| KAZAKHSTAN Republic of Kazakhstan Qazaqstan Respublikasy Joined United Nations: 2 March 1992 Human Rights as assured by their constitution Click here Updated 09/20/10 |
| CAPITAL |
| POPULATION |
| CHIEF OF STATE |
| SELECTION PROCESS |
Astana
15,399,437 (July 2010 est.)
Umirzak Shukeyev
First Deputy Prime Minister
since 03 March 2009
First Deputy Prime Minister
since 03 March 2009
President elected by popular vote for a seven-year term (no term
limits); election last held 4 December 2005
Next scheduled election: 2012
limits); election last held 4 December 2005
Next scheduled election: 2012
HEAD OF GOVERNMENT
SELECTION PROCESS
Prime Minister and First Deputy Prime Minister appointed by
the president
Next scheduled election: 2011
the president
Next scheduled election: 2011
| DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS |
| ETHNIC GROUPS |
Kazakh (Qazaq) 53.4%, Russian 30%, Ukrainian 3.7%, Uzbek 2.5%, German 2.4%, Tatar 1.7%, Uygur 1.4%, other 4.9%
(1999 census)
(1999 census)
| RELIGIONS |
Muslim 47%, Russian Orthodox 44%, Protestant 2%, other 7%
| GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE |
Republic with authoritarian presidential rule, with little power outside the executive branch with 14 provinces (oblystar, singular - oblys)
and 3 cities (qala, singular - qalasy); Legal system is based on Islamic law and Roman law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction
Executive: President elected by popular vote for a seven-year term (no term limits); election last held 4 December 2005 (next to be held in
2012); Prime Minister and First Deputy Prime Minister appointed by the president
Legislative: Bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (47 seats; 7 members are appointed by the president; other members are
elected by local assemblies; to serve six-year terms) and the Mazhilis (107 seats; 9 out of the 107 Mazhilis members are elected
from the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, which represents the country's ethnic minorities; members are popularly elected to
serve five-year terms)
elections: Senate - (indirect) last held in October 2008 (next to be held in 2011); Mazhilis - last held on 18 August 2007 (next to be
held in 2012)
Judicial: Supreme Court (44 members); Constitutional Council (7 members)
and 3 cities (qala, singular - qalasy); Legal system is based on Islamic law and Roman law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction
Executive: President elected by popular vote for a seven-year term (no term limits); election last held 4 December 2005 (next to be held in
2012); Prime Minister and First Deputy Prime Minister appointed by the president
Legislative: Bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (47 seats; 7 members are appointed by the president; other members are
elected by local assemblies; to serve six-year terms) and the Mazhilis (107 seats; 9 out of the 107 Mazhilis members are elected
from the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, which represents the country's ethnic minorities; members are popularly elected to
serve five-year terms)
elections: Senate - (indirect) last held in October 2008 (next to be held in 2011); Mazhilis - last held on 18 August 2007 (next to be
held in 2012)
Judicial: Supreme Court (44 members); Constitutional Council (7 members)
| LANGUAGES |
Kazakh (Qazaq, state language) 64.4%, Russian (official, used in everyday business, designated the "language of interethnic
communication") 95% (2001 est.)
communication") 95% (2001 est.)
| BRIEF HISTORY |
Humans have inhabited present-day Kazakhstan since the earliest Stone Age, generally pursuing the nomadic pastoralism for which
the region's climate and terrain are best suited. Prehistoric Bronze Age cultures that extended onto Kazakh territory include the
Srubna culture, the Afanasevo culture and the Andronovo culture. The earliest well-documented state in the region was the Turkic
Kaganate, or Gokturk, Köktürk state, established by the Ashina clan, which came into existence in the 6th century AD. The
Qarluqs, a confederation of Turkic tribes, established a state in what is now eastern Kazakhstan in 766. In the 8th and 9th centuries,
portions of southern Kazakhstan were conquered by Arabs, who also introduced Islam. The Oghuz Turks controlled western
Kazakhstan from the 9th through the 11th centuries; the Kimak and Kipchak peoples, also of Turkic origin, controlled the east at
roughly the same time. The large central desert of Kazakhstan is still called Dashti-Kipchak, or the Kipchak Steppe. In the late 9h
century, the Qarluq state was destroyed by invaders who established the large Qarakhanid state, which occupied a region known as
Transoxiana, the area north and east of the Oxus River (the present-day Amu Darya), extending into what is now China. Beginning
in the early 11th century, the Qarakhanids fought constantly among themselves and with the Seljuk Turks to the south. In the course
of these conflicts, parts of present-day Kazakhstan shifted back and forth between the combatants. The Qarakhanids, who
accepted Islam and the authority of the Arab Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad during their dominant period, were conquered in the
1130s by the Karakitai, a Mongol confederation from eastern Mongolia. In the mid-12th century, an independent state of Khorazm
along the Oxus River broke away from the weakening Karakitai, but the bulk of the Karakitai state lasted until the Mongol invasion
of Genghis Khan in 1219-1221. After the Mongol capture of the Karakitai state, Kazakhstan fell under the control of a succession
of rulers of the Mongolian Golden Horde, the western branch of the Mongol Empire. (The horde, or zhuz, is the precursor of the
present-day clan. By the early 15th century, the ruling structure had split into several large groups known as khanates, including the
Nogai Horde and the Uzbek Khanate. Kazakh Khanate was founded in 1456 on the banks of Zhetisu (seven rivers) in the south
eastern part of present Republic of Kazakhstan by Janybek Khan and Kerei Khan. During the reign of Kasym Khan (1511-1523),
the Kazakh Khanate expanded considerably. Kasym Khan instituted the first Kazakh code of laws in 1520, called "Qasym
Khannyn Qasqa Zholy" (Bright Road of Kasym Khan). Kazakh Khanate is described in historical texts such as the Tarikh-i-Rashidi
(1541-1545) by Muhammad Haidar Dughlat, and Zhamigi-at-Tavarikh (1598-1599) by Kadyrgali Kosynuli Zhalayir. Russian
traders and soldiers began to appear on the northwestern edge of Kazakh territory in the 17th century, when Cossacks established
the forts that later became the cities of Oral (Ural'sk) and Atyrau (Gur'yev). Russians were able to seize Kazakh territory because
the khanates were preoccupied by Kalmyks (Oirats, Dzungars), who in the late 16th century had begun to move into Kazakh
territory from the east. Forced westward in what they call their Great Retreat, the Kazakhs were increasingly caught between the
Kalmyks and the Russians. Two of Kazakh Hordes were depend of Oirat Huntaiji. In 1730 Abul Khayr, one of the khans of the
Lesser Horde, sought Russian assistance. Although Abul Khayr's intent had been to form a temporary alliance against the stronger
Kalmyks, the Russians gained permanent control of the Lesser Horde as a result of his decision. The Russians conquered the
Middle Horde by 1798, but the Great Horde managed to remain independent until the 1820s, when the expanding Kokand
Khanate to the south forced the Great Horde khans to choose Russian protection, which seemed to them the lesser of two evils. In
1863, Russian Empire elaborated a new imperial policy, announced in the Gorchakov Circular, asserting the right to annex
"troublesome" areas on the empire's borders. In the early 19th century, the construction of Russian forts began to have a destructive
effect on the Kazakh traditional economy by limiting the once-vast territory over which the nomadic tribes could drive their herds
and flocks. The final disruption of nomadism began in the 1890s, when many Russian settlers were introduced into the fertile lands
of northern and eastern Kazakhstan. In 1906, the Trans-Aral Railway between Orenburg and Tashkent was completed, further
facilitating Russian colonisation of the fertile lands of Semirechie. Between 1906 and 1912, more than a half-million Russian farms
were started as part of the reforms of Russian minister of the interior Petr Stolypin, putting immense pressure on the traditional
Kazakh way of life by occupying grazing land and using scarce water resources. Starving and displaced, many Kazakhs joined in
the general Central Asian Revolt against conscription into the Russian imperial army, which the tsar ordered in July 1916 as part of
the effort against Germany in World War I. In late 1916, Russian forces brutally suppressed the widespread-armed resistance to
the taking of land and conscription of Central Asians. Thousands of Kazakhs were killed, and thousands of others fled to China and
Mongolia. In 1917 a group of secular nationalists called the Alash Orda Horde of Alash, named for a legendary founder of the
Kazakh people, attempted to set up an independent national government. This state lasted less than two years 1918-1920 before
surrendering to the Bolshevik authorities, who then sought to preserve Russian control under a new political system. The Kyrgyz
Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was set up in 1920 and was renamed the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in
1925 when the Kazakhs were differentiated officially from the Kyrgyz. The Russian Empire recognized the ethnic difference
between the two groups; it called them both Kyrgyz to avoid confusion between the terms Kazakh and Cossack (both names
originating from horse rider.) In 1925, the autonomous republic's original capital, Orenburg, was reincorporated into Russian
territory. Almaty (called Alma-Ata during the Soviet period), a provincial city in the far southeast, became the new capital. With an
area of 2,717,300 km² (1,063,200 square miles), the Kazakh SSR was the second largest constituent republic of the Soviet Union.
From 1929 to 1934, during the period when Soviet leader Joseph V. Stalin was trying to collectivize agriculture, Kazakhstan
endured repeated famines because peasants had slaughtered their livestock in protest against Soviet agricultural policy. In that
period, at least 1.5 million Kazakhs and 80 percent of the republic's livestock died. Many European Soviet citizens and much of
Russia's industry were relocated to Kazakhstan during World War II, when Nazi armies threatened to capture all the European
industrial centers of the Soviet Union. One consequence of the decimation of the nomadic Kazakh population and the in-migration
of non-Kazakhs was that by the 1970s Kazakhstan was the only Soviet republic in which the eponymous nationality was a minority
in its own republic. In June 1990, Moscow declared formally the sovereignty of the central government over Kazakhstan, forcing
Kazakhstan to elaborate its own statement of sovereignty. In keeping with practices in other republics at that time, the parliament
had named Nazarbayev its chairman, and then, soon afterward, it had converted the chairmanship to the presidency of the republic.
A week after the election, Nazarbayev became the president of an independent state when the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, and
Belarus signed documents dissolving the Soviet Union. On December 16, 1991, Kazakhstan had become the last of the republics to
proclaim its independence. The Soviet Union's spaceport, now known as the Baikonur Cosmodrome was located in this republic at
Tyuratam, with the secret town of Leninsk being constructed to accommodate the workers at the Cosmodrome. Current issues
include: resolving ethnic differences; speeding up market reforms; establishing stable relations with Russia, China, and other foreign
powers; and developing and expanding the country's abundant energy resources.
Source: Wikipedia: History of Kazakhstan
the region's climate and terrain are best suited. Prehistoric Bronze Age cultures that extended onto Kazakh territory include the
Srubna culture, the Afanasevo culture and the Andronovo culture. The earliest well-documented state in the region was the Turkic
Kaganate, or Gokturk, Köktürk state, established by the Ashina clan, which came into existence in the 6th century AD. The
Qarluqs, a confederation of Turkic tribes, established a state in what is now eastern Kazakhstan in 766. In the 8th and 9th centuries,
portions of southern Kazakhstan were conquered by Arabs, who also introduced Islam. The Oghuz Turks controlled western
Kazakhstan from the 9th through the 11th centuries; the Kimak and Kipchak peoples, also of Turkic origin, controlled the east at
roughly the same time. The large central desert of Kazakhstan is still called Dashti-Kipchak, or the Kipchak Steppe. In the late 9h
century, the Qarluq state was destroyed by invaders who established the large Qarakhanid state, which occupied a region known as
Transoxiana, the area north and east of the Oxus River (the present-day Amu Darya), extending into what is now China. Beginning
in the early 11th century, the Qarakhanids fought constantly among themselves and with the Seljuk Turks to the south. In the course
of these conflicts, parts of present-day Kazakhstan shifted back and forth between the combatants. The Qarakhanids, who
accepted Islam and the authority of the Arab Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad during their dominant period, were conquered in the
1130s by the Karakitai, a Mongol confederation from eastern Mongolia. In the mid-12th century, an independent state of Khorazm
along the Oxus River broke away from the weakening Karakitai, but the bulk of the Karakitai state lasted until the Mongol invasion
of Genghis Khan in 1219-1221. After the Mongol capture of the Karakitai state, Kazakhstan fell under the control of a succession
of rulers of the Mongolian Golden Horde, the western branch of the Mongol Empire. (The horde, or zhuz, is the precursor of the
present-day clan. By the early 15th century, the ruling structure had split into several large groups known as khanates, including the
Nogai Horde and the Uzbek Khanate. Kazakh Khanate was founded in 1456 on the banks of Zhetisu (seven rivers) in the south
eastern part of present Republic of Kazakhstan by Janybek Khan and Kerei Khan. During the reign of Kasym Khan (1511-1523),
the Kazakh Khanate expanded considerably. Kasym Khan instituted the first Kazakh code of laws in 1520, called "Qasym
Khannyn Qasqa Zholy" (Bright Road of Kasym Khan). Kazakh Khanate is described in historical texts such as the Tarikh-i-Rashidi
(1541-1545) by Muhammad Haidar Dughlat, and Zhamigi-at-Tavarikh (1598-1599) by Kadyrgali Kosynuli Zhalayir. Russian
traders and soldiers began to appear on the northwestern edge of Kazakh territory in the 17th century, when Cossacks established
the forts that later became the cities of Oral (Ural'sk) and Atyrau (Gur'yev). Russians were able to seize Kazakh territory because
the khanates were preoccupied by Kalmyks (Oirats, Dzungars), who in the late 16th century had begun to move into Kazakh
territory from the east. Forced westward in what they call their Great Retreat, the Kazakhs were increasingly caught between the
Kalmyks and the Russians. Two of Kazakh Hordes were depend of Oirat Huntaiji. In 1730 Abul Khayr, one of the khans of the
Lesser Horde, sought Russian assistance. Although Abul Khayr's intent had been to form a temporary alliance against the stronger
Kalmyks, the Russians gained permanent control of the Lesser Horde as a result of his decision. The Russians conquered the
Middle Horde by 1798, but the Great Horde managed to remain independent until the 1820s, when the expanding Kokand
Khanate to the south forced the Great Horde khans to choose Russian protection, which seemed to them the lesser of two evils. In
1863, Russian Empire elaborated a new imperial policy, announced in the Gorchakov Circular, asserting the right to annex
"troublesome" areas on the empire's borders. In the early 19th century, the construction of Russian forts began to have a destructive
effect on the Kazakh traditional economy by limiting the once-vast territory over which the nomadic tribes could drive their herds
and flocks. The final disruption of nomadism began in the 1890s, when many Russian settlers were introduced into the fertile lands
of northern and eastern Kazakhstan. In 1906, the Trans-Aral Railway between Orenburg and Tashkent was completed, further
facilitating Russian colonisation of the fertile lands of Semirechie. Between 1906 and 1912, more than a half-million Russian farms
were started as part of the reforms of Russian minister of the interior Petr Stolypin, putting immense pressure on the traditional
Kazakh way of life by occupying grazing land and using scarce water resources. Starving and displaced, many Kazakhs joined in
the general Central Asian Revolt against conscription into the Russian imperial army, which the tsar ordered in July 1916 as part of
the effort against Germany in World War I. In late 1916, Russian forces brutally suppressed the widespread-armed resistance to
the taking of land and conscription of Central Asians. Thousands of Kazakhs were killed, and thousands of others fled to China and
Mongolia. In 1917 a group of secular nationalists called the Alash Orda Horde of Alash, named for a legendary founder of the
Kazakh people, attempted to set up an independent national government. This state lasted less than two years 1918-1920 before
surrendering to the Bolshevik authorities, who then sought to preserve Russian control under a new political system. The Kyrgyz
Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was set up in 1920 and was renamed the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in
1925 when the Kazakhs were differentiated officially from the Kyrgyz. The Russian Empire recognized the ethnic difference
between the two groups; it called them both Kyrgyz to avoid confusion between the terms Kazakh and Cossack (both names
originating from horse rider.) In 1925, the autonomous republic's original capital, Orenburg, was reincorporated into Russian
territory. Almaty (called Alma-Ata during the Soviet period), a provincial city in the far southeast, became the new capital. With an
area of 2,717,300 km² (1,063,200 square miles), the Kazakh SSR was the second largest constituent republic of the Soviet Union.
From 1929 to 1934, during the period when Soviet leader Joseph V. Stalin was trying to collectivize agriculture, Kazakhstan
endured repeated famines because peasants had slaughtered their livestock in protest against Soviet agricultural policy. In that
period, at least 1.5 million Kazakhs and 80 percent of the republic's livestock died. Many European Soviet citizens and much of
Russia's industry were relocated to Kazakhstan during World War II, when Nazi armies threatened to capture all the European
industrial centers of the Soviet Union. One consequence of the decimation of the nomadic Kazakh population and the in-migration
of non-Kazakhs was that by the 1970s Kazakhstan was the only Soviet republic in which the eponymous nationality was a minority
in its own republic. In June 1990, Moscow declared formally the sovereignty of the central government over Kazakhstan, forcing
Kazakhstan to elaborate its own statement of sovereignty. In keeping with practices in other republics at that time, the parliament
had named Nazarbayev its chairman, and then, soon afterward, it had converted the chairmanship to the presidency of the republic.
A week after the election, Nazarbayev became the president of an independent state when the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, and
Belarus signed documents dissolving the Soviet Union. On December 16, 1991, Kazakhstan had become the last of the republics to
proclaim its independence. The Soviet Union's spaceport, now known as the Baikonur Cosmodrome was located in this republic at
Tyuratam, with the secret town of Leninsk being constructed to accommodate the workers at the Cosmodrome. Current issues
include: resolving ethnic differences; speeding up market reforms; establishing stable relations with Russia, China, and other foreign
powers; and developing and expanding the country's abundant energy resources.
Source: Wikipedia: History of Kazakhstan
| ECONOMIC OVERVIEW |
Kazakhstan, the largest of the former Soviet republics in territory, excluding Russia, possesses enormous fossil fuel reserves and
plentiful supplies of other minerals and metals. It also has a large agricultural sector featuring livestock and grain. Kazakhstan's
industrial sector is primarily focused on the extraction and processing of these natural resources. Kazakhstan enjoyed double-digit
growth in 2000-01 and 8% or more per year in 2002-07 - thanks largely to its booming energy sector but also to economic reform,
good harvests, and increased foreign investment; GDP growth slowed to 3.3% in 2008, and to 1% in 2009, however, as a result of
declines in oil and metals prices and problems in the banking sector following the global financial crisis. In the energy sector, the
opening of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium in 2001, from western Kazakhstan's Tengiz oilfield to the Black Sea, substantially
raised export capacity. In 2006, Kazakhstan completed the Atasu-Alashankou portion, and, in 2009, the Kenkiyak-Kumkol
portion of an oil pipeline to China that will extend from the country's Caspian coast eastward to the Chinese border, according to
plans. The country has embarked upon an industrial policy designed to diversify the economy away from overdependence on the oil
sector by developing its manufacturing potential. The policy changed the corporate tax code to favor domestic industry as a means
to reduce the influence of foreign investment and foreign personnel. The government has engaged in several disputes with foreign oil
companies over the terms of production agreements, most recently, with regard to the Kashagan project in 2007-08 and the
Karachaganak project in 2009. Since 2007, Astana has provided financial support to the banking sector that has been struggling
with poor asset quality and large foreign loans - problems that have been amplified by the global financial crisis in 2009.
Source: CIA World Factbook (select Kazakhstan)
plentiful supplies of other minerals and metals. It also has a large agricultural sector featuring livestock and grain. Kazakhstan's
industrial sector is primarily focused on the extraction and processing of these natural resources. Kazakhstan enjoyed double-digit
growth in 2000-01 and 8% or more per year in 2002-07 - thanks largely to its booming energy sector but also to economic reform,
good harvests, and increased foreign investment; GDP growth slowed to 3.3% in 2008, and to 1% in 2009, however, as a result of
declines in oil and metals prices and problems in the banking sector following the global financial crisis. In the energy sector, the
opening of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium in 2001, from western Kazakhstan's Tengiz oilfield to the Black Sea, substantially
raised export capacity. In 2006, Kazakhstan completed the Atasu-Alashankou portion, and, in 2009, the Kenkiyak-Kumkol
portion of an oil pipeline to China that will extend from the country's Caspian coast eastward to the Chinese border, according to
plans. The country has embarked upon an industrial policy designed to diversify the economy away from overdependence on the oil
sector by developing its manufacturing potential. The policy changed the corporate tax code to favor domestic industry as a means
to reduce the influence of foreign investment and foreign personnel. The government has engaged in several disputes with foreign oil
companies over the terms of production agreements, most recently, with regard to the Kashagan project in 2007-08 and the
Karachaganak project in 2009. Since 2007, Astana has provided financial support to the banking sector that has been struggling
with poor asset quality and large foreign loans - problems that have been amplified by the global financial crisis in 2009.
Source: CIA World Factbook (select Kazakhstan)
| POLITICAL CLIMATE |
The politics of Kazakhstan takes place in the framework of a presidential republic, whereby the President of Kazakhstan is head of
state and nominates the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both
the government and the two chambers of parliament.
On December 4, 2005, Nursultan Nazarbayev was reelected in a land-slide victory. The electoral commission announced that he
had won over 90% of the vote. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) concluded the election did not
meet international standards despite some improvements in the administration of the election. Xinhua News Agency reported that
Chinese observers, responsible in overseeing 25 polling stations in Astana, found that voting in those polls was conducted in a
"transparent and fair" manner.
In 1999, Kazakhstan applied for observer status at the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly. The official response of the
Assembly was that Kazakhstan could apply for full membership, because it is partially located in Europe, but that they would not be
granted any status whatsoever at the Council until their democracy and human rights records improved.
Source: Wikipedia: Politics of Kazakhstan
state and nominates the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both
the government and the two chambers of parliament.
On December 4, 2005, Nursultan Nazarbayev was reelected in a land-slide victory. The electoral commission announced that he
had won over 90% of the vote. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) concluded the election did not
meet international standards despite some improvements in the administration of the election. Xinhua News Agency reported that
Chinese observers, responsible in overseeing 25 polling stations in Astana, found that voting in those polls was conducted in a
"transparent and fair" manner.
In 1999, Kazakhstan applied for observer status at the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly. The official response of the
Assembly was that Kazakhstan could apply for full membership, because it is partially located in Europe, but that they would not be
granted any status whatsoever at the Council until their democracy and human rights records improved.
Source: Wikipedia: Politics of Kazakhstan
| INTERNATIONAL DISPUTES |
Kyrgyzstan has yet to ratify the 2001 boundary delimitation with Kazakhstan; field demarcation of the boundaries with
Turkmenistan commenced in 2005, and with Uzbekistan in 2004; demarcation is scheduled to get underway with Russia in 2007;
demarcation with China was completed in 2002; creation of a seabed boundary with Turkmenistan in the Caspian Sea remains
under discussion; equidistant seabed treaties have been ratified with Azerbaijan and Russia in the Caspian Sea, but no resolution has
been made on dividing the water column among any of the littoral states
Turkmenistan commenced in 2005, and with Uzbekistan in 2004; demarcation is scheduled to get underway with Russia in 2007;
demarcation with China was completed in 2002; creation of a seabed boundary with Turkmenistan in the Caspian Sea remains
under discussion; equidistant seabed treaties have been ratified with Azerbaijan and Russia in the Caspian Sea, but no resolution has
been made on dividing the water column among any of the littoral states
| REFUGEES AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS (IDPS) |
Refugees (country of origin): 3,700 (Russia); 508 (Afghanistan) (2007)
| ILLICIT DRUGS |
Significant illicit cultivation of cannabis for CIS markets, as well as limited cultivation of opium poppy and ephedra (for the drug
ephedrine); limited government eradication of illicit crops; transit point for Southwest Asian narcotics bound for Russia and the
rest of Europe; significant consumer of opiates
ephedrine); limited government eradication of illicit crops; transit point for Southwest Asian narcotics bound for Russia and the
rest of Europe; significant consumer of opiates
| HUMAN RIGHTS STATEMENTS, ANALYSIS AND CRITIQUES |
2009 Human Rights Report: Kazakhstan
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
March 11, 2010
The Republic of Kazakhstan, with a population of approximately 15.6 million, has a parliamentary system dominated by President
Nazarbayev's Nur Otan Party. The constitution concentrates power in the presidency, permitting the president to control regional and
local governments and to exercise significant influence over the legislature and judiciary. Changes or amendments to the constitution
require presidential consent. According to official results, Nur Otan received 88 percent of the vote in the 2007 national elections for the
Mazhilis (lower house of parliament), winning every seat in the chamber. Local and international observers noted some improvements in
the electoral process in comparison to past national elections but criticized the 2007 elections as falling short of a number of international
standards, particularly with respect to the legislative framework and the integrity of the vote counting and tabulation processes. Civilian
authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces.
The following human rights problems were reported:
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
March 11, 2010
The Republic of Kazakhstan, with a population of approximately 15.6 million, has a parliamentary system dominated by President
Nazarbayev's Nur Otan Party. The constitution concentrates power in the presidency, permitting the president to control regional and
local governments and to exercise significant influence over the legislature and judiciary. Changes or amendments to the constitution
require presidential consent. According to official results, Nur Otan received 88 percent of the vote in the 2007 national elections for the
Mazhilis (lower house of parliament), winning every seat in the chamber. Local and international observers noted some improvements in
the electoral process in comparison to past national elections but criticized the 2007 elections as falling short of a number of international
standards, particularly with respect to the legislative framework and the integrity of the vote counting and tabulation processes. Civilian
authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces.
The following human rights problems were reported:
- severe limits on citizens' rights to change their government;
- military hazing that led to deaths;
- detainee and prisoner torture and other abuse;
- unhealthy prison conditions;
- arbitrary arrest and detention;
- lack of an independent judiciary;
- restrictions on freedom of speech, the press, assembly, and association;
- pervasive corruption, especially in law enforcement and the judicial system;
- prohibitive political party registration requirements;
- restrictions on the activities of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs);
- discrimination and violence against women;
- trafficking in persons;
- societal discrimination.
21 May 2010
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Forty-fourth session
Geneva, 3-21 May 2010
Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under Articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant
Concluding Observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Kazakhstan
A. Introduction
2. The Committee welcomes the submission of the initial report of Kazakhstan and the written replies to its list of issues
(E/C.12/KAZ/Q/1/Add.1) but regrets that some questions have remained unanswered.
3. The Committee appreciates the constructive dialogue with the delegation of the State party which included representatives from
various Ministries with expertise on the subjects covered by the Covenant
B. Positive aspects
4. The Committee notes with appreciation the achievements by the State party in the implementation of economic, social and
cultural rights, in particular:
(i) the adult literacy rate of 99.8 per cent and provision of compulsory secondary education free of charge;
(ii) the provision of free treatment of common diseases for children and adolescents registered in dispensaries; and
(iii) that poliomyelitis has been eradicated and that 98.6 per cent of children in the State party have received preventive vaccinations.
C. Factors and difficulties impeding the implementation of the Covenant
6. The Committee notes the absence of any significant factors or difficulties impeding the effective implementation of the Covenant
in the State party.
C. Main subjects of concerns and recommendations
Definition of Torture
7. The Committee is concerned that the Covenant has not been invoked before national courts despite constitutional guarantees of
direct applicability of the provisions of the Covenant in the domestic legal order and its precedence, as an international treaty, over
domestic legislation.
The Committee recommends that the State party take all appropriate measures to ensure effective applicability of the Covenant in national
courts, including by raising awareness of this obligation and the provisions of the Covenant among those involved with law enforcement,
such as judges, lawyers and public officials. The Committee draws the attention of the State party in this regard to its General Comment
No. 9 on the domestic application of the Covenant (1998). The Committee requests that the State party include in its next periodic report
information on progress made in this connection and on decisions of national courts, tribunals or administrative authorities giving effect
to the rights contained in the Covenant.
Click here to read more »
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Forty-fourth session
Geneva, 3-21 May 2010
Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under Articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant
Concluding Observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Kazakhstan
A. Introduction
2. The Committee welcomes the submission of the initial report of Kazakhstan and the written replies to its list of issues
(E/C.12/KAZ/Q/1/Add.1) but regrets that some questions have remained unanswered.
3. The Committee appreciates the constructive dialogue with the delegation of the State party which included representatives from
various Ministries with expertise on the subjects covered by the Covenant
B. Positive aspects
4. The Committee notes with appreciation the achievements by the State party in the implementation of economic, social and
cultural rights, in particular:
(i) the adult literacy rate of 99.8 per cent and provision of compulsory secondary education free of charge;
(ii) the provision of free treatment of common diseases for children and adolescents registered in dispensaries; and
(iii) that poliomyelitis has been eradicated and that 98.6 per cent of children in the State party have received preventive vaccinations.
C. Factors and difficulties impeding the implementation of the Covenant
6. The Committee notes the absence of any significant factors or difficulties impeding the effective implementation of the Covenant
in the State party.
C. Main subjects of concerns and recommendations
Definition of Torture
7. The Committee is concerned that the Covenant has not been invoked before national courts despite constitutional guarantees of
direct applicability of the provisions of the Covenant in the domestic legal order and its precedence, as an international treaty, over
domestic legislation.
The Committee recommends that the State party take all appropriate measures to ensure effective applicability of the Covenant in national
courts, including by raising awareness of this obligation and the provisions of the Covenant among those involved with law enforcement,
such as judges, lawyers and public officials. The Committee draws the attention of the State party in this regard to its General Comment
No. 9 on the domestic application of the Covenant (1998). The Committee requests that the State party include in its next periodic report
information on progress made in this connection and on decisions of national courts, tribunals or administrative authorities giving effect
to the rights contained in the Covenant.
Click here to read more »
Freedom In The World 2010 Report
Political Rights Score: 6
Civil Liberties Score: 5
Status: Not Free
Trend Arrow
Kazakhstan received a downward trend arrow due to a spate of politically motivated libel suits against critical media outlets, a
restrictive new internet law, arbitrary arrests of officials and businesspeople, and the grossly deficient judicial proceedings
against human rights activist Yevgeny Zhovtis.
Overview
President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his Nur Otan party maintained almost complete control over the political sphere in 2009, using
tactics including arbitrary arrests, restrictive new laws, and politically motivated prosecutions to muzzle critical media outlets and
individuals. These long-standing authoritarian practices continued even as Kazakhstan prepared to assume the chairmanship of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 2010.
Constitutional changes in May 2007 removed term limits for Nazarbayev and eliminated individual district races for the lower house of
Parliament, leaving only party-slate seats filled by nationwide proportional representation. Elections under the new rules in August
produced a one-party legislature, with the pro-presidential Nur Otan party taking 88 percent of the vote and no opposition parties clearing
the 7 percent threshold for representation. Opposition protests foundered, and the government ignored a critical OSCE report. No
opposition candidates participated in the October 2008 indirect elections for the upper house of Parliament.
In 2009, some Nur Otan legislators proposed a lifetime presidency for Nazarbayev, which would eliminate the need for him to seek
reelection. However, the president commented that his existing access to unlimited seven-year terms was sufficient.
Also during the year, Rakhat Aliyev, Nazarbayev’s former son-in-law, published a muckraking book about the president that Kazakh
prosecutors promptly banned, initially threatening to try anyone who even “touched” the volume. An exemplar of Kazakhstan’s
personalized and volatile politics, Aliyev had risen to positions as high as deputy foreign minister and built a media empire before falling
out of favor in 2007. He then went into exile in Austria as Nazarbayev’s daughter divorced him, his Kazakh business interests collapsed,
and a Kazakh court sentenced him to two 20-year prison terms in absentia for illegal business practices and other crimes. In 2008 he
issued a series of statements accusing the Kazakh leadership of corruption.
Kazakhstan maintained productive relations with all major powers in 2009. Its foreign policy included energy ties with China, which
continued to expand its oil and gas pipeline network in Central Asia during the year, and cooperation with the United States, which began
to ship nonmilitary supplies for operations in Afghanistan through Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan was also set to assume the chairmanship of
the OSCE in 2010, despite its poor human rights record.
Click here to read more »
Political Rights Score: 6
Civil Liberties Score: 5
Status: Not Free
Trend Arrow
Kazakhstan received a downward trend arrow due to a spate of politically motivated libel suits against critical media outlets, a
restrictive new internet law, arbitrary arrests of officials and businesspeople, and the grossly deficient judicial proceedings
against human rights activist Yevgeny Zhovtis.
Overview
President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his Nur Otan party maintained almost complete control over the political sphere in 2009, using
tactics including arbitrary arrests, restrictive new laws, and politically motivated prosecutions to muzzle critical media outlets and
individuals. These long-standing authoritarian practices continued even as Kazakhstan prepared to assume the chairmanship of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 2010.
Constitutional changes in May 2007 removed term limits for Nazarbayev and eliminated individual district races for the lower house of
Parliament, leaving only party-slate seats filled by nationwide proportional representation. Elections under the new rules in August
produced a one-party legislature, with the pro-presidential Nur Otan party taking 88 percent of the vote and no opposition parties clearing
the 7 percent threshold for representation. Opposition protests foundered, and the government ignored a critical OSCE report. No
opposition candidates participated in the October 2008 indirect elections for the upper house of Parliament.
In 2009, some Nur Otan legislators proposed a lifetime presidency for Nazarbayev, which would eliminate the need for him to seek
reelection. However, the president commented that his existing access to unlimited seven-year terms was sufficient.
Also during the year, Rakhat Aliyev, Nazarbayev’s former son-in-law, published a muckraking book about the president that Kazakh
prosecutors promptly banned, initially threatening to try anyone who even “touched” the volume. An exemplar of Kazakhstan’s
personalized and volatile politics, Aliyev had risen to positions as high as deputy foreign minister and built a media empire before falling
out of favor in 2007. He then went into exile in Austria as Nazarbayev’s daughter divorced him, his Kazakh business interests collapsed,
and a Kazakh court sentenced him to two 20-year prison terms in absentia for illegal business practices and other crimes. In 2008 he
issued a series of statements accusing the Kazakh leadership of corruption.
Kazakhstan maintained productive relations with all major powers in 2009. Its foreign policy included energy ties with China, which
continued to expand its oil and gas pipeline network in Central Asia during the year, and cooperation with the United States, which began
to ship nonmilitary supplies for operations in Afghanistan through Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan was also set to assume the chairmanship of
the OSCE in 2010, despite its poor human rights record.
Click here to read more »
Kazakhstani authorities must tackle police brutality
22 March 2010
Amnesty International has urged the authorities in Kazakhstan to end abuse by police that regularly sees suspects kicked, beaten and
asphyxiated from the moment they are stopped by officers.
Amnesty International’s report published today, Kazakhstan: No effective safeguards against torture, documents the pervasiveness of
torture and other ill-treatment in the criminal justice system and the persistence of impunity for such actions.
“The Kazakhstani authorities must adopt a zero tolerance approach to torture and they are reneging on their international commitments
by refusing to tackle this issue,” said Halya Gowan, Europe and Central Asia Programme Director.
Kazakhstan, currently chairing the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), is also failing to address its human
rights commitments under international law, including on the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
Under domestic law police are obliged to register a detention within three hours, however, most of the reported instances of torture or ill-
treatment occur during the hours after a suspect has been detained.
At times the detention is not registered for days and the detainees are kept de facto incommunicado without access to lawyers, doctors
or family members. The names of the detaining police officers are not officially recorded.
Under pressure and as a result of ill-treatment, many confess to crimes they have not committed and, as confessions extracted under
torture are routinely admitted in court, convictions may be solely based on confessions.
The practice of extracting confessions under torture is partly caused by the fact that police officers are judged by the number of solved
crimes despite deficient forensic training and equipment and is further compounded by corruption.
Official commissions tasked with monitoring detention centres have been working since 2005, but their powers to inspect all detention
facilities is compromised.
Access to investigation isolation facilities of the National Security Service has been systematically denied and access to detention facilities
under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Interior has also not always been granted.
“The Kazakhstani authorities must allow independent monitoring mechanisms to undertake unannounced visits to all detention centres.
This has proven to be a very effective tool of prevention of torture,” Halya Gowan said.
Click here to read more »
22 March 2010
Amnesty International has urged the authorities in Kazakhstan to end abuse by police that regularly sees suspects kicked, beaten and
asphyxiated from the moment they are stopped by officers.
Amnesty International’s report published today, Kazakhstan: No effective safeguards against torture, documents the pervasiveness of
torture and other ill-treatment in the criminal justice system and the persistence of impunity for such actions.
“The Kazakhstani authorities must adopt a zero tolerance approach to torture and they are reneging on their international commitments
by refusing to tackle this issue,” said Halya Gowan, Europe and Central Asia Programme Director.
Kazakhstan, currently chairing the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), is also failing to address its human
rights commitments under international law, including on the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
Under domestic law police are obliged to register a detention within three hours, however, most of the reported instances of torture or ill-
treatment occur during the hours after a suspect has been detained.
At times the detention is not registered for days and the detainees are kept de facto incommunicado without access to lawyers, doctors
or family members. The names of the detaining police officers are not officially recorded.
Under pressure and as a result of ill-treatment, many confess to crimes they have not committed and, as confessions extracted under
torture are routinely admitted in court, convictions may be solely based on confessions.
The practice of extracting confessions under torture is partly caused by the fact that police officers are judged by the number of solved
crimes despite deficient forensic training and equipment and is further compounded by corruption.
Official commissions tasked with monitoring detention centres have been working since 2005, but their powers to inspect all detention
facilities is compromised.
Access to investigation isolation facilities of the National Security Service has been systematically denied and access to detention facilities
under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Interior has also not always been granted.
“The Kazakhstani authorities must allow independent monitoring mechanisms to undertake unannounced visits to all detention centres.
This has proven to be a very effective tool of prevention of torture,” Halya Gowan said.
Click here to read more »
“Hellish Work”
Exploitation of Migrant Tobacco Workers in Kazakhstan
July 14, 2010
Summary and Key Recommendations
Every year, tens of thousands of migrant workers from Kyrgyzstan travel to the Central Asian economic powerhouse of Kazakhstan in
search of employment. Thousands of these migrant workers, often together with their children, find work in tobacco farming. Human
Rights Watch research in 2009 documented abuse and exploitation of many migrant workers by tobacco farm owners who employ them
for seasonal work. Tobacco farm owners in Kazakhstan contract with and supply tobacco to Philip Morris Kazakhstan (PMK), a
subsidiary of Philip Morris International (PMI), one of the world’s largest tobacco companies.
Human Rights Watch interviewed 68 migrant tobacco workers in 2009 and early 2010 who were working or who had recently worked
on tobacco farms in Kazakhstan. They variously told Human Rights Watch how some employers confiscated their passports, failed to
provide them with written employment contracts, did not pay regular wages, cheated them of earnings, and forced them to work
excessively long hours. Some employers also failed to provide migrant workers with potable water, adequate hand-washing and other
sanitary facilities, or adequate living conditions.
In the worst cases, workers were subjected to forced labor, or situations analogous to forced labor, in which employers confiscated
migrant workers’ passports and in some cases required them to perform other work without pay or compensation in addition to tobacco
farming. Work extracted under menace of penalty and for which a person has not offered him or herself voluntarily is forced labor and
is banned under both international and Kazakhstani law.
Human Rights Watch documented 72 cases of children working in tobacco farming in 2009, the youngest of whom was 10. At that
time, the structure of tobacco farming, whereby workers were paid only once at the end of a season based on the volume of tobacco
produced, contributes to parents relying on children to participate in the work. International and Kazakhstani law prohibits the
employment of children under the age of eighteen in harmful or hazardous work; Kazakhstani law explicitly prohibits employment of
children in tobacco farming. Owing to the difficulty of the work and the risks associated with the handling of tobacco leaves and
exposure to pesticides, experts agree that tobacco farming is one of the worst forms of child labor, or labor from which children under
18 are categorically prohibited.
Children who worked with their families on tobacco farms typically missed several months of school each year, or even entire academic
years. Although very often parents expected their children to work with them, in some cases this was because migrant children faced
obstacles in accessing local schools in Kazakhstan. International law guarantees the right to primary education, including for migrant
workers.
Click here to read more »
Exploitation of Migrant Tobacco Workers in Kazakhstan
July 14, 2010
Summary and Key Recommendations
Every year, tens of thousands of migrant workers from Kyrgyzstan travel to the Central Asian economic powerhouse of Kazakhstan in
search of employment. Thousands of these migrant workers, often together with their children, find work in tobacco farming. Human
Rights Watch research in 2009 documented abuse and exploitation of many migrant workers by tobacco farm owners who employ them
for seasonal work. Tobacco farm owners in Kazakhstan contract with and supply tobacco to Philip Morris Kazakhstan (PMK), a
subsidiary of Philip Morris International (PMI), one of the world’s largest tobacco companies.
Human Rights Watch interviewed 68 migrant tobacco workers in 2009 and early 2010 who were working or who had recently worked
on tobacco farms in Kazakhstan. They variously told Human Rights Watch how some employers confiscated their passports, failed to
provide them with written employment contracts, did not pay regular wages, cheated them of earnings, and forced them to work
excessively long hours. Some employers also failed to provide migrant workers with potable water, adequate hand-washing and other
sanitary facilities, or adequate living conditions.
In the worst cases, workers were subjected to forced labor, or situations analogous to forced labor, in which employers confiscated
migrant workers’ passports and in some cases required them to perform other work without pay or compensation in addition to tobacco
farming. Work extracted under menace of penalty and for which a person has not offered him or herself voluntarily is forced labor and
is banned under both international and Kazakhstani law.
Human Rights Watch documented 72 cases of children working in tobacco farming in 2009, the youngest of whom was 10. At that
time, the structure of tobacco farming, whereby workers were paid only once at the end of a season based on the volume of tobacco
produced, contributes to parents relying on children to participate in the work. International and Kazakhstani law prohibits the
employment of children under the age of eighteen in harmful or hazardous work; Kazakhstani law explicitly prohibits employment of
children in tobacco farming. Owing to the difficulty of the work and the risks associated with the handling of tobacco leaves and
exposure to pesticides, experts agree that tobacco farming is one of the worst forms of child labor, or labor from which children under
18 are categorically prohibited.
Children who worked with their families on tobacco farms typically missed several months of school each year, or even entire academic
years. Although very often parents expected their children to work with them, in some cases this was because migrant children faced
obstacles in accessing local schools in Kazakhstan. International law guarantees the right to primary education, including for migrant
workers.
Click here to read more »
STATEMENT BY H.E. MR. KANAT SAUDABAYEV, SECRETARY OF STATE –
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN
AT THE GENERAL DEBATE OF THE 64 TH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY
25 September 2009
New York
Mr. President,
During acute social and economic breakdowns risks of inter-ethnic and inter-religious conflicts increase considerably. Located at the
confluence of Asia and Europe, having maintained peace and accord in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country during all the years of
its independence, Kazakhstan is ready to act as a “bridge” of mutual understanding and tolerance between the East and the West.
As Chairman of the OSCE in 2010, and of the 2011 Ministerial Conference of the Organization of Islamic Conference, Kazakhstan is
eager to fully use this unique opportunity for strengthening constructive cooperation between various cultures and civilizations, adoption
of concrete decisions on this issue. In addition, since 2003 our country has hosted three Congresses of Leaders of World and Traditional
Religions, now supported by the United Nations.
At Kazakhstan 's initiative, the 62 nd session of UN General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring 2010 the International Year for
Rapprochement of Cultures. We call on UN Member States to take active participation in marking this Year.
Kazakhstan , fully supporting the goals of the Alliance of Civilizations, calls on all Member States and organizations of the UN system to
contribute to the strengthening of tolerance and mutual understanding in the world.
.
In modern circumstances, the regional aspect of solving global problems increases . Our country is firmly committed to consistent
development of the regional co operation for security and development in Central Asia.
Currently, a unique security architecture is being formed in Eurasia , with organizations such as OSCE, CICA, SCO, CSTO, and NATO
forming its most important elements. At the same time, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA),
convened at the initiative introduced by President Nazarbayev from this podium in 1992, is now becoming an effective mechanism for
strengthening regional security and cooperation.
In 2010, our country will take up the chairmanship of the OSCE. We intend to work for the good of all OSCE member states to
strengthen the Organization's efficiency in addressing new challenges and threats, as well as to further strengthen confidence-building
and security measures in the Euro-Atlantic community. The OSCE Summit could be one of such mechanisms, for which an urgent need
has arisen after a 10-year break, and we intend to actively work with our partners on its organization.
Click here to read more »
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN
AT THE GENERAL DEBATE OF THE 64 TH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY
25 September 2009
New York
Mr. President,
During acute social and economic breakdowns risks of inter-ethnic and inter-religious conflicts increase considerably. Located at the
confluence of Asia and Europe, having maintained peace and accord in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country during all the years of
its independence, Kazakhstan is ready to act as a “bridge” of mutual understanding and tolerance between the East and the West.
As Chairman of the OSCE in 2010, and of the 2011 Ministerial Conference of the Organization of Islamic Conference, Kazakhstan is
eager to fully use this unique opportunity for strengthening constructive cooperation between various cultures and civilizations, adoption
of concrete decisions on this issue. In addition, since 2003 our country has hosted three Congresses of Leaders of World and Traditional
Religions, now supported by the United Nations.
At Kazakhstan 's initiative, the 62 nd session of UN General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring 2010 the International Year for
Rapprochement of Cultures. We call on UN Member States to take active participation in marking this Year.
Kazakhstan , fully supporting the goals of the Alliance of Civilizations, calls on all Member States and organizations of the UN system to
contribute to the strengthening of tolerance and mutual understanding in the world.
.
In modern circumstances, the regional aspect of solving global problems increases . Our country is firmly committed to consistent
development of the regional co operation for security and development in Central Asia.
Currently, a unique security architecture is being formed in Eurasia , with organizations such as OSCE, CICA, SCO, CSTO, and NATO
forming its most important elements. At the same time, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA),
convened at the initiative introduced by President Nazarbayev from this podium in 1992, is now becoming an effective mechanism for
strengthening regional security and cooperation.
In 2010, our country will take up the chairmanship of the OSCE. We intend to work for the good of all OSCE member states to
strengthen the Organization's efficiency in addressing new challenges and threats, as well as to further strengthen confidence-building
and security measures in the Euro-Atlantic community. The OSCE Summit could be one of such mechanisms, for which an urgent need
has arisen after a 10-year break, and we intend to actively work with our partners on its organization.
Click here to read more »
Kazakhstan’s Constitution, Fifteen Years Young and Counting
28-08-2010
As Astana prepares to host an OSCE summit, the first in over a decade, Kazakhstan is standing on the threshold of another historical
event, the 15th anniversary of its Constitution, on August 30.
On that day fifteen years ago, the people of Kazakhstan voted in a nationwide referendum overwhelmingly approving the new basic law
aimed at ensuring dynamic political, social and economic development of the country.
Kazakhstan’s Constitution, based loosely on the French constitution and creating a presidential republic, set clear political and ideological
standards, which after almost fifteen years of implementation proved their soundness.
The highest values for the Kazakh state, proclaimed by the Constitution, encompass human rights and freedoms, the rule of law,
unanimity and separation of power, as well as the liberalization of political and economic activity. All these factors laid a solid foundation
for the stability of Kazakhstan’s state system, which made it a worthy partner of the international community and largely contributed to
the country’s being given the honour to chair the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2010.
At the beginning of a new century, a different type of social and political situation emerged in Kazakhstan due to the continuous social
development and the elimination of discrepancies inherited by a young independent state from the Soviet Union. It was characterized by
significant economic growth, diversity of ownership patterns, expansion of the middle class, and the strengthening of political parties,
mass media and non-governmental organizations. Owing to the substantial rise in political and legal consciousness of people, there
appeared a basic framework of the modern civil society.
The Basic Law cannot stay socially stagnant and requires constant updating to meet the demands of the modern world. As a result, a
number of amendments and additions were introduced in the Constitution in October 1998. The latter established the system of party-list
elections, which promoted active participation of political parties in a gradual process of transition to democracy in Kazakhstan.
Similarly, the changes shifted a some of the presidential powers to Parliament, and preceded the following introduction of participation of
jurymen in criminal proceedings.
In response to the dynamic development of the country, President Nursultan Nazarbayev initiated a nation-wide dialogue on the future
liberalization of society. As a result of these measures, Kazakhstan’s state functions underwent thorough examination and were
redistributed between different levels of public authorities with an assignment of a substantial part of work to local bodies.
In 2002, Kazakhstan introduced the Human Rights Ombudsman. The activity of the Ombudsman is aimed at promoting human rights
and good governance; enhancing the capacity of democratic institutions to be effective, sufficient and responsive in protecting the rights
of citizens; and empowering citizens to be active and effective participants in the democratic process.
Likewise, some fundamental amendments have been made in the electoral law through the continuous involvement of OSCE experts,
which enabled to hold experimental elections of akims, and provided better involvement of non-governmental organizations into the state
activity. In 2006, the President approved the concepts aimed at extensive development of civil society, and raising competitiveness of
media scene, which have been progressively implemented over the recent years.
In 2007, the Constitution underwent another round of reforms through the overwhelming votes in both houses of Parliament, further
moving Kazakhstan along the path of creating a mixed presidential-parliamentary republic. In addition to redistribution of certain
prerogatives from the president to the parliament, the amendments also shortened the presidential term of office from seven to five
years. At the same, President Nursultan Nazarbayev was given an exemption from the two-term limit for a presidential incumbent, in
recognition of his role in the establishment of an independent Kazakhstan.
Click here to read more »
28-08-2010
As Astana prepares to host an OSCE summit, the first in over a decade, Kazakhstan is standing on the threshold of another historical
event, the 15th anniversary of its Constitution, on August 30.
On that day fifteen years ago, the people of Kazakhstan voted in a nationwide referendum overwhelmingly approving the new basic law
aimed at ensuring dynamic political, social and economic development of the country.
Kazakhstan’s Constitution, based loosely on the French constitution and creating a presidential republic, set clear political and ideological
standards, which after almost fifteen years of implementation proved their soundness.
The highest values for the Kazakh state, proclaimed by the Constitution, encompass human rights and freedoms, the rule of law,
unanimity and separation of power, as well as the liberalization of political and economic activity. All these factors laid a solid foundation
for the stability of Kazakhstan’s state system, which made it a worthy partner of the international community and largely contributed to
the country’s being given the honour to chair the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2010.
At the beginning of a new century, a different type of social and political situation emerged in Kazakhstan due to the continuous social
development and the elimination of discrepancies inherited by a young independent state from the Soviet Union. It was characterized by
significant economic growth, diversity of ownership patterns, expansion of the middle class, and the strengthening of political parties,
mass media and non-governmental organizations. Owing to the substantial rise in political and legal consciousness of people, there
appeared a basic framework of the modern civil society.
The Basic Law cannot stay socially stagnant and requires constant updating to meet the demands of the modern world. As a result, a
number of amendments and additions were introduced in the Constitution in October 1998. The latter established the system of party-list
elections, which promoted active participation of political parties in a gradual process of transition to democracy in Kazakhstan.
Similarly, the changes shifted a some of the presidential powers to Parliament, and preceded the following introduction of participation of
jurymen in criminal proceedings.
In response to the dynamic development of the country, President Nursultan Nazarbayev initiated a nation-wide dialogue on the future
liberalization of society. As a result of these measures, Kazakhstan’s state functions underwent thorough examination and were
redistributed between different levels of public authorities with an assignment of a substantial part of work to local bodies.
In 2002, Kazakhstan introduced the Human Rights Ombudsman. The activity of the Ombudsman is aimed at promoting human rights
and good governance; enhancing the capacity of democratic institutions to be effective, sufficient and responsive in protecting the rights
of citizens; and empowering citizens to be active and effective participants in the democratic process.
Likewise, some fundamental amendments have been made in the electoral law through the continuous involvement of OSCE experts,
which enabled to hold experimental elections of akims, and provided better involvement of non-governmental organizations into the state
activity. In 2006, the President approved the concepts aimed at extensive development of civil society, and raising competitiveness of
media scene, which have been progressively implemented over the recent years.
In 2007, the Constitution underwent another round of reforms through the overwhelming votes in both houses of Parliament, further
moving Kazakhstan along the path of creating a mixed presidential-parliamentary republic. In addition to redistribution of certain
prerogatives from the president to the parliament, the amendments also shortened the presidential term of office from seven to five
years. At the same, President Nursultan Nazarbayev was given an exemption from the two-term limit for a presidential incumbent, in
recognition of his role in the establishment of an independent Kazakhstan.
Click here to read more »
TRANSLATED FROM RUSSIAN BY GOOGLE TRANSLATE
09/17/2010
Civil Claims Panel greetings from the Stalinist past
In the human rights center of our Office asked 68-year-old Kazakh German Erich Vilgelmovich FORAT, born in 1942 in the family of
Volga Germans deported. His problem, like many other Kazakhs of similar age and origin, is the inability to achieve certain benefits and
payments (by the way, very modest), the provision of the law "About rehabilitation of victims of political repressions", adopted in 1993.
The sticking point is the fact that Mr. Forata ugorazdilo not born in the republic of the Volga Germans before the mass deportation of its
population 28 August 1941, and after the relocation.
Also, when trying to use in practice of the Rehabilitation Act is still in doubt as to whether to treat a variety of Migrations of Stalinist
repression, the concept about which more closely associated with executions and the Gulag.
On the advice of a lawyer KMBPChiSZ Svetlana ORYSPAEVOY Mr. Forat touched on this issue with the claim in one of the district
court of Almaty. Our lawyer has had him all possible assistance in the preparation of filing suit, and now monitors the process of
reviewing the claim in Zhetysu district court of Almaty. For information on how the trial went and what he will decide, we will tell on
our site, but so far offers the readers a resource of historical and legal help, written at the request of our colleagues - women human
rights defenders.
Revealed in this small material issue seems far from dusty archives, but it is a relevant in connection with the observed over the decade
ending creeping re-Stalinization in neighboring Russia. There's now even the authors of school books, do not hesitate to justify the
crimes of Stalin as an "effective manager", including its policies in the notorious national question. And our Russian friends, the liberals
have to give battle to things as much in the Public Chamber in the State Duma (see, for example, the recent publication of the Russian
historian Anatoly Berstein "historiographical case" site "Daily Journal" from 8.09.2010 <http://www.ej . ru /? a = note & id = 10375>).
Returning to our Kazakh realities, we repeat the announcement of the material on the process in Zhetysu District Court, and what they
refer a visitor to our "memorialskoy" Help.
On the question of legal status existed in the Soviet Union in 1930-56 years of special settlements, and former special settlers as victims
of mass political repression of the period
One of the most egregious crimes of the totalitarian regime in the Soviet era of personal power IV Stalin's mass deportations of peoples.
In the second half of the 30's, 40's and early 50-ies of XX century, complete or partial deported from their historical homeland in
northern and eastern areas and especially densely - in Kazakhstan and Central Asia, were more than 20 million people.
Click here to read more>>
09/17/2010
Civil Claims Panel greetings from the Stalinist past
In the human rights center of our Office asked 68-year-old Kazakh German Erich Vilgelmovich FORAT, born in 1942 in the family of
Volga Germans deported. His problem, like many other Kazakhs of similar age and origin, is the inability to achieve certain benefits and
payments (by the way, very modest), the provision of the law "About rehabilitation of victims of political repressions", adopted in 1993.
The sticking point is the fact that Mr. Forata ugorazdilo not born in the republic of the Volga Germans before the mass deportation of its
population 28 August 1941, and after the relocation.
Also, when trying to use in practice of the Rehabilitation Act is still in doubt as to whether to treat a variety of Migrations of Stalinist
repression, the concept about which more closely associated with executions and the Gulag.
On the advice of a lawyer KMBPChiSZ Svetlana ORYSPAEVOY Mr. Forat touched on this issue with the claim in one of the district
court of Almaty. Our lawyer has had him all possible assistance in the preparation of filing suit, and now monitors the process of
reviewing the claim in Zhetysu district court of Almaty. For information on how the trial went and what he will decide, we will tell on
our site, but so far offers the readers a resource of historical and legal help, written at the request of our colleagues - women human
rights defenders.
Revealed in this small material issue seems far from dusty archives, but it is a relevant in connection with the observed over the decade
ending creeping re-Stalinization in neighboring Russia. There's now even the authors of school books, do not hesitate to justify the
crimes of Stalin as an "effective manager", including its policies in the notorious national question. And our Russian friends, the liberals
have to give battle to things as much in the Public Chamber in the State Duma (see, for example, the recent publication of the Russian
historian Anatoly Berstein "historiographical case" site "Daily Journal" from 8.09.2010 <http://www.ej . ru /? a = note & id = 10375>).
Returning to our Kazakh realities, we repeat the announcement of the material on the process in Zhetysu District Court, and what they
refer a visitor to our "memorialskoy" Help.
On the question of legal status existed in the Soviet Union in 1930-56 years of special settlements, and former special settlers as victims
of mass political repression of the period
One of the most egregious crimes of the totalitarian regime in the Soviet era of personal power IV Stalin's mass deportations of peoples.
In the second half of the 30's, 40's and early 50-ies of XX century, complete or partial deported from their historical homeland in
northern and eastern areas and especially densely - in Kazakhstan and Central Asia, were more than 20 million people.
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Nursultan A. Nazarbayev
President since 1 December 1991
President since 1 December 1991
Karim Masimov
Prime Minister since 10 January 2007
Prime Minister since 10 January 2007
| TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS |
None reported.
Yerbol Orynbayev
Deputy Prime Minister since 29 October 2007
Deputy Prime Minister since 29 October 2007
Aset Isekeshev
Deputy Prime Minister since 12 March 2010
Deputy Prime Minister since 12 March 2010
