are connected to this and other investigations into Nazarbayev-linked organizations.

CPJ emailed representatives of Nazarbayev for comment via an address provided on his official website but did not immediately receive any reply.

“The shocking and repulsive campaign of threats and harassment against Gulnara Bazhkenova and her outlet Orda are something no journalist ought to face for simply doing their work,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Kazakh authorities must swiftly and transparently investigate all incidents of harassment of Bazhkenova and her staff, hold the culprits accountable, and ensure that journalists can operate free from such odious forms of pressure.”

Orda’s July 13 investigation suggested that a London-based company allegedly controlled by Nazarbayev had employed a British lord to lobby on behalf of the former president’s U.K. business interests. A week later, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks began against the outlet’s website, forcing it offline for three weeks, Bazhkenova said.

While Orda has strengthened its cybersecurity, Bazhkenova said DDoS and other forms of cyberattacks have continued “incessantly” since July, with perpetrators constantly seeking “weak spots,” causing the site to go offline for short periods.

Bazhkenova said they do not believe the cyberattacks came from Kazakh authorities, who normally simply block websites, and that such attacks require considerable resources—experts have told her they cost up to $15,000 per day to carry out.

Alongside the website cyberattacks, she said, unidentified users have flooded Orda’s Telegram chat with indecent images and insults directed at Bazhkenova and Orda staff, orchestrated mass complaints that caused the outlet’s Instagram accounts to close, and posted Bazhkenova’s photo and number and the number of Orda’s editorial office in social media ads proposing sexual services, causing them to receive large numbers of unsolicited calls, among other forms of online harassment.

In recent weeks, the online insults have been replaced by threats against Bazhkenova and her seven-year-old son, the journalist said. Photoshopped, pornographic images featuring Bazhkenova and her son have been sent to the outlet’s Telegram chat, accompanied by the address of her son’s school and threats to kidnap him, she said.

On October 4, the day before the pig’s head delivery, threats against Bazhkenova and her son were graffitied in large letters on a square overlooked by Orda’s office windows, according to Bazhkenova and a post by the journalist. Bazhkenova said she filed a complaint with police following this incident and police are investigating both incidents together.

CPJ emailed Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs for comment but did not receive a reply. Information Minister Darkhan Qydyrali, whose ministry oversees the media, condemned the pressure on Orda on Facebook and offered the outlet legal support.

In October 2021, independent news website HOLA News was apparently blocked by Kazakh authorities for 10 days following reporting on Pandora Papers leaks concerning Nazarbayev’s wealth. Bazhkenova said Orda also was blocked for one day during that time over its coverage of the same story.

At the start of Kazakhstan’s mass anti-government protests in January 2022, Orda was one of two outlets blocked before authorities enacted a nationwide internet shutdown.

Police in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, briefly detained two activists who protested against a wave of Russian citizens entering the country after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial military mobilization to boost troop levels in the war in Ukraine.

Qarakoz Qasym and Aisultan Qudaibergen were detained on September 23 at the Almaty international airport while holding posters saying: "Did you realize that you are cannon fodder?" and "Either respect or go away," as passengers from a Moscow-Almaty flight passed by after disembarking.

Qasym told RFE/RL that she was expressing her support for the Ukrainian people, who are standing up to Russia's unprovoked invasion launched in late February.

"I am against the flow of Russian citizens to Kazakhstan. This opinion of mine is shared by many. Through my rally, I wanted to show what people in my country think about all of this. There is no guarantee that those who're arriving here in droves now will not stab us in the back later," Qasym said.

Qasym added that the police told her and Qudaibergen that they will be charged with "minor hooliganism," but after journalists interfered, the warnings disappeared.

Police spokesman Ernar Tasqyn told RFE/RL that the two activists were released shortly after law enforcement officers "held preventive talks" and warned them about possible repercussions for repeat infractions.

Since Putin announced a partial military mobilization on September 21, thousands of Russians have left for countries where Russians can enter without visas, such as Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Serbia, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia.

Videos showing long lines of vehicles leaving Russia and stuck along the Russian-Kazakh border have circulated on the Internet.

On September 22, Kazakh parliamentary speaker Maulen Ashimbaev told reporters in Astana that his country will not issue residence permits to "individuals who fail to provide documents proving that the countries of their citizenship have no objections to their move to Kazakhstan."

According to Kazakhstan’s official statistics, since the beginning of 2022, 1.6 million Russian citizens have come to Kazakhstan. It is not known how many of them have remained in the Central Asian nation.

Jailed Kazakh activist Erzhan Elshibaev, recognized by rights groups as a political prisoner, has been handed an additional seven years in prison for "violating the penitentiary’s internal regulations and calls for disobedience to prison guards."

Elshibaev said the September 29 ruling by a court in the southern city of Qyzylorda was "lawless."

Elshibaev was expected to be released in October next year. He was initially sentenced to five years in prison in 2018 after a court in his native cityof Zhanaozen in the country's southwest found him guilty of hooliganism.

Elshibaev and his supporters have rejected the charges, saying they were politically motivated and aimed at ensuring he wouldn't lead any protests in the restive town.

Elshibaev was one of the leaders of several protest rallies in Zhanaozen in 2018 during which residents in the oil town demanded jobs.

Kazakh authorities have been very sensitive to any dissent or protests in the volatile city, where police fatally shot at least 16 people while repressing protests by oil workers in December 2011.

In January this year, a rally in Zhanaozen against abrupt fuel price hikes led to unprecedented anti-government protests across the nation that ended with violent dispersals in which at least 238 people, including 19 law enforcement officers were killed.

The European Parliament has urged Kazakh authorities to release Elshibaev and other political prisoners.

Kazakhstan’s government has denied that there are political prisoners in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic.

Several activists from the unregistered opposition Democratic Party of Kazakhstan (KDP) have detained during a rally in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, where they were demanding the immediate release of their jailed leader, Zhanbolat Mamai.

Dozens of KDP activists marched from a subway station in Almaty toward the headquarters of the ruling Amanat party on October 6 chanting "Down with Amanat (the ruling party) that served [former Kazakh President Nursultan] Nazarbaev," and "Free Zhanbolat!"

Police officers followed the activists as they marched.

When the activists reached Amanat headquarters, they unfolded posters saying "[President Qasym-Zhomart] Toqaev, release Zhanbolat!"

At that moment, police began detaining the activists and taking them away in police cars.

One of the detained activists, Aruzhan Duisebaeva, told RFE/RL by phone that police beat at least one of the activists while in custody.

The rally was held the day after a court in Almaty extended Mamai's pretrial detention until at least November 12.

Mamai, who was arrested in February, may face up to 10 years in prison on charges of organizing mass riots and knowingly disseminating false information during protests in January, which he and his supporters reject as politically motivated.

Mamai, known for his strong criticism of the authoritarian government, has been trying to register the KDP for years but claims he is being prevented from doing so by the government.

He says officials only permit parties loyal to the political powers to be legally registered.

Meanwhile, the ruling Amanat party at its congress on October 6 in Astana, the capital, officially proposed incumbent Toqaev as its candidate for an early presidential election scheduled for November 20.

Four activists who were allegedly planning to protest outside the Russian consulate in Almaty during Russian President Vladimir Putin's upcoming visit have been detained.

A reporter for RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reported on October 12 that police took the four into custody as they approached the Russian consulate with a poster and a bouquet of blue and yellow flowers representing Ukraine's national colors.

Police have yet to comment.

Putin is scheduled to visit the Kazakh capital, Astana, from October 12 to October 14 for a regional summit. He is expected to hold meetings with several officials during his trip, including with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the situation in Ukraine.

The October 12 meeting comes a day after Turkey called for a cease-fire in fighting between Russia and Ukraine,

NATO member Turkey, which has stayed neutral throughout the conflict in Ukraine, has good ties with Kyiv as well as with Moscow.

Unknown assailants broke glass doors to the office of the Elmedia television channel in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, and left a large inscription of the channel's name in red on the sidewalk in front of the office in what employees believe was a warning to independent media just weeks ahead of a presidential election.

Elmedia said in a Telegram post that the media outlet's reporters discovered the broken doors and the inscription early on the morning of October 14 as they arrived to work.

"Police arrived at the site, but it is clear now that it is not just hooliganism or a child's misdeed. It is a harsh warning to journalists. There is no doubt that it is a premeditated attack similar to many attacks carried out against media companies recently," Elmedia's statement said.

The Almaty-based journalists' right group Adil Soz (A Just Word) said in a statement that Elmedia's website had suffered a massive cyberattack in recent weeks, while the telephones for the office and its chief editor, Gulzhan Erghalieva, were also hacked and added to a phone-sex service.

Less than two weeks earlier, the online newspaper Orda.kz, which is based in Almaty, received a parcel containing a severed pig’s head with a torn photo of the media outlet's chief editor, Gulnara Bazhkenova, in its mouth.

Both Elmedia and Orda.kz focus on political, economic, and social developments in the Central Asian nation.

Attacks on independent media outlets in the country have been frequent for years, especially ahead of presidential or parliamentary elections.

Kazakhstan is holding an early presidential election on November 20.

In the days leading up to Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s arrival in the Kazakh capital, Nur-Sultan, activists have been arrested and intimidated for protesting their relatives’ imprisonment in China's Xinjiang Province and its vast internment camp system.

Bakhyt Zharykbasova’s husband, Baibolat Kunbolat, was one of those arrested and sentenced to 15 days in jail. For more than a year and half, Kunbolat has been organizing demonstrations outside the Chinese Consulate in Almaty, the country's biggest city, demanding the release of his brother along with other Kazakhs whose relatives are missing, jailed, or trapped in the neighboring region.

But in the lead-up to Xi’s high-profile September 14 visit -- his first trip abroad in more than two years -- protesters say they have been met with a wave of arrests, police summonses, and warnings not to travel to Nur-Sultan in an attempt to prevent dissent during the Chinese leader’s state visit.

“The authorities warned him and I warned him, [too], but he decided that this is what he is going to do and [that] he will keep doing it,” Zharykbasova, whose husband was arrested on September 10, told RFE/RL. “Baibolat says he is fine [in detention], but I know they will not let him out as long as the Chinese president is here.”

China’s crackdown in Xinjiang has seen more than 1 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Muslim minorities put into mass detention camps. Since Beijing’s dragnet accelerated in 2017, the plight of ethnic Kazakhs interned in China has been an unexpected source of dissent, with the testimonies of former detainees and family members fueling a guerrilla advocacy campaign that brought outsized international attention to the issue.

This left the Kazakh government walking a tightrope between appeasing Beijing -- which denies the long list of abuses that have been documented in its camp system -- and dealing with an exasperated segment of its population lobbying for family members in China.

“There is only one goal here [with these arrests and threats] -- to please the Chinese leader,” Yerbol Dauletbek, the leader of the officially registered chapter of Atajurt Eriktileri, a group lobbying for ethnic Kazakhs detained in Xinjiang and their relatives, told RFE/RL. “This is how [the government] helps to hide the crimes of China.”

Silencing Xinjiang Protests

Demonstrators were facing growing pressure from the authorities even before Xi’s meeting with Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev was announced.

In recent years, the government has led a swift crackdown against activists working on Xinjiang issues in the country: shutting down organizations, arresting activists, and intimidating leading figures into exile, leaving only a small but devoted segment -- such as Kunbolat and his peers -- for public protests.

On September 12, Gulfiya Kazybek, Gaukhar Kurmanaliyeva, and Qalida Akytkhan -- who were all part of ongoing protests outside the Chinese Consulate in Almaty and embassy in Nur-Sultan since February 2020 -- said police officers removed them from a bus that they were on while traveling to a wedding in the southwestern city of Shymkent.

“The police demanded that we get off the bus and then they took us to the police station,” Kazybek told RFE/RL.

Once at the police station, the three women were told that an administrative case had been opened over the violation of “the procedure for holding peaceful assemblies” and they were handed summonses.

Kurmanaliyeva and Kazybek went to their local police station in Almaty on September 13 but were told by officers that no materials on their case had been received yet and they were asked to wait for a phone call for more information which had not been provided by the time this article was published.

Kurmanaliyeva told RFE/RL that she believes security operatives had been tailing her and other protesters since September 10, saying that she and others had documented instances of being followed at the market and outside their homes.

“We'll keep protesting until our relatives are out,” she said. “I am against Xi Jinping's visit. He is making genocide against Kazakhs and Muslims in Xinjiang and he comes here like nothing has happened. He should answer for what he is doing.”

Following the release of a damning UN report earlier this month that said China has committed “serious human rights violations” in mass detention camps in Xinjiang that may be crimes against humanity, activists urged Toqaev to raise the issue of the treatment of ethnic Kazakhs during his talks with Xi.

Kurmanaliyeva says an official from Almaty's city administration had told her Toqaev would raise the plight of their relatives when he meets with Xi, although she doubts it will happen.

“They just didn't want us to go to [the capital],” Kurmanaliyeva said. “They told us: ‘You'll create a bother.’”

Other protesters who had been part of the regular pickets outside the Chinese Consulate and embassy also faced detention and harassment in the lead-up to Xi’s visit.

Akikat Kaliolla, a musician whose relatives are believed to be in Xinjiang’s camp system, was also sentenced to 15 days in jail for allegedly violating laws on public protests and was taken directly by police from his recording studio.

Nurzat Yermekbay, who has also regularly participated in demonstrations against the camps, said he was detained for four hours on September 10 in Almaty and warned by police “not to go to the capital.”

Bekzat Maksutkhan, the head of Naghyz Atajurt, an unregistered advocacy group that works with families who have relatives missing in Xinjiang, told RFE/RL that the Kazakh authorities have been effective in silencing dissent around the issue and that the treatment of ethnic Kazakhs in Xinjiang is not receiving mainstream attention in the country.

The Chinese Embassy in Nur-Sultan has not responded publicly to the appeals of protesters and neither the embassy nor the consulate in Almaty responded to RFE/RL’s request for comment about the fate of ethnic Kazakhs in Xinjiang and the protesters’ complaints.

Xi Arrives

The fact that Xi chose Kazakhstan and Central Asia as the location to first step outside of China since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic brings prestige and geopolitical significance to the government in Nur-Sultan.

Expanding its already deep economic and political ties with China has been a priority for the Kazakh government and local authorities have treaded cautiously with Beijing over the issue of interned Kazakhs.

The issue is further complicated by the complex family connections across the lengthy 1,782-kilometer border between China and Kazakhstan.

Cross-border ties have been a mainstay for centuries but accelerated when the Kazakh government sought to attract ethnic Kazakhs living in Xinjiang to move following the collapse of the Soviet Union. This led to many Chinese-born Kazakhs uprooting and resettling in neighboring Kazakhstan. They have become permanent residents and even Kazakh citizens while still maintaining close connections to family in China.

In instances where Kazakh citizens, many of whom were originally born in China, were detained in Xinjiang, the Kazakh government has negotiated behind-the-scenes with Beijing to secure their release. But it says it has no jurisdiction in other cases.

“Since the Kazakh diaspora living in Xinjiang are citizens of the People's Republic of China, all issues related to them relate to China's internal affairs,” a spokesperson for the Kazakh foreign ministry told RFE/RL. “Therefore, it’s necessary to consider ways to resolve this issue without prejudice to the comprehensive and eternal strategic partnership between Kazakhstan and China.”

Temur Umarov, an expert on China’s relations with Central Asia at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told RFE/RL that the internment camps are a sensitive political topic for Beijing and, given Nur-Sultan’s track record, Toqaev is unlikely to raise the issue publicly and even less likely to criticize China’s detention system during meetings with Xi.

“There is an unspoken rule in relations between Kazakhstan and China: only successes are publicly raised and problems are never spoken about,” he said. “The countries of Central Asia cannot afford to criticize Beijing simply because they depend on [China]. Criticism can come back to haunt them with economic consequences.”

Police in Kazakhstan's capital, Nur-Sultan, have detained about 20 people who rallied in front of the government headquarters to demand justice for those killed or arrested in the violent dispersal of anti-government demonstrations in January.

Some of the protesters who rallied on September 6 came from the cities of Almaty, Taraz, Qyzylorda, and Taldyqorghan as they seek the posthumous dropping of all charges against those who died, as well as thorough investigations into the deaths.

Others demanded the immediate release of relatives arrested during and after the unprecedented, nationwide anti-government protests that, according to officials, left at least 238 people dead.

One of the protesters, Sania Tunghatarova from the oil-rich Central Asian country's largest city, Almaty, told RFE/RL that police used force while detaining people, injuring some of the protesters in the process.

She added that the protesters gathered in front of government headquarters the day before and were told by the authorities to come back the next day to deliver their written complaints, but when they came to do so, police forcibly took them away for questioning to several police stations in Nur-Sultan.

The chairman of the independent public commission investigating the January unrest, Rysbek Sarsenbaiuly, was detained along with the protesters. Police had to call an ambulance for him after he felt unwell during questioning.

The January unrest occurred after a peaceful demonstration on January 2 in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic's western region of Manghystau over a fuel-price hike led to widespread antigovernment protests.

Thousands of people were detained by officials during and after the protests, which President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev said were caused by "20,000 terrorists" from abroad, a claim for which authorities have provided no evidence, but which was officially named as a reason to invite Russian-led troops of the Collective Security Treaty Organization to Kazakhstan for help.

Human rights groups say the number of dead was much higher than any of the various figures provided by officials. The groups have provided evidence that peaceful demonstrators and people who had nothing to do with the protests were among those killed by law enforcement and military personnel.

Toqaev's government has rejected calls by Kazakh and global human rights groups for an international probe into the deaths.

In late June, Kazakhstan's deputy prosecutor-general, Aset Shyndaliev, said that six people were tortured to death after being arrested for taking part in the January protests, while eight officers of the Committee of National Security (KNB) and a police officer had been arrested for torturing suspects.

Overall, he said, 15 officers are suspected of using torture and illegal methods of interrogation on people arrested during and after the unrest.

The Prosecutor-General's Office has said that 25 people were officially considered victims of torture by hot irons used by investigators on them during interrogations related to the unrest.

On September 1, Toqaev said a mass amnesty will be declared soon for all individuals involved in the unrest and its aftermath, including law enforcement officers.

Many relatives of the killed and arrested during and after the unrest considered the clemency idea as a move to evade investigations of the unrest.

Scuffles between protesters and police broke out in the southern Kazakh city of Shymkent after a court upheld the sentences of three activists who were convicted for taking part in mass anti-government demonstrations in January.

Angry relatives and supporters of Qairat Sultanbek, Lazzat Dosmambetova, and Zhanmurat Ashtaev, ran after the judge as he quickly left the courtroom following his verdict on September 8 before bailiffs and police officers intervened, leading to a brawl.

The melee was pushed out of the court building where dozens more activists joined in scuffles with the police.

In mid-July, the Al-Farabi district court sentenced Sultanbek, 48, and Dosmambetova, 51, to 3 years and seven months in prison each, while Ashtaev, 44, was handed 3 years and one month in prison. All were convicted of taking part in mass disorders, a charge all three have rejected.

The protesters demanded that the judge or a prosecutor explain why the activists' sentences were upheld, insisting that they were innocent.

Police attempted to detain some of the protesters, but failed to so as the activists' supporters and relatives interfered.

Meanwhile, police inside the court's building detained Ashtaev's four brothers and took them away to a police station.

Afterward relatives of the activists gathered in front of the court building with headbands saying "Hunger Strike." They said that they will remain at the site until their demands for the release of the activists are met.

Unprecedented mass anti-government protests rocked the Central Asian nation in early January. The peaceful protests turned violent, leaving at least 238 people, including 19 police officers, dead.

Authorities in Shymkent say 20 individuals died and 207 were injured in the city during the unrest, which was initally sparked by a fuel-price hike and then quickly turned into broader anti-government protests.

Last week, Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev said a mass amnesty will be declared soon for all individuals involved in the unrest and its aftermath, including law enforcement officers. Many relatives of those killed and arrested during and after the unrest viewed the clemency idea as a move to evade investigations of the deadly January developments.

Kazakh authorities must fully and transparently investigate the recent attack on journalist Olesya Vertinskaya and ensure her safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.

On the morning of Tuesday, July 19, an unidentified man attacked Vertinskaya, a correspondent for the independent news website and advocacy group Dorozhniy Kontrol, outside her home in the western city of Atyrau, according to the journalist, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview and shared security footage of the attack, and a report by independent local free speech organization Adil Soz.

The man approached Vertinskaya and asked for help with a problem that he said “only [she] could solve,” and then punched her in the face, kicked her in the face as she fell to the ground, and then fled when a passerby approached, Vertinskaya told CPJ, saying her nose was broken in the attack.

Three days before she was beaten, Vertinskaya received a threatening text message from an unknown phone number that referenced her recent reporting on a local company selling fish in the area and told her to “be careful,” she said; immediately after the attack, the same number texted her again and said the company’s owner “will not leave it at that.”

Police have detained a suspect in the attack, according to the journalist and news reports, which said the suspect, who was not identified, was under investigation for assault and could face up to three years in prison.

“This vicious attack and ongoing threats against journalist Olesya Vertinskaya are entirely unacceptable and demand a firm response from Kazakh authorities,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “Authorities must send a clear message that such brutality against the press will not be tolerated by swiftly holding all the perpetrators to account, including anyone who may have ordered the attack.”

Dorozhniy Kontrol (“Road Control”) covers the police and incidents involving drivers, according to its website, which says the organization also helps people file complaints against traffic officers. Vertinskaya told CPJ she mostly covers the work of traffic police, the courts, and other law enforcement bodies.

On July 15, Dorozhniy Kontrol’s branch in the Atyrau region published a video report showing police shutting down stalls set up without permission by a company selling fish, and said Dorozhniy Kontrol had contacted the police about the stalls. The following day, the account published another report alleging the company had been selling protected species of fish.

In the threatening messages she received on July 16, the sender told Vertinskaya that the fish company’s owner was friends with the head of the local National Security Committee office, the journalist told CPJ.

Following the attack, Vertinskaya was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where she was treated for her broken nose and released, she said.

Neighbors later told Vertinskaya that the man had been waiting for her for around half an hour before she left her home, she said.

Vertinskaya told CPJ she believed the attack was most likely retaliation for that coverage of the fish sales company, but noted that she had also recently covered other sensitive topics, including allegations of mistreatment by the National Security Committee’s border guard department. She said she did not have any personal conflicts that could have led to the attack.

On Friday, Vertinskaya told CPJ that the unnamed suspect in police custody told officers he attacked her in retaliation for her reporting on a local amusement park. Vertinskaya told CPJ that she did not believe that was the real reason for the attack, however, as authorities had sided with the park after the outlet’s reporting.

Police previously detained and threatened Vertinskaya twice during her coverage of nationwide protests in Kazakhstan in January, according to the journalist and news reports. During one of these detentions, police forced her to delete video footage, punched her in the head, kicked her, and told her she “should be shot and have her head cut off,” according to those sources.

CPJ emailed the Interior Ministry of Kazakhstan for comment, but did not receive any reply.

A court in Kazakhstan's largest city has denied the appeals of two Kazakh bloggers known for their criticism of Moscow, including Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, against their prison sentences.

The Almaty district court not only rejected the appeal filed by Marghulan Boranbai, but added two more months to his five-year prison term, and upheld the five-year prison term for Danat Namazbaev.

Lawyer Bauyrzhan Azanov told RFE/RL that the ruling will be appealed again.

Boranbai and Namazbaev were both sentenced to five years in prison on March 14 after a court found them guilty of inciting hatred between Kazakhs and Russians.

Boranbai, who is also known for his articles criticizing corruption among top officials in Kazakhstan, was also found guilty of calling for the illegal seizure of power.

The defendants pleaded not guilty.

The bloggers have criticized Russia's policies, including its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine, as well as its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

They have also been critical of Russia's policies toward its neighbors, including Kazakhstan and Ukraine, calling on the Kazakh authorities to avoid any moves to integrate with Russia.

The probe against Boranbai and Namazbaev was launched in 2019 over their posts in Facebook.

Police in the Kazakh capital, Nur-Sultan, have forcibly removed 15 people from the presidential compound after they spent four days and nights there calling for justice for loved ones killed during the violent dispersal of anti-government protests in January.

One of the protesters, Baqytzhan Shyngysbekov, told RFE/RL by phone on July 14 that police officers forced all the protesters into police cars and took them to a police station.

Nur-Sultan police officials refused to comment on the situation, saying they were unaware of the developments.

One day earlier, police prevented the protesters from entering the building after officials denied their request to meet with President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev personally to demand that all posthumous terrorism charges against their relatives be dropped and that thorough investigations into their deaths be launched.

The January unrest occurred after a peaceful demonstration against a fuel-price hike in the tightly controlled, oil-rich Central Asian nation's western region of Manghystau on January 2 led to widespread anti-government protests that were violently dispersed by law enforcement and the military.

Thousands of people were detained during and after the protests, which Toqaev said were caused by "20,000 terrorists" from abroad, a claim for which authorities have provided no evidence.

Human rights groups say the number of killed demonstrators was much higher than any of the various figures provided by officials. The groups have provided evidence that peaceful demonstrators and people who had nothing to do with the protests were among those killed.

The government has not published the names of those killed during or after the unrest -- which led to the removal of former President Nursultan Nazarbaev and his relatives from the political scene -- and has rejected calls by Kazakh and global human rights groups for an international probe into the deaths.

In late June, Deputy Prosecutor-General Aset Shyndaliev admitted that six people had been tortured to death after being arrested for taking part in the January protests. He said a number of security officers had been arrested in connection with the alleged torture.

The Prosecutor-General's Office said earlier that 25 people were officially considered victims of torture by hot irons during interrogations.

Shyndaliev also said 232 people were killed during the protests. Officials have said 19 law enforcement officers were killed in the clashes.

Kazakhstan authorities should release journalist Makhambet Abzhan immediately, and ensure that members of the press are not prosecuted in retaliation for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.

On the morning of Sunday, July 3, officers from the official Anticorruption Agency in the capital, Nur-Sultan, detained Abzhan, an independent journalist and founder of the Telegram-based news outlet Abzhan News, according to news reports, statements by the Anticorruption Agency and local free speech organization Adil Soz, and the journalist’s lawyer Bauyrzhan Azanov, who spoke to CPJ by phone.

The Anticorruption Agency statement said officers had caught Abzhan “red-handed” receiving 50 million tenge (US$108,000) in cash from a businessman in return for not publishing compromising material about him. Officers also searched the journalist’s home and the home of his mother, confiscating cell phones and papers, Azanov said.

Abzhan denies the accusations, his lawyer told CPJ. Two days before his arrest, Abzhan shared a post from another Telegram channel claiming that Kazakh law enforcement sought to open a case against him for insulting President Qasym-Zhomart Toqayev in his reporting, but the administration had objected to the optics of such a case, so authorities would likely reopen an old case against the journalist or charge him with some “economic” offense.

“The detention of Kazakh journalist Makhambet Abzhan is deeply concerning, given that he is a critical reporter who has previously been subjected to police harassment and criminal investigation in connection with his work,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia Program coordinator, in New York. “Authorities should release Abzhan and ensure that any investigation into alleged economic offenses is conducted transparently and fairly.”

On July 5, the Specialized Interdistrict Investigative Court in Nur-Sultan ordered the journalist to be held in custody for two months pending investigation into extortion “on an especially large scale,” according to those news reports and Azanov. If convicted, he could face seven to 15 years in prison under Article 194 of the Kazakh criminal code.

Abzhan contributes reporting to various independent outlets and is known for his reporting on topics considered taboo by Kazakh authorities, those news reports said. Abzhan News has about 20,000 subscribers and has recently covered topics including mass riots, alleged improper business practices by a relative of President Toqayev, and ongoing unrest in Karakalpakstan, a semi-autonomous republic in Uzbekistan that borders Kazakhstan, according to a CPJ review of its work.

Maksat Abzhanov, the journalist’s brother, told CPJ via messaging app that he believed Abzhan was detained in retaliation for his frequent critical coverage of government officials.

In its statement, the Anticorruption Agency said it was also investigating Abzhan’s alleged involvement in “other analogous crimes.” Azanov told CPJ that it was unclear why the Anticorruption Agency was investigating the case and not the Interior Ministry, which under Kazakh law is tasked with investigating extortion.

CPJ emailed the Anticorruption Agency for comment, but did not receive any reply.

Independent regional news website Eurasianet also reported that Uzbek officials had objected to Abzhan’s coverage of protests in Karakalpakstan.

In January, police in Nur-Sultan surrounded Abzhan’s home amid his reporting on protests that were ongoing at the time, leading the journalist to go into hiding for two weeks, as CPJ documented. Police subsequently opened a case against Abzhan for allegedly spreading false information in an interview he gave to Russian TV about the protests, before later withdrawing the case, Azanov told CPJ.

On 16 June 2022, woman human rights defender and environmental activist Saltanat Tashimova was sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest. The woman human rights defender was arrested by the Specialised Inter-district Administrative Court of Almaty as per part 6 of article 488 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Kazakhstan for “participation in an illegal meeting” for events that took place on 9 April 2022. On 21 June 2022, the case against the woman human right defender was appealed, and the Almaty City Court reduced her sentence from 15 days to 5 days. Saltanat Tashimova has now been released and she is planning on seeking termination of the case against her. Saltanat Tashimova is a woman human rights defender and environmental activist. She is the chairwoman of the public association "Let's Protect Almaty" which actively defends the rights of citizens, advocates for the environment, protects architectural historical heritage from destruction and pollution. The woman human rights defender has been using social media to create environmental social media groups, including “Tengriism” and “Let’s Protect Kok-Zhailau”. On 16 June 2022, woman human rights defender and environmental activist Saltanat Tashimova was sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest by the Specialized Inter-district Administrative Court of Almaty. The woman human rights defender was arrested as per part 6 of article 488 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Kazakhstan for “participation in an illegal meeting” for the events that took place on 9 April 2022. According to the woman human rights defender’s lawyer, the trial had numerous violations. For instance, the trial did not last more than 15 minutes, the judge refused to watch a video clip provided by the defence, and refused to hear testimonies of the residents, witnesses and officials of the Bostandy District Akimat who took part in the meeting. Saltanat Tashimova’s lawyer intends to appeal the case. On 15 June 2022, around 11.30 am, the police arrived at the woman human rights defender’s apartment with a warrant for her arrest which included an online court case at 12.30 pm that day. The warrant showed that Saltanat Tashimova was charged under Article 790 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It is noted that her trial was scheduled in an hour after the registration of the protocol of administrative violation and the protocol of detention. The woman human rights defender arrived at 12.00 pm to the Bostandyksky District Court, however there was no one there and the offence was not registered. On 9 April 2022, residents of Bostandyk district of Almaty in Kazakhstan gathered at a meeting against construction taking place on an area of wasteland by the BI Group on which the residents had proposed a park be built. Almaskhan Akhedzhanov, head of the Department of City Planning and Urbanism, Altai Rakhimbetov, akim of the Bostandyk District, and a representative of the Prosecutor's Office were also present at the meeting. Saltanat Tashimova was invited in order to document this meeting and events. This is not the first instance that the woman human rights defender Saltanat Tashimova experiences retaliation for her work. On 3 January 2020, three unknown individuals broke three windows in the woman human rights defender’s apartment by throwing large stones. Two days later, the woman human rights defender’s apartment was attacked. During the night of 5 January 2020, a Molotov cocktail was thrown through the window of Saltanat Tashimova’s apartment in Bostandyk district. The perpetrator was never identified. The woman human rights defender attributes these attacks as a retaliation for her activism. Together with other environmental activists, Saltanat Tashimova spoke out against the construction of a ski resort in the Kokzhailau Gorge – this project was stopped in 2021 by President Kassym-Jomart Tokaev. Front Line Defenders condemns the sentencing of woman human rights defender Saltanat Tashimova and is seriously concerned about the fabricated charges against her, which it believes are in connection with her peaceful and legitimate work defending human rights. Front Line Defenders expresses its grave concern regarding the repressive legislation that is being interpreted and utilised to stop all collective meetings.

A Kazakh activist who said he was tortured and beaten while in custody earlier this year has been sent to pretrial detention on a charge of taking part in "mass disorders."

Qosai Makhanbaev was taken into pretrial detention late on June 16 after serving a 15-day sentence for picketing the Almaty city prosecutor's office without permission, according to Ainara Aidarkhanova, one of his lawyers.

Makhanbaev was one of dozens of people who claimed they were tortured by police and jail guards after they were arrested during and after anti-government protests in Almaty and other towns and cities in the Central Asian nation in January.

Weeks after his arrest in January, Makhanbaev was rushed to the hospital with severe bodily wounds and bruises and later released but ordered not to leave the city while the prosecutor's office investigated his claims of torture.

The Almaty city prosecutor’s office said at the time that it had launched 87 probes into alleged torture of inmates, but it appears to have made little headway.

Frustrated with what they believed was a deliberate attempt to quash the investigations, dozens of people who claimed they were beaten while in custody began rallying outside the city prosecutor's office in April.

Makhanbaev was detained in early June for taking part in one of the rallies and sentenced to 15 days in prison.

His lawyers said they only learned he was sent to pretrial detention the following day.

Protests in the remote town of Zhanaozen in Kazakhstan's southwest over a sudden fuel-price hike in early January quickly spread across the country and led to violent clashes.

Kazakh authorities say at least 230 people, including 19 law enforcement officers, were killed during the violence. Human rights groups say the number of those killed is much higher.

Authorities said about 800 people have been arrested for involvement in the unrest, while dozens have been sentenced to various prison terms.

There have been numerous reports that many of those in custody were tortured by the police.

Jailed Kazakh opposition figure Zhanbolat Mamai faces up to 10 years in prison after authorities additionally charged him with organizing mass disorders and distributing false information in an emergency situation.

Mamai's wife, Inga Imanbai, told RFE/RL on June 8 that investigators are now accusing her husband of organizing anti-government protests that shook the Central Asian nation in early January, leaving at least 230 people dead.

President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has positioned himself as a reformer who aims to open up the country to new voices, but Mamai, the 33-year-old leader of the unregistered Democratic Party of Kazakhstan was arrested in mid-March on charges of insulting an authority and distributing false information. Those charges carried a penalty of up to one year in prison.

Mamai, known for his harsh criticism of the nation's authoritarian government, has been trying to register the Democratic Party of Kazakhstan, but claims he is being prevented from doing so by the government. He says officials only permit parties loyal to the political establishment to be legally registered.

Kazakhstan was ruled by authoritarian President Nursultan Nazarbaev from when it gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 until Toqaev succeeded him in 2019.

Over the past three decades, several Kazakh opposition figures have been killed while many have also been jailed or forced to flee the tightly controlled former Soviet republic.

Toqaev recently broadened his powers after Nazarbaev and his clan left the tightly controlled oil-rich nation's political scene following the unprecedented deadly anti-government protests in January.

The protests started over a fuel price hike and spread across Kazakhstan because of discontent with the cronyism that has long plagued the country.

An opposition activist in Kazakhstan's southern city of Shymkent has been sentenced to seven years in prison on terrorism charges that he rejects.

The Al-Farabi district court sentenced Erulan Amirov on May 16 after finding him guilty of inciting social hatred, propagating terrorism, and involvement in the activities of a banned organization.

After his sentence was pronounced, Amirov said, "I do not know why I am in custody."

An RFE/RL correspondent said a bruise could be seen on Amirov's head, but when asked about it, the activist answered that he was "scared" to talk about it.

Amirov's mother, Sharipa Niyazova, said the court ruling will be appealed.

Amirov, who went on trial in January, was arrested in April last year. But his family only learned that he was being held in a detention center in Shymkent in December after what a Kazakh human rights group said was attempt to commit suicide.

Niyazova says her son suffers psychiatric disorders.

Kazakh human rights organizations have designated Amirov as a political prisoner and have demanded his release.

The charges against Amirov stemmed from his posts on social networks criticizing Kazakh authorities and for his participation in unsanctioned protest rallies organized by the banned Koshe (Street) political party.

Many activists across the Central Asian nation have been handed prison terms or parole-like restricted freedom sentences in recent years for their involvement in the activities of the Koshe party and its affiliate Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement.

DVK is led by Mukhtar Ablyazov, the fugitive former head of Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank and outspoken critic of the Kazakh government.

Human Rights Watch earlier this year criticized the Kazakh government for using anti-extremism laws as a tool to persecute critics and civic activists. Several hundred people have been prosecuted for membership in the Koshe party.

The Kazakh authorities have insisted there are no political prisoners in the country.

A court in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, has jailed eight activists over their participation in a rally demanding the immediate release of political prisoners in the Central Asian nation.

On April 25, the Almaty City Administrative Court sentenced Aigerim Tileuzhan, Alina Bermenqul, Bauyrzhan Atinbaev, Beken Beisalieva, Qonai Abdiev, and Doszhan Quanysh to 20 days in jail for the demonstration.

Ravqat Mukhtarov and Maira Ghabdullina were each handed 15 days in jail. Three more activists, Bulbul Berdiqozhanova, Esenbai Khodzhiev, and Bayan Shyrynbekova were each fined 91,890 tenges ($205).

All of the activists pleaded not guilty, but the court convicted them of taking part in an unsanctioned public event.

The activists were among dozens of protesters who gathered a day earlier in the city center and demanded the release of hundreds of men and women who were arrested during and after deadly anti-government protests in early January.

Protests in the tightly controlled former Soviet republic’s western region of Manghystau over abrupt gas-price hikes turned into unprecedented demonstrations that turned violent across the nation.

Authorities have said that at least 230 people, including 19 law enforcement officers, died during the unrest.

Human rights activists insist the number of the people killed during the violence is likely much higher.

Police in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, have detained four opposition activists who staged a protest performance in front of the Russian consulate against the mass killings of civilians by Russian troops in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.

Four members of Oyan, Qazaqstan (Wake Up, Kazakhstan) -- Asem Zhapisheva, Tamilya Anchutkina, Darkhan Sharipov, and Aqbota Sharipzhanova -- holding Ukrainian flags, laid down with their hands behind their backs in front of the Russian Consulate on April 9,

They were evoking images that have emerged from Bucha, outside Kyiv, where hundreds of civilians were found dead after the withdrawal of Russian forces.

Many were found lying in the street, their hands tied behind their back.

The four were bundled away by police and taken to a nearby police station, where they were released several hours later after being interrogated.

A court in Kazakhstan has sentenced an activist to three years of restricted freedom for openly supporting the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement and its associate, the unregistered Koshe (Street) party, amid an ongoing crackdown on supporters of the two opposition groups.

A court in the northwestern city of Oral handed the parole-like sentence to Murat Sapiev on March 24 after finding him guilty of organizing and taking part in unsanctioned rallies for the DVK and Koshe party in 2020-21.

The court also banned Sapiev from involvement in public and political activities for five years.

Sapiev rejected the charges, saying he used his right to express his thoughts and opinions. His lawyer said no decision had been made on an appeal.

Many activists across the Central Asian country have been handed lengthy prison terms or restricted-freedom sentences in recent years for their involvement in the activities of DVK and Koshe and for taking part in rallies organized by the two groups.

The DVK is led by Mukhtar Ablyazov, the fugitive former head of Kazakhstan's BTA Bank and an outspoken critic of the government. Kazakh authorities labeled DVK extremist and banned the group in March 2018.

Human rights groups have said Kazakhstan's law on public gatherings contradicts international standards, as it requires preliminary permission from authorities to hold rallies and envisions prosecution for organizing and participating in unsanctioned rallies even though the constitution guarantees its citizens the right of free assembly.

The Kazakh authorities have insisted there are no political prisoners in the country.

Kazakh opposition leader Zhanbolat Mamai has been placed in pretrial detention on a charge of insulting law enforcement officers and distributing "false information."

Mamai's wife, Inga Imanbai, wrote of Facebook on March 14 that a court in Almaty ruled that her husband must stay in pretrial detention for at least two months.

Mamai, the leader of the unregistered Democratic Party of Kazakhstan, was sentenced on February 25 for organizing an unsanctioned public event to commemorate the victims of the January anti-government protests around Kazakhstan that claimed the lives of at least 230 people.

Mamai was expected to be released on March 12 after serving a 15-day jail term. However, he was not released and faced the additional charges.

Mamai is known for his harsh criticism of the country's authoritarian government.

He has been trying to register the Democratic Party of Kazakhstan, but claims he is being prevented by the government, which he says only permits parties loyal to the political elite to be legally registered.

According to Imanbai, about a dozen of Mamai's supporters launched a hunger strike, demanding his immediate release.

Kazakhstan has been run by authoritarian President Nursultan Nazarbaev and his successor, Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev, since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

During their three-decade rule, several opposition figures have been killed, and many jailed or forced to flee the country.

A court in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, has sentenced rights activist and journalist Aigerim Tleuzhanova to 15 days in jail over her participation in an unsanctioned mass gathering to commemorate victims of the deadly unrest in January.

Tleuzhanova was sentenced on March 2 after a court found her guilty of violating the law on public gatherings.

Tleuzhanova pleaded not guilty, saying that she was at the gathering in Almaty's central square on February 13 as a journalist.

Rights lawyer Erlan Qaliev said to RFE/RL that Tleuzhanova was covering the gathering for the Elmedia television channel.

Also on March 2, another activist, Marat Turymbetov, and a well-known businessman, Bolat Abilov, were fined 150,000 tenges ($312) each for organizing the February 13 event.

Kazakh authorities say 227 people, including 19 law enforcement officers, were killed across the country after a peaceful demonstration in the tightly controlled Central Asian state's western region of Manghystau on January 2 over a fuel-price hike led to widespread anti-government protests.

Human rights groups say the number of those killed was much higher, providing evidence that there were peaceful demonstrators and persons who had nothing to do with the protests among those killed by law enforcement and military personnel.

Authorities say some 800 people have been arrested over the unrest and an investigation is under way. There are reports that those in custody have been tortured in custody.

The Prosecutor-General's Office said on March 2 that 62 people arrested over the deadly unrests had been sentenced to prison.

A woman activist is facing a long jail term after livestreaming the January anti-government protests in Kazakhstan on Facebook.

Karima Haidarbekova, 40, says she joined the demonstrations in her home city of Shymkent in Kazakhstan's south on January 4 to "let the authorities know" about the plight of ordinary people.

She livestreamed the rallies and speeches in the city's central square where thousands of people gathered for peaceful demonstrations before violence later broke out and was harshly put down by security forces.

Some 227 people reportedly died in the unrest, in which security officials were given a "shoot-to-kill" order by President Qasym-Jomart Toqaev.

Haidarbekova was arrested on January 8 as the authorities hunted down activists and government critics, blaming them for inciting the unrest that turned bloody.

The charges against Haidarbekova include assaulting a government officer, intentionally causing damage to public property, and attacking official buildings.

Assaulting a government officer carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, while the two other charges can lead to up to two and seven years of imprisonment, respectively, if she's found guilty.

Similar charges have been brought against dozens of activists across the authoritarian Central Asian country since the multiday protests. Critics say the move is aimed at sending a chilling warning to others.

Haidarbekova denies the charges and insists she hasn't attacked anyone or damaged any property.

The single mother of six said people took to the streets to voice their discontent about social and economic problems, and demanded political change. Haidarbekova gave a speech during the rallies calling on the government to heed the people's demands.

"People are a great force. No one can defeat the people," Haidarbekova said to a cheering crowd on the evening of January 4.

The nationwide rallies began with a small protest against a fuel-price rise in the western town of Zhanaozen on January 2. The following day the demonstrations spread to other cities across the oil-rich country.

But many of the rallies turned violent and the government accused protesters of attacking police and seizing official buildings that, according to authorities, forced security forces to open fire on demonstrators.

But many protesters maintain the demonstrations were peaceful until some unknown groups of men started looting and attacking some security forces. Some protesters suspect "provocateurs" were planted by the authorities to give the police a pretext to disperse the demonstrations.

'We're Against Violence'

Haidarbekova told RFE/RL before she was detained that she had witnessed police firing on peaceful people and wounding several protesters. "I was at the rally until the end. They shot at unarmed people," she said. "In the morning police began using water cannons and then the crowd dispersed."

On the first day of the Shymkent protests, Haidarbekova said everyone was against violence. "We support the demands of the protesters in Zhanaozen today, but we don't want a repeat of that bloodshed and shooting that happened there a decade ago," she said, referring to the December 2011 events in Zhanaozen, when at least 14 protesters were shot dead as they clashed with police.

"Prices are rising not only for fuel, but also for food, and these problems impact people not only in Zhanaozen but all over the country," she said.

Two of Haidarbekova's six children are handicapped and she had to quit her job to look after them. Haidarbekova says the family relies on the less than $100 a month they receive from the state. The money is barely enough for basic foodstuffs, she explains.

Haidarbekova is being held in a pretrial detention center where she in not allowed visits by family and friends. Her only contact with the outside world is a state-appointed lawyer.

Haidarbekova's elderly mother told RFE/RL that after her arrest, the authorities sought to place her underage children in an orphanage. There was no immediate comment from local officials about the claim, which RFE/RL cannot independently verify.

The grandmother is looking after the children and has written to officials asking for temporary custody. "The children are asking about their mother and I tried to explain the situation to the elder ones," she said. "But I don't know what to tell the younger children."

More than 12,000 people were arrested during and after the protests. Many were released within days but dozens of activists remain in custody, many of them facing criminal charges.

Since January 7, Kazakh authorities have sentenced at least three journalists to periods of detention ranging from 10 to 15 days, and summoned at least six journalists for questioning in connection with their coverage of nationwide protests that broke out on January 4, according to multiple news reports, a preliminary report on violations of journalists’ rights during and after the protests by independent local free speech organization Adil Soz, an unpublished document from the Kazakh Ministry of Information on incidents involving journalists shared with CPJ, and CPJ interviews with local journalists.

“It is unacceptable that Kazakh authorities should jail journalists for reporting and commenting on events of huge public importance, and outrageous that journalists should be questioned about links to so-called ‘extremist’ organizations simply for doing their jobs,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “Investigations into the protests must not be used as a pretext to settle scores with critical journalists. Authorities should quash the convictions of journalists Daryn Nursapar, Nurzhan Baimuldin, and Lukpan Akhmedyarov, and cease summoning members of the press over their presence at the demonstrations.”

On January 11, police in the northwestern city of Aktobe summoned Zhanalyk Akhash, a correspondent for broadcaster KTK–reportedly owned by a foundation set up under the name of former President Nursultan Nazarbayev–and questioned him for around an hour about why he was at protests in the city and whether he was a member of various organizations, including opposition group Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK), according to the Adil Soz report. DVK is banned as an extremist group in Kazakhstan but has been declared a peaceful opposition movement by the European Union.
On the evening of January 11, police in the western city of Atyrau summoned Ainur Saparova and Farkhat Abilov, reporters who covered the protests for Ak Zhayik, a local independent newspaper known for its criticism of local authorities, and questioned them for around two hours about why they attended the protests and who told them to do so, according to the Adil Soz report and Abilov, who spoke to CPJ by telephone. Abilov told CPJ that police demanded his photos and videos of the protests, including photos of a protester who died from a bullet wound, but he refused to hand them over, adding that before and after the interrogation, unknown individuals called and messaged him, threatening to kill the journalist, and demanding he hand over his recordings. Abilov has since fled Kazakhstan for his safety.
On January 12, Aktobe police summoned Zhanagul Zhursin, a correspondent who covered protests in the city for U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Kazakh service, known locally as Radio Azattyq, and questioned her for around three hours as a witness “with a right to a lawyer” in an unspecified criminal case, according to a report by the journalist’s employer, which stated that witnesses with such a status often become suspects. Zhursin’s colleague Darkhan Omirbek told CPJ by messaging app that investigators refused to inform the journalist which article of the criminal code the case was based on. Investigators asked Zhursin why she attended the protests, who she spoke to there and what they said to her, as well as what her views are on DVK and the movement’s leader Mukhtar Ablyazov, this report stated.
Also in Aktobe on January 12, police summoned and interrogated Dmitry Matveyev, a correspondent covering the protests for independent news website Ratel.kz, according to the Adil Soz report and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ by telephone. Matveyev told CPJ that investigators questioned him for around three hours about why he was at the protests and whether he has links to DVK before demanding that he give them videos and photos taken at the protests, which he refused.
The same day, Aktobe police summoned and interrogated Zhanar Kozhanova, a correspondent covering the protests for independent broadcaster 31 Kanal, according to the journalist, who spoke to CPJ by telephone. Kozhanova said that police questioned her for around an hour about why she was at the protests.

CPJ emailed the Interior Ministry and the office of the prosecutor-general of Kazakhstan for comment on the detentions and questioning of journalists, and requesting details about the charges against Abzhan, but did not immediately receive a reply.

Since January 7, Kazakh authorities have sentenced at least three journalists to periods of detention ranging from 10 to 15 days, and summoned at least six journalists for questioning in connection with their coverage of nationwide protests that broke out on January 4, according to multiple news reports, a preliminary report on violations of journalists’ rights during and after the protests by independent local free speech organization Adil Soz, an unpublished document from the Kazakh Ministry of Information on incidents involving journalists shared with CPJ, and CPJ interviews with local journalists.

“It is unacceptable that Kazakh authorities should jail journalists for reporting and commenting on events of huge public importance, and outrageous that journalists should be questioned about links to so-called ‘extremist’ organizations simply for doing their jobs,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “Investigations into the protests must not be used as a pretext to settle scores with critical journalists. Authorities should quash the convictions of journalists Daryn Nursapar, Nurzhan Baimuldin, and Lukpan Akhmedyarov, and cease summoning members of the press over their presence at the demonstrations.” On January 7, law enforcement officers in the eastern city of Ust-Kamenogorsk arrested Daryn Nursapar, editor of state-owned local news website Altaynews.kz, and charged him with participating in an illegal demonstration, Adil Soz reported, and on January 9, a city court sentenced the journalist to 15 days’ detention. Management from the news site’s parent company had forbidden its journalists from attending the protests, but Nursapar felt it was his professional obligation to cover the protest, and posted videos in Ust-Kamenogorsk on his Facebook page on January 5, according to Adil Soz. On January 17, an East Kazakhstan regional court reduced the journalist’s sentence to seven days, at the prosecutor’s request, and freed him, according to a report by Adil Soz.

In a separate incident, on January 6 police in the northern city of Kokshetau arrested Baqyt Smaghul, chief editor of independent local newspaper Bukpa, and later that day a court sentenced him to five days’ detention on charges of organizing a peaceful gathering during a state of emergency, according to a January 13 Adil Soz report and Smaghul, who spoke to CPJ by phone. Smaghul had been appointed by local authorities to a committee formed to prevent youth from violently protesting, he told CPJ. On January 6, the journalist saw a crowd of youth gathered in the city and approached them, both as a journalist and a committee member, and tried to calm them, when police arrested him alongside the protestors.

Smaghul said he believes the police and court ignored his rationale of acting as a committee member because Bukpa covers topics that state-owned newspapers avoid, such as corruption. CPJ did not include this case in the total number of journalists detained for their protest coverage, as CPJ was unable to confirm that Smaghul was detained in direct connection with his journalism.

CPJ emailed the Interior Ministry and the office of the prosecutor-general of Kazakhstan for comment on the detentions and questioning of journalists, and requesting details about the charges against Abzhan, but did not immediately receive a reply.

Kazakh authorities should continue their investigation into the attempted murder of journalist Amangeldy Batyrbekov and ensure that all those responsible are held to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday.

At about 11 p.m. on January 3, in the central city of Saryagash, an unidentified man tried to break into the office of the daily newspaper S-Inform, where Batyrbekov works as editor-in-chief, according to the journalist, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview, as well as news reports and the independent Kazakh free speech group Adil Soz.

When Batyrbekov’s son Dinmuhammad Batyrbekov, a lawyer at the newspaper, locked the office, the man fired a shotgun through the glass door, hitting Dinmuhammad in the shoulder and back, Batyrbekov said, adding that the attacker then fled the scene.

The journalist said his son survived the attack, underwent surgery, and was hospitalized for 10 days.

On January 19, police detained five people, including two men who allegedly were hired to execute the killing, two coordinators of the attack, and the alleged mastermind, according to a January 21 police statement, media reports, and Batyrbekov.

“Kazakh law enforcement should be applauded for quickly detaining the suspects involved in the attempted contract-killing of journalist Amangeldy Batyrbekov,” said CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Gulnoza Said. “Authorities should now ensure that all those involved in the attack are held to account, and that crimes against members of the press are taken seriously.”

Batyrbekov told CPJ that two men arrived at his home earlier in the evening of January 3 asking for his whereabouts, and that his daughter told them that he was at S-Inform’s office. He said he believed one of those men later shot Dinmuhammad, and the other was the getaway driver.

Police told Batyrbekov that the attacker “admitted that after the shooting he texted the man who hired him ‘Done’ because he thought he killed me,” the journalist said. “He didn’t know I was working together with my son, and he shot my son, not me.”

Among the arrested men was the alleged organizer, Saryagash education department chief Bauyrzhan Mairikhov, according to a report by the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

In November, Batyrbekov published a report in his newspaper, and posted on Facebook, about corruption allegations in a local kindergarten, which implicated Mairikhov in wrongdoing. Batyrbekov said he believed the attack was retaliation for that reporting, and added that, after he announced the investigation in November, he received several phone calls from unknown people asking him not to publish the report.

Authorities accuse Mairikhov of paying 5 million tenge (US$11,440) for the killing; 500,000 tenge (US$1,144) to each attacker and the rest to the two coordinators, according to RFE/RL, Batyrbekov, and the police statement. Those sources do not identify the other suspects by name.

CPJ called Mairikhov for comment, but his phone was turned off. CPJ also called the Turkistan regional police department, which oversees the police in Saryagash, but no one answered.

In September 2019, Batyrbekov was sentenced to two years and three months in prison on charges of insult and libel for his reporting on corruption in the local department of education, as CPJ documented at the time. He was released after winning his appeal in January 2020.

Opposition and rights activists in Kazakhstan have come under pressure from authorities a week before the commemoration of Independence Day on December 16, a date that coincides with two sensitive anniversaries in modern Kazakh history.

Bolatbek Bilalov, a noted opposition activist, was detained by police on December 9 in the Kazakh capital, Nur-Sultan, for unexplained reasons.

Bilalov's wife told RFE/RL that her husband was taken by police as he was traveling to his mother's home.

"He called me and told me that he was being transported to a police station in the Sary-Arqa district," Aqmaral Bilalova said.

The police did not answer questions from RFE/RL regarding Bilalov’s detention.

A day earlier, police in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, said that another jailed opposition activist, Aidar Mubarakov, had launched a hunger strike on December 6, to protest against his incarceration.

Mubarakov was sentenced to 15 days in jail on December 5 for taking part in an unsanctioned protest action in central Almaty last month.

A court in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, has sentenced noted opposition activist Erlan Faizullaev to 15 days in jail for allegedly participating in a rally last month, his third conviction in the past six months.

Faizullaev was found guilty on December 7 of violating the law on mass gatherings by taking part in an unsanctioned rally demanding political reforms late last month in a park in Almaty. Faizullaev pleaded not guilty, saying that he was in the area to attend a concert that had nothing to do with the rally.

Earlier in November, the 39-year-old activist, along with two other opposition activists, was sentenced to five days in jail on charge of disobedience to police, while in June he was sentenced to 18 months of parole-like restricted freedom for supporting the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement and its associated Koshe (Street) party.

Many activists across the Central Asian nation have been handed lengthy prison terms or parole-like restricted freedom sentences in recent years for their involvement in the activities of the DVK and the Koshe party, as well as for taking part in rallies organized by the two groups.

DVK is led by Mukhtar Ablyazov, the fugitive former head of Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank and an outspoken critic of the Kazakh government. Kazakh authorities labeled the DVK extremist and banned the group in March 2018.

Human rights groups have said Kazakhstan’s law on public gatherings contradicts international standards as it requires preliminary permission from authorities to hold rallies and envisions prosecution for organizing and participating in unsanctioned rallies, even though the nation’s constitution guarantees its citizens the right of free assembly.

Kazakh authorities have insisted there are no political prisoners in the Central Asian country.

Two civil rights activists in the western Kazakh city of Aqtau have been sentenced to one year of restricted freedom for supporting the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement and its associate, the unregistered Koshe (Street) party amid an ongoing crackdown on supporters of the two opposition groups.

A court in the Caspian Sea port city sentenced 32-year-old Abzal Qanaliev late in the evening on December 21. The ruling came a day after a separate ruling by the court against 29-year-old Aizhan Ismakova.

Qanaliev and Ismakova were also barred from using social networks for 30 and 24 months, respectively.

Both pleaded not guilty.

Many activists across the Central Asian country have been handed lengthy prison terms or parole-like, restricted-freedom sentences in recent years for their involvement with the DVK and Koshe, as well as for taking part in rallies organized by the two groups.

DVK is led by Mukhtar Ablyazov, the fugitive former head of Kazakhstan's BTA Bank and outspoken critic of the government. The authorities labeled the DVK "extremist" and banned it in March 2018.

The crackdown on the two groups' supporters and other activists has increased recently, before and after the former Soviet republic's Independence Day on December 16.

The holiday coincides with two sensitive events in modern Kazakh history, the anniversaries of the 1986 Kazakh anti-Kremlin youth demonstrations in Almaty, known as the Zheltoqsan revolt, and a deadly 2011 police crackdown against protesting oil workers in the southwestern town of Zhanaozen, when at least 16 oil workers died.

Kazakhstan authorities must allow journalists to report freely on ongoing protests in the country and ensure their safety from officials and protesters, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Since January 4, authorities in the Central Asian nation detained at least eight journalists reporting on mass protests in several cities and blocked at least two news sites following their coverage of nationwide protests, according to multiple news reports. Journalists reported being shot at by unidentified individuals, chased by protesters, and struck by law enforcement officers while reporting on the events. (CPJ could not independently confirm local media reports because of a communication shutdown.)

The protests began in reaction to a sharp rise in the price of liquefied gas, but have since expanded into wider anti-government demonstrations. Internet across the country and telecommunications in the capital Nur-Sultan and the country’s largest city of Almaty were shut down around 5 p.m. Wednesday and authorities declared a state of emergency in Nur-Sultan, the Almaty region, and the western Mangystau region where the protests began. Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Information warned media outlets that the emergency regulations authorized an increase in the maximum penalty for “knowingly spreading false information” to between three and seven years in prison.

“CPJ is extremely concerned by the developing situation in Kazakhstan as we receive reports of journalists’ arrest and acts of violence committed against them,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York. “We call on the Kazakh government to cease detaining members of the media, ensure the free flow of information, and take all possible measures to ensure the safety of journalists on the ground.”

Gulnara Bazhkenova, chief editor of independent news site Orda, wrote in a Telegram post that the site became inaccessible within Kazakhstan after the outlet reported on Tuesday that protesters were calling for the resignation of the government and the withdrawal of former president Nursultan Nazarbayev from public affairs.

Shortly afterward, independent news agency KazTAG wrote on Telegram that its website became inaccessible after the agency refused to comply with a written demand from the Ministry of Information and Social Development of Kazakhstan to remove an article that the ministry claimed contained “knowingly false information” about police use of force against protesters.

On January 4, Almaty police briefly detained Qasym Amanzhol, the acting head of Radio Azattyq’s Almaty bureau, the Kazakh service of the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, while he was filming protests in the city, according to a report by his employer. Despite Amanzhol showing them his press credentials, police held the journalist for two hours at the Medeu district police station before releasing him and apologizing, but without explaining the reason for his detention, according to the report.

In other arrests on January 4, police in the southern city of Taraz detained Aizhan Auelbekova, a correspondent with independent newspaper Vremya, Daniyar Alimkul, a correspondent with independent TV station 7 Kanal, and Nurbolat Zhanabekuly, a correspondent with independent TV station 31 Kanal, while they were covering local protests, according to news reports.

Officers released Alimkul and Zhanabekuly at the scene but held Auelbekova for more than three hours in a Zhambyl region police station before releasing her without giving a reason for her detention, according to these reports and the journalist’s Facebook page.

In Almaty, police detained Bek Baitas, an editor for Orda, while he was filming protests on Monday evening, despite him showing his press card, according to a Telegram post by Bazhkenova. Bazhkenova said that police took Baitas to Almaly district police station where they twisted his arms and broke his phone, Bazhkenova wrote.

In Nur-Sultan, plainclothes police in Nur-Sultan surrounded the apartment of Makhambet Abzhan, a reporter for independent news site Exclusive, who has been covering the protests on his Telegram blog Abzhan News and commenting on Russian television, turned off his electricity, and prevented him from leaving for the night, according to Telegram posts on Abzhan News.

Nur-Sultan police also arrested Radio Azattyq editor Darkhan Omirbek while he was reporting on Monday night’s protests, despite him presenting his press ID, according to a report by Radio Azattyq and a live stream broadcast by the journalist following his arrest. Police took Omirbek to Almaty district police station and questioned him for four and a half hours before releasing him, the report stated. The journalist told CPJ by messaging app that it is unclear if he is suspected of committing any offense.

On January 5, Bazhkenova reported that Orda journalist Leonid Rasskazov was hit in the back by a rubber bullet fired by police and Baitas was hit in the face by shrapnel from a police stun grenade while reporting in Almaty.

Also in Almaty, KazTAG reported that a protester ordered its camera crew to stop filming and then chased them with a paving stone. When the journalists reached their vehicle, protesters began to hit and rock the vehicle, the agency said.

Omirbek told CPJ that unidentified individuals in Almaty shot at Radio Azattyq’s reporter Ayan Qalmurat and camera operator Sanat Nurbek on January 5, adding that Radio Azattyq had decided to recall its reporters in the city due to the dangerous situation. In Nur-Sultan, riot police hit Radio Azattyq reporter Nurgul Tappayeva in the back, said Omirbek.

Around 11 a.m. on January 5, police in Uralsk detained independent journalist Lukpan Akhmedyarov and questioned him at a local police station over alleged participation in an extremist organization, according to reports. He was released around 2 p.m., with a summons to attend further questioning later that day at 4 p.m., but CPJ was unable to confirm any further details.

At around the same time, also in Uralsk, police detained Serik Yesenov, a reporter with the independent news site Uralskaya Nedelya, while he was filming army vehicles in the city center, according to a report by his employer. Yesenov informed police that he was a journalist, but they grabbed his camera, deleted his footage and took him to Abay district police station, before releasing him after an unspecified amount of time, according to the report.

On Wednesday afternoon, protesters in Almaty stormed a building housing the editorial offices of several broadcasters–including local Kazakh television station KTK, reportedly owned by the Nursultan Nazarbayev Foundation; the local offices of Commonwealth of Independent States-funded broadcaster Mir 24; and Russian state-funded broadcaster Sputnik–and raided these outlets’ offices, damaging equipment, news reports stated. Orda reported that protesters detained journalists in the building for around an hour before leading them out of the building. Mir 24 and Sputnik have since confirmed that their employees left the building safely.

CPJ emailed the Interior Ministry of Kazakhstan and the Ministry of Information and Social Development for comment but did not receive a response.

Almaty city authorities’ denial of a permit for a women’s rights march on March 8, 2022, demonstrates the authorities’ indifference to women’s rights, including a serious domestic violence problem, Human Rights Watch said today.

On November 16, 2021, three Kazakh activists, acting on behalf of five feminist groups and activists – KazFem, Feminita, FemPoint, Svet, and FemAgora – requested permission to hold a peaceful march and rally in Almaty on March 8, 2022. The Almaty city administration, in written responses, denied the requests on November 26, citing a conflict with "cultural and entertainment events" and “repair and installation works” allegedly scheduled on that day at the exact same location and time. The activists plan to appeal.

"Kazakhstan’s authorities should be supporting efforts by feminists and women rights activists to improve protection against gender-based violence and for women’s rights more broadly, not denying them the right to protest peacefully,” said Vika Kim, assistant Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Women in Kazakhstan are demanding gender equality and better protection and support, calls to be heeded, not hindered.”

Kazakh authorities should respect the right to peaceful assembly and grant permission for the next years’ International Women’s Day event at which women’s rights activists intend to protest gender-based violence and express their demands for equality.

Domestic violence is a very serious problem in Kazakhstan. Hundreds of women annually flee abusive partners, husbands, or other family members and seek help and refuge at the limited number of crisis centers and shelters throughout the country, some operated by the government and others by nongovernmental groups.

The government’s weak response to family abuse has left women with little realistic or meaningful recourse to justice. Police and judges fail to respond adequately to allegations of domestic violence and on the rare occasions when cases go to court, the penalties for abusers are inadequate. A lack of professionally trained social workers, psychologists, and lawyers is also a key barrier to securing protection, Human Rights Watch said.

In response to the request for a March 2022 march, one of the activists told Human Rights Watch, Almaty city officials met with the event organizers on November 24, and strongly advised them to “revise their plans [to hold a procession]” citing the “epidemiological situation” in Almaty. The officials asked the organizers to withdraw their application for the march. The activists refused and told officials that they would insist on their right to hold the march.

Despite claims by Kazakhstan’s leadership that a new law adopted in May 2020 reforms Kazakh’s legal framework on peaceful assembly, it falls far short of international standards. The authorities routinely deny permission to hold peaceful protests, forcibly disperse demonstrations, and fine or detain peaceful protesters. During 2021, the police have increasingly used the controversial crowd control tactic known as kettling – surrounding and confining protestors in small areas – to detain groups on the street for hours on end.

In March, Almaty had its first authorized international women’s day march, with hundreds of peaceful protestors calling for better protection for women’s rights, for gender equality, and criminalization of domestic violence.

Women’s rights are a key human rights issue in Kazakhstan. President Kassym Jomart Tokayev has repeatedly publicly acknowledged the importance of eliminating discrimination against women and the need to boost women’s rights. And while there have been some positive developments in recent months, such as the October abolition of the list of prohibited occupations for women, other longstanding, pressing women’s rights issues remain unaddressed.

In January, legislators suspended review of a draft domestic violence law to strengthen existing protections, and since then, have failed to propose any alternative legislative initiatives to tackle family abuse effectively.

Human Rights Watch has repeatedly called for Kazakhstan to explicitly criminalize domestic violence and for greater accountability for abusers, as well as better support and services for survivors of domestic violence, including in rural areas.

Kazakhstan’s international partners should urge the Kazakh government to criminalize domestic violence as a standalone offense. They should also call on authorities to uphold freedom of assembly for women’s rights groups, including by granting them permission to hold a peaceful International Women’s Day march and rally in 2022.

“The Kazakh government’s empty reform promises don’t protect women from abuse,” Kim said. “Kazakhstan authorities need to take meaningful steps to protect women and their rights, including by criminalizing domestic violence, and to drop any pretext to deny groups their right to peacefully protest on March 8.”

Amnesty International’s Security Lab has confirmed that at least four Kazakhstani civil society activists have had their mobile devices infected with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware. A forensic analysis shows that all four activists had been targeted and their devices infected from as early as June 2021, Amnesty International said today.

“This case adds to an already mounting pile of evidence that NSO’s spyware is the weapon of choice for governments seeking to silence social movements and crush dissent. States across the globe must immediately implement a moratorium on the export, sale and use of surveillance equipment until a human rights-compliant regulatory framework is in place,” Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said.

Amnesty International’s Security Lab conducted forensic analysis on the phones of nine Kazakhstani human rights activists. Amnesty International was able to confirm that four individuals’ devices were infected with the Pegasus spyware. Three of the victims, Tamina Ospanova, Dimash Alzhanov and Aizat Abilseit, had previously received a “state-sponsored attacker” warning from Apple on 24 November. Apple sent these notifications to individuals they believed may have been targeted by NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware. The fourth victim, Darkhan Sharipov, did not receive this notification, which suggests that the notified individuals represent only a fraction of the human rights activists targeted with the Pegasus spyware in Kazakhstan.

All of the victims belong to the civic youth movement “Oyan, Qazaqstan” (Wake Up, Kazakhstan). The victims are friends of Temirlan Ensebek, whose satirical blogging on Instagram is under criminal investigation.

The mobile devices of all four activists were infected with the spyware between 3 and 5 June 2021. On 5 June, “Oyan, Qazaqstan” was hosting one of their public #Seruen events where activists could meet face-to-face in public spaces. The surveillance campaign continued until at least July 2021.

“The unlawful hacking of these activists not only violates their right to privacy, but also their right to freedom of expression and association. The Kazakhstani authorities must immediately conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into this intrusion and bring those responsible for unlawful surveillance of activists to account,” said Marie Struthers.

Background

NSO Group’s spyware has been used to facilitate human rights violations around the world on a massive scale, according to a major investigation into the leak of 50,000 phone numbers of potential surveillance targets. These include heads of state, activists and journalists. According to media reports, nearly 2,000 phone numbers are from Kazakhstan.

The Pegasus Project is a ground-breaking collaboration by more than 80 journalists from 17 media organizations in 10 countries, coordinated by Forbidden Stories, a Paris-based media non-profit, with the technical support of Amnesty International, who conducted cutting- edge forensic tests on mobile phones to identify traces of the spyware.

“Oyan, Qazaqstan” (Wake up, Kazakhstan) is a grassroots civil society movement formed in June 2019 in response to the arrest of local activists Beybarys Tolymbekov and Asiya Tolesova. They were arrested for putting up a poster on Al-Farabi Avenue in Almaty during the 2019 marathon, which stated “You can’t escape the truth,” and included a call for fair presidential elections. “Oyan, Qazaqstan” demands greater civil rights and a parliamentary republic, and voices socially progressive positions in support of LGBTQI rights and gender equality.

Police in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, have detained six protesters who were demanding the release of relatives they say are being illegally held in China.

The November 29 rallies in front of the Chinese Consulate in Almaty were the latest in a series of demonstrations in Kazakhstan linked to the massive detention of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in the neighboring Chinese province of Xinjiang.

One of the detained persons, Gulfia Qazybek, managed to call RFE/RL and said that she was being transported to a hospital to treat injuries to her hand that she sustained while being forced into a police car. She added that she was taken to a police station along with three other women, Khalida Aqytkhan, Zhamila Maken, Gauhar Qurmanghalieva, and two men, Baibolat Kunbolatuly and Nurzat Ermekbai.

Demonstrators have demanded Kazakh authorities do more to protect ethnic Kazakhs who have been caught up in the Chinese sweep. Kazakhstan’s government, however, has been wary of angering Beijing, which is a major investor in Kazakhstan and throughout Central Asia.

As many as 2 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and members of Xinjiang's other indigenous, mostly Turkic-speaking Muslim ethnic groups have been taken to detention centers in the western Chinese region, according to the U.S. State Department.

China denies that the facilities are internment camps, but people who have fled the province say that thousands are undergoing "political indoctrination" at a network of facilities known officially as reeducation camps.

After Kazakhstan gained independence following the Soviet collapse in 1991, many ethnic Kazakhs from Xinjiang and elsewhere resettled in Kazakhstan, as part of a state program.

Many obtained permanent residence or citizenship but continue to visit Xinjiang either to see relatives or for bureaucratic reasons. Some have reportedly facing pressure from Chinese authorities or even arrest and imprisonment.

Kazakhs are the second-largest Turkic-speaking indigenous community in Xinjiang after Uyghurs. The region is also home to ethnic Kyrgyz, Tajiks, and Hui, also known as Dungans.

China's largest ethnicity, the Han, is the second-largest ethnic group in Xinjiang.

A court in Kazakhstan has sentenced an activist to one year of restricted freedom for openly supporting the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement and its associated party, the unregistered Koshe (Street) party, amid an ongoing crackdown on supporters of the two opposition groups.

A court in the northwestern city of Oral sentenced Orynbai Oqasov on November 18 after finding him guilty of taking part in unsanctioned rallies organized by the DVK and Koshe earlier this year and supporting such rallies on social networks.

Oqasov rejected the charges, saying he used his right to express his thoughts and opinions. His lawyer, Zhanbolat Kolzhanov, said the court's ruling will be appealed.

Many activists across the Central Asian nation have been handed lengthy prison terms or parole-like restricted freedom sentences in recent years for their involvement in the activities of the DVK and the Koshe party, as well as for taking part in the rallies organized by the two groups.

The DVK is led by Mukhtar Ablyazov, the fugitive former head of Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank and an outspoken critic of the Kazakh government. Kazakh authorities labeled the DVK extremist and banned the group in March 2018.

Human rights groups have said Kazakhstan’s law on public gatherings contradicts international standards as it requires preliminary permission from authorities to hold rallies and envisions prosecution for organizing and participating in unsanctioned rallies even though the nation’s constitution guarantees its citizens the right of free assembly.

The Kazakh authorities have insisted there are no political prisoners in the Central Asian country.

Activists in the western Kazakh city of Oral are under pressure ahead of planned opposition protest rallies scheduled for October 23.

On October 22, a court in Oral sentenced Amangeldy Orazbaev to 20 days in jail for "violating the law on peaceful demonstrations" by organizing an unsanctioned rally last month.

Orazbaev rejected the charge, saying that "every Kazakh citizen has a constitutional right to hold public events and publicly express opinions."

Another activist in Oral, Bekbolat Otebekov, told RFE/RL that during a recent regular health check-up, doctors tried to "persuade" him to check in to the hospital even though his state of health is "very good."

Another rights activist and Orazbaev associate, Marua Eskendirova, told RFE/RL that she had been under surveillance, adding that a car had been parked next to her house in Oral for hours as men in civilian clothing watched her house.

A day earlier, Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev publicly warned about legal repercussions of "illegal mass gatherings" in the country.

The anti-government rallies scheduled to be held across the country were planned by Mukhtar Ablyazov, the exiled former head of BTA Bank and an outspoken critic of the Kazakh government who resides in France.

The authorities declared Ablyazov's Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) and the associated, unregistered Koshe (Street) party "extremist" organizations in March 2018.

Human Rights Watch earlier this year criticized the Kazakh government for using anti-extremism laws as a tool to persecute critics and civic activists. Several hundred people have been prosecuted for supporting or being members of the DVK or Koshe.

The Kazakh authorities have insisted there are no political prisoners in the Central Asian country.

A court in Kazakhstan has toughened the sentence of a jailed activist convicted of "creating a banned organization and taking part in its activities."

Kazakhstan’s Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law (KMBPCh) said on October 26 that a court in the Central Asian nation's largest city, Almaty, ruled last week that Ulasbek Akhmetov's sentence must be toughened and two more months must be added to his two-year prison term.

The court also ruled that Akhmetov, who was recognized by human rights groups in Kazakhstan as a political prisoner, must serve his term not in a colony settlement, as per Akhmetov's initial sentence, but in a regular prison. A colony settlement is a dormitory-like penitentiary located near an industrial facility where convicts work along with regular people.

According to the KMBPCh, the court did not provide any explanation for its move.

The court announced the decision on October 20, a day after media reports said that Akhmetov, along with other four jailed activists, had signed a letter addressed to the United Nations and the European Parliament that called on the international bodies to impose sanctions against Kazakh officials and judges involved in an ongoing crackdown on dissent.

Akhmetov was initially sentenced on August 31 to two years in a colony settlement and banned from any political and social activity for five years, after a court in Almaty found him guilty of being a leader and organizer of the banned Koshe (Street) Party.

The Koshe Party is associated with the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) of fugitive businessman and former Energy Minister Mukhtar Ablyazov, who was convicted in absentia of murder and embezzlement.

Ablyazov is an exiled former head of BTA Bank and an outspoken critic of the Kazakh authorities who has fought multiple extradition battles over accusations that he embezzled billions. The government designated the DVK an “extremist” organization in March 2018.

Human Rights Watch earlier this year criticized the Kazakh government for using anti-extremism laws as a tool to persecute critics and civic activists. Several hundred people have been prosecuted for membership in the Koshe Party.

The Kazakh authorities have insisted there are no political prisoners in the Central Asian country.

The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed concern today about apparent blocking of Kazakh independent news website HOLA News after reporting on the Pandora Papers offshore leaks. The website was widely inaccessible for 10 days after they published the coverage, and only became functional again after it was removed.

A statement on the outlet’s website on October 15 said that HOLA News founders Alisher Kaidarov and Adilet Tursynbek and chief editor Zarina Akhmatova had resigned after removing a news item to get access to their website restored. The item was not specified in the statement, but an empty entry headlined “Here was a title” previously carried an October 4 article referencing reports naming Asel Kurmanbayeva, the alleged mistress of influential former President Nursultan Nazarbayev, as the alleged beneficiary of a secretive offshore payment, according to news reports.

Internet users in Kazakhstan and abroad began reporting difficulty accessing HOLA News shortly after it published that article, according to the reports and the outlet’s Facebook account; it was not available again until October 14. The few other local websites covering the topic were not affected.

The outlet’s statement said deep packet inspection (DPI) technology had been used to block their traffic, suggesting that internet service providers were deliberately obstructing the site.Akhmatova told CPJ by messaging app that HOLA News received no notification or explanation from authorities or service providers regarding the interruption.

On October 7, Information Minister Aida Balayeva told journalists that “according to preliminary information,” the Ministry of Digital Development–which is responsible for blocking access to unlawful online material–had not blocked the outlet, adding that the Information Ministry would continue to investigate why it was not functioning. Neither ministry answered CPJ’s telephone and email requests for comment.

“Kazakh authorities should investigate and explain the unacknowledged blocking of HOLA News and provide guarantees to all media outlets that news coverage will be permitted to be disseminated on all platforms without interference,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York.

HOLA News was among several local news sites to report on an investigation by the global investigative network Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and independent Kazakh news site Vlast, which said Kurmanbayeva received $30 million in 2010 for a stake in a British Virgin Islands-registered company that appeared to do no business. The reported deal involved two Kazakh oligarchs thought to be close confidants of Nazarbayev, the investigation found. Nazarbayev and Kurmanbayeva did not respond to requests for comment on the story, according to the OCCRP report. Most Kazakh media outlets writing about the Pandora Papers omitted any mention of the Kazakh elite, according to news reports.

Akhmetova said in an interview with a local YouTube channelthat she believed authorities had targeted HOLA News for “cumulative” refusals to “cooperate” with authorities. The site, which will continue to publish under new management, was founded in 2018 and has maintained its independence from both advertisers and government, it has said in published statements and interviews. HOLA News had also suffered cyberattacks including a DDoS attack after publishing a controversial interview with Nazarbayev’s grandson last year, according to news reports. The outlet reports 1.5 million unique visitors per month and had 279,000 followers on Instagram in mid-October.

Though Vlast and the remaining outlets which covered the issue were not blocked, Azamat Maitanov, chief editor of independent news site Aq Zhayiq, which ran a similar story, told CPJ by messaging app that a man introducing himself as a “well-wisher from the capital” had called and told him to remove it “to avoid problems later on,” though he did not comply.

Kaidarov, Tursynbek, and Akhmatova wrote in the October 15 statement that they were leaving because they had had to sacrifice their principles by removing a story. “We understood that there was nothing we could do, but to remain would have been a betrayal of ourselves and of journalistic principles,” Akhmetova told CPJ.

A court in Kazakhstan's largest city has sentenced 13 political activists to up to five years in prison on extremism-related charges that they reject.

All 13 were activists with the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) of fugitive businessman and former Energy Minister Mukhtar Ablyazov, who was convicted in absentia of murder and embezzlement, and the Koshe party.

The court sentenced four of the activists -- Abai Begimbetov, Askhat Zheksebaev, Qairat Qylyshev, and Noyan Rakhymzhanov -- to five years in prison.

The other nine got various parole-like restrictions on their freedom for terms from one to two years, with seven also sentenced to 100 hours of compulsory labor per year. The nine sentenced to restricted liberty will not be allowed to change their place of residence or leave the Almaty city limits.

The hearing, which was conducted online with the defendants appearing virtually from a remand prison, was interrupted several times as the defendants chanted, "We are not extremists!"

During their trial, the defendants claimed they only participated in peaceful protests and exercised their constitutionally protected rights.

The Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law issued a statement condemning the sentences and saying they showed that "the ossified authoritarian system will not allow people intent on democratic change to join together."

Ablyazov is an exiled former head of BTA Bank and an outspoken critic of the Kazakh authorities who has fought multiple extradition battles over accusations that he embezzled billions. The government designated the DVK an "extremist' organization in March 2018.

Human Rights Watch earlier this year criticized the Kazakh government for using anti-extremism laws as a tool to persecute critics and civic activists. Several hundred people have been prosecuted for membership in the Koshe party.

The Kazakh authorities have insisted there are no political prisoners in the Central Asian country.

Kazakh police detained eight protesters, mostly women, demanding the release of relatives they say are being illegally held in China.

The October 1 protests were the latest in a series of demonstrations in Kazakhstan linked to the massive detention of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other ethnic groups in the neighboring Chinese province of Xinjiang.

Demonstrators have demanded Kazakh authorities do more to protect ethnic Kazakhs who have been caught up in the Chinese sweep. Kazakhstan’s government, however, has been wary of angering Beijing, which is a major investor in Kazakhstan and throughout Central Asia.

One of the protesters in the Kazakh capital on October 1 was wheelchair-user Khalida Aqytkhan, 65, who fell to the ground as police were forcing her into a vehicle.

The most recent wave of protests began September 20 when demonstrators traveled to Nur-Sultan from the country’s commercial capital, Almaty, where groups had rallied for months in front of the Chinese Consulate there.

As many as 2 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and members of Xinjiang's other indigenous, mostly Muslim, ethnic groups have been taken to detention centers in the western Chinese region, according to the U.S. State Department.

China denies that the facilities are internment camps but people who have fled the province say that thousands are undergoing "political indoctrination" at a network of facilities known officially as reeducation camps.

After Kazakhstan gained independence following the Soviet collapse in 1991, many ethnic Kazakhs from Xinjiang and elsewhere resettled in Kazakhstan, as part of a state program.

Many obtained permanent residence or citizenship but continue to visit Xinjiang either to see relatives or for bureaucratic reasons. Some have reported facing pressure from Chinese authorities or even arrests and imprisonment

Kazakhs are the second-largest Turkic-speaking indigenous community in Xinjiang after Uyghurs. The region is also home to ethnic Kyrgyz, Tajiks, and Hui, also known as Dungans.

China's largest ethnicity, the Han, is the second-largest ethnic group in Xinjiang.

Kazakh police have detained at least six activists during a protest organized by the unregistered Democratic Party of Kazakhstan in the southeastern city of Almaty.

Dozens of protesters participated in the rally, chanting for Nursultan Nazarbaev, the former authoritarian president who is still considered to rule the country from behind the scenes, to “go away.”

The demonstrators demanded the release of political prisoners, condemned the government's plan to use a Russian company to digitalize some state systems, and expressed solidarity with oppressed Muslim minorities in China's northwestern Xinjiang region.

The Democratic Party was legally registered by the Justice Ministry in December 2020, but the group was unable to hold a Congress in February because party activists had been arrested and detained.

Kazakh law requires that a party's founding congress be attended by at least 1,000 people.

Kazakhstan has been run along authoritarian lines by Nazarbaev and his successor, Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev, since gaining its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

During their rule many opposition figures have been jailed or forced to flee the country.

Two more Kazakh activists have been sentenced to "restricted freedom," a parole-like sentence, for having links to the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) movement amid an ongoing crackdown on supporters of the opposition group and the associated Koshe (Street) party.

On September 15, a court in the southern city of Shymkent sentenced Lazzat Dosmambetova to 30 months of restricted freedom and barred her from involvement in public activities for five years after finding her guilty of the "creation of a branch of a banned group and taking part in its operations."

Dosmambetova rejected the charges as politically motivated and said she will appeal the court's decision.

The day before, a court in Nur-Sultan, the capital, sentenced activist Altyn Lesbaeva to two years of restricted freedom after convicting her of having links to the DVK and the Koshe party and propagating their ideas.

Lesbaeva was also barred from taking part in public activities for three years. She refused to admit guilt and vowed to appeal the ruling as well.

Many activists across the Central Asian country have been handed lengthy prison terms or parole-like "restricted freedom" sentences in recent years for their involvement in the activities of the DVK and Koshe, as well as for taking part in the rallies organized by the two groups.

DVK is led by Mukhtar Ablyazov, the fugitive former head of Kazakhstan's BTA Bank and an outspoken critic of the government. The authorities labeled the DVK extremist and banned the group in March 2018.

Human rights groups have said Kazakhstan's law on public gatherings contradicts international standards, as it requires preliminary permission from the authorities to hold rallies and envisions prosecution for organizing and participating in unsanctioned rallies, even though the constitution guarantees citizens the right of free assembly.

Police in Almaty have dismantled a tent set up by protesters in front of the Chinese Consulate as part of their protest demanding the release of their relatives from prisons and so-called reeducation camps in China's northwestern Xinjiang region.

Despite a police order not to erect tents at the site, dozens of protesters spent a 20th night in front of the consulate in Kazakhstan's largest city on September 14.

One of the protesters, Khalida Aqytkhan,told RFE/RL that she will continue to spend her nights in front of the consulate even without a tent as she fights for the release of her three sons from Chinese custody. After Kazakhstan gained independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, many ethnic Kazakhs from Xinjiang and elsewhere have benefited from Kazakhstan's state program on resettlement of ethnic Kazakhs into the country.

Many of them obtained permanent residence in Kazakhstan or Kazakh citizenship but continue to visit Xinjiang on a regular basis either to see relatives or for bureaucratic reasons, where some of them face pressure or even arrest and imprisonment.

Some of the protesters have been rallying in front of the Chinese Consulate in Almaty for many months.

The rallies of one of such protesters, Farida Qabylbek, paid off after her 58-year-old husband, Raqyzhan Zeinolla, was released from home arrest in Xinjiang and came to Kazakhstan from China in April after serving almost 15 years in prison and reeducation camps on espionage charges that his relatives rejected. In recent years, many similar protests have taken place across Kazakhstan, with demonstrators demanding the authorities officially intervene in the situation faced by ethnic Kazakhs in Xinjiang.

The U.S. State Department has said that as many as 2 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and members of Xinjiang's other indigenous, mostly Muslim ethnic groups have been confined in detention centers.

China denies that the facilities are internment camps, but individuals who have fled the province say people undergo "political indoctrination" at a network of facilities officially referred to as reeducation camps.

Beijing's policies in Xinjiang are a sensitive issue in Kazakhstan.

China is a major trading partner for the Central Asian country, and the Kazakh state-controlled media has generally avoided reporting about Beijing's policies in Xinjiang.

Kazakhs are the second-largest Turkic-speaking indigenous community in Xinjiang after Uyghurs. The region is also home to ethnic Kyrgyz, Tajiks, and Hui, also known as Dungans. Han, China's largest ethnicity, is the second-largest community in Xinjiang.

The leader of Kazakhstan's unregistered El Tiregi (People's Pillar) party has been charged with violating the law on public gatherings following a protest rally in the capital, Nur-Sultan.

Party activists told RFE/RL that Nurzhan Altaev was briefly detained by police at the September 7 event and charged the next day.

They said at least six El Tiregi members were sentenced to jail terms of between seven and 15 days after being detained in a group of around 25 people when police dispersed the rally.

The demonstrators were demanding the government's resignation, protesting against forced COVID-19 vaccination, and demanding the government abandon plans to build a new nuclear plant.

Two leading members of the party, Union of the Soviet-Afghan War Veterans in Kazakhstan Chairman Murat Mukhametzhanov and lawyer Nursultan Ermakhanov, were detained the day before the rally and jailed for 10 and 15 days, respectively.

Altaev quit the ruling Nur-Otan party and announced the creation of El Tiregi in late November 2020, saying no genuine opposition political forces were represented in the current parliament.

Journalists at the online magazine Village Kazakhstan say they have come under pressure from unknown state officials over a recent report about the life of a boy who was raped three years ago by teenagers in Kazakhstan's southern region of Turkistan.

"We have to inform you that unknown individuals who introduce themselves as officials of state entities are attacking us right now, demanding we remove the article from our website. We demand you stop putting pressure on independent journalists," the magazine said in its Telegram channel on September 1.

The article, published on September 1 and written by journalist Asem Zhapisheva, tells the story of a 7-year-old boy who was raped repeatedly in the village of Abai in 2018.

The story was first reported by local journalist Amangeldy Batyrbekov, who wrote in his online S-Inform newspaper about the boy's ordeal and the reluctance of the regional authorities and police to launch a probe into it.

The reporting led to a public outcry, forcing the replacement of the Central Asian nation's ombudswoman for children and the suspension of local police and education officials in the Turkistan region.

Eventually, one of the perpetrators was sentenced to seven years in prison, while several other teens avoided prosecution because they were underage at the time.

The Village Kazakhstan's September 1 report focused on the problems the boy and his family continue to face, including comments from the his mother and grandmother that they continue to receive threats from local authorities and relatives and friends of the convicted boys.

The victim's lawyer, Qurmanghazy Musir, whose pressure campaign eventually prompted police to launch a criminal case into the crime, has been slapped with several libel lawsuits from those incriminated, costing him time, energy and money, they said.

Batyrbekov also faced libel charges after he wrote about the rape in 2018. In September 2019, he was sentenced to two years and three months in prison on libel charges.

In January 2020, Judge Taubai Qadyrbaev of the Turkistan Regional Court accepted Batyrbekov's appeal and ruled that he be immediately released from custody and offered apologies to the journalist "on behalf of the state and the court."

However, later in 2020, Batyrbekov was again charged with libel through several other cases, which he eventually won.

Batyrbekov told RFE/RL that a new libel lawsuit had been filed against him by three judges over his Facebook posts, which the journalist called baseless as well.

Kazakhstan's Ministry of Information and Social Development said in a September 2 statement that it is "ready to provide assistance to Village Kazakhstan" and "protect the rights" of its reporters.

Kazakhstan ranked 155th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders' 2021 World Press Freedom Index.

A Kazakh court has sentenced an activist to two years in prison for having ties with the banned Koshe (Street) Party amid an ongoing crackdown on supporters of the opposition group and its ally, the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK).

The Almaly district court on August 31 in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, also barred Ulasbek Akhmetov from taking part in public and political activities for five years.

Akhmetov pleaded not guilty and his lawyers said they will appeal the court decision.

Akhmetov was arrested in October last year. Kazakh human rights organizations have recognized him as a political prisoner.

Many activists across the Central Asian nation have been handed lengthy prison terms or parole-like sentences in recent years for their involvement in the activities of the Koshe party and DVK, as well as for taking part in the rallies organized by the two groups.

DVK is led by Mukhtar Ablyazov, the fugitive former head of Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank and outspoken critic of the Kazakh government. Kazakh authorities labeled DVK extremist and banned the group in March 2018.

Human rights groups have said Kazakhstan’s law on public gatherings contradicts international standards as it requires preliminary permission from authorities to hold rallies and envisions prosecution for organizing and participating in unsanctioned rallies even though the nation’s constitution guarantees its citizens the right of free assembly.