Freedom House condemns the Kazakh government's failure to live up to its commitment to protect fundamental freedom of expression following the seizure of print runs from five independent newspapers. The seizure of papers occurred the very week that Kazakh foreign minister, Kanat Saudabayev, is in Washington speaking about Kazakhstan's commitment to democratic norms.
Kazakh protesters scuffled with police on Saturday at a rally against their government's burgeoning ties with neighbouring China.
Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, ruler of Central Asia's largest energy producer two decades, plans to "test" the loyalty of all citizens in a bid to avoid any form of public protest.
Fugitive Kazakh businessman Mukhtar Ablyazov has urged Chinese authorities to investigate a Kazakh-Chinese oil and gas deal that he claims was corrupt, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.
The influential son-in-law of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has filed a libel lawsuit against several local newspapers after they published a letter accusing him of corruption, one of the outlets said on Tuesday.
A private foundation set up by billionaire financier George Soros on Tuesday urged Kazakhstan to free a jailed human rights defender, saying he was imprisoned in "an unfair trial".
As the Republic of Kazakhstan ascends to its year-long chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2010, human rights and basic freedoms from Vilnius to Vladivostok will be faced with a curious challenge.
