State of the World's Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2013 - Kazakhstan

Incumbent president Nursultan Nazarbaev and his Nur Otan party won parliamentary elections in January with 80 per cent of the vote. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) criticized the elections for failing to meet democratic standards yet again. Two other political parties considered loyal to Nazarbaev also gained seats in parliament. Women continue to be under-represented in government, with 27 of 77 seats in the lower house of parliament and 2 of 47 in the upper house.

There are still very few ethnic minority representatives in senior government, which could in part be because of language barriers. Although knowledge of Kazakh is not required for government and civil service positions – except for presidential candidates – non-Kazakh speakers complain that Kazakh speakers are favoured for government positions.

Nazarbaev's victory is seen to reflect a growing Kazakh nationalism in the country. Under his leadership, the creation of Kazakh-language schools and the conversion of some Russian-language schools to Kazakh reduced the overall number of Russian-only language schools. In March, Nazarbaev called for fewer home-grown films to be made in non-Kazakh languages and to show the country in a more positive light.

At the most elite end of public health promotion, home-grown nationalism was less of an issue for the government as naturalized or so-called 'plastic' Kazakhs made up over half of Kazakhstan's delegation to the London 2012 Olympics. The athletes included several Russians and three Chinese-born weightlifters, who took Kazakh nationality and changed their names to sound more Kazakh. While offering substantial positive rewards and glory for successful competitors, this practice reportedly led to resentment towards 'plastic' Kazakhs, which could contribute to discrimination.

The situation for religious minorities deteriorated in 2012, following the adoption of a new Religion Law in late 2011. The law compels public organizations and religious groups to register with the Ministry of Justice and regional authorities, and has been enforced through fines and imprisonment. For example, in East Kazakhstan members of an unregistered Baptist group were fined almost 18 months' wages each.

Registration processes have been described as complex, arbitrary and expensive. The 2013 United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) report documented cases of corruption involving the re-registration process.

During 2012, numerous groups were not allowed to re-register. For example, members of the Grace Protestant Church in Karaturyk, with a mainly Kazakh and Uighur membership, were pressured to remove their names from registration documents to prevent the church from registering. Some congregations of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad were also affected. The government raided numerous places of worship and confiscated religious material, affecting Pentecostal Christian, Methodist, Hare Krishna and Jehovah's Witness groups.

Muslim groups have also been affected. Only groups that are part of the state-backed Sunni Muslim Board can register and in November some independent mosques belonging to Shi'a and Ahmadi Muslim communities were refused legal status. As a result the Ahmadiyya community in Almaty has nowhere to legally worship. Other mosques have also been threatened with demolition if their communities don't register with the authorities.

Human rights activists report that prison administrators do not allow prisoners to practise their religion. If members of unregistered groups were incarcerated they would face a prison system that has been criticized for providing insufficient access to medical care and having inadequate numbers of medical personnel, including infectious disease doctors, not monitoring antiretroviral treatment of HIV-infected prisoners, having shortages in medication, and having inadequate heating and ventilation systems.

In September, Uzbek Pentecostal pastor, Makset Djabbarbergenov, was arrested in Kazakshtan at the request of the Uzbek government for conducting religious activity. He was not extradited, partly due to international pressure, but he was held in detention for three months. Upon his release in December, Djabbarbergenov and his family left the region; he is banned from returning to Kazakhstan before 2017. Djabbarbergenov had previously been recognized as a refugee by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

The plight of Kyrgyz migrant workers also made the news in 2012 when three Kyrgyz who had suffered de facto slavery in Kazakhstan for about a decade were found and released in Almaty. Rights groups say that migrant workers' rights are often violated due to their lack of legal documents.

Increasing numbers of Kyrgyz women are moving to Kazakhstan in search of work where they are vulnerable to exploitation. There were reports in 2012 that some migrant Kyrgyz women face mistreatment and exploitation. Poor female migrants are vulnerable to becoming forced sex workers, drug mules or victims of human trafficking to other countries, especially Russia. Their situation risks being compounded by medical problems, lack of access to proper health care and unwanted pregnancies caused by rape or forced prostitution.

This trend sparked debate in Kyrgyzstan in April when a female member of parliament proposed that women under the age of 23 should be banned from leaving the country for work in order to protect them from mental and physical abuse. However, this proposition is an inappropriate attempt to control women's freedom of movement.