Retreating Rights – Kazakhstan: Introduction
Kazakhstan is a country that has worked hard to position itself to its people and to the world as Central Asia’s success story. On a number of key measures that…
Articles, Briefings and Essays
The views expressed in the articles are those of each respective author and do not necessarily reflect the views or position of the Foreign Policy Centre.
Human rights and civil liberties in Kazakhstan: A matter of efficiency?
On June 10th 2021, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a decree to improve the country’s human rights record. He emphasised the rights of citizens with disabilities and victims of human…
Constitutional reform is the basis for change in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan needs to change the paradigm of development from crony capitalism and the monopolisation of all important spheres (starting from the economy through to civil society) in one hand and…
Police kettling in Kazakhstan
As recently as July 6th 2021, a couple of dozens of peaceful protesters were kettled by police in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The protest was held in breach of the legal requirement…
A sustained crackdown on independent worker organising – Kazakhstan, a case study
Ten years ago this summer, hundreds of oil workers in western Kazakhstan were in the midst of a stand-off with their employers in one of longest and most consequential strikes…
COVID-19 and increased state control in the information space
2020 and 2021 so far has been a time of pandemic and quarantine, starting with an extremely difficult lockdown with restrictions on freedom and mitigation measures changing from time to…
Technology-surveillance nexus beyond COVID-19: The outskirts of digitalisation in Kazakhstan
In Kazakhstan, personal data protection has become critical in responding to the outbreak of COVID-19. On one hand, facial recognition, artificial intelligence, and biometrics have been chaotically introduced across different…
Alt-Right groups in Kazakhstan: How they succeeded in cancelling a Bill against domestic violence
The scope of domestic violence in Kazakhstan Domestic violence has been a serious long-standing problem in Kazakhstan. The official statistics of the Ministry of Interior and the General Prosecutor’s Office,…
‘Anti-gender’ bill and Kazakhstan’s ‘catch up’ with global conservative backlash
On April 24th 2020, Mazhilis, the lower chamber of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, commenced consideration of the draft Law ‘On Introduction of Amendments and Additions to Some…
Retreating Rights – Kazakhstan: Conclusions and Recommendations
As we approach the 30th anniversary of Kazakhstan’s independence this publication finds the country at an important inflection point in its history. The gradual passing of the torch from the…