Country Report on Terrorism 2023 - Chapter 1 - Kazakhstan

Overview:  Kazakhstan remained alert to the potential for both externally directed and homegrown terrorist attacks.  The government also continued rehabilitation and reintegration efforts for Kazakh foreign terrorist fighters and their associated family members repatriated from Syria and Iraq.  NGOs and independent observers expressed concerns that terrorism and extremism laws were applied too broadly in the country, in some cases against political opponents and adherents of non-violent religious movements.

Trials related to the January 2022 widespread civil unrest, which the Kazakh government has called a terrorist attack and an attempted coup, continued through 2023.  The most significant case involved 11 agents from Kazakhstan’s Committee for National Security (KNB), who were convicted and sentenced for torturing detainees during the January events.  Prosecutions in the remaining 19 cases are scheduled to continue in 2024.

2023 Terrorist Incidents:  There were no reported terrorist incidents in 2023.

Legislation, Law Enforcement, and Border Security:  Kazakhstan has a comprehensive counterterrorism legal framework.  The lead CT agency is the KNB, which coordinates efforts at both the central and local levels.  In 2023 the government began a three-year program to counter “extremism” and terrorism.  Law-enforcement officers and prosecutors continued to have wide discretion to determine what qualifies as terrorism or “extremism,” leaving political opponents and adherents of non-violent but unregistered religious groups vulnerable to prosecution.

Numerous individuals were charged in 2023 with various types of support for “extremism.”  Independent human rights organizations and the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom consider many of these political prisoners or prisoners of conscience.  In one prominent case, a court in Astana ordered the arrest of Marat Zhylanbayev, leader of the unregistered opposition party “Alga, Kazakhstan!” on suspicion of participating in and financing an “extremist organization.”  Zhylanbayev unsuccessfully attempted to register the political party on numerous occasions and ultimately was banned from campaigning.

Kazakhstan law bans its citizens from fighting in foreign wars.  The government has prosecuted fighters and others suspected of active participation in terrorism in Iraq and Syria, while allowing others to reintegrate into their communities with access to state-supported theological counseling and psychological, social, and educational services.  From 2019 to 2021, Kazakhstan returned more than 600 of its nationals from Iraq and Syria.  In 2023, Kazakhstan repatriated an additional five nationals from Syria.

Law enforcement units demonstrated a strong capacity to detect, deter, and respond to terrorist incidents.  According to information provided by the Kazakh government, the KNB disrupted and prevented two terrorist attacks in 2023, deported 19 foreigners holding “radical religious” points of view from Kazakhstan, and prevented 3,702 foreign citizens involved in terrorism or “religious extremism” from entering the country.  The government convicted 128 people for terrorism or extremism-related crimes.

Kazakhstan’s Border Guard Service (part of the KNB) and other agencies proactively worked to prevent Kazakhs and foreign citizens with suspected terrorist links from traveling to, from, or through Kazakhstan, in keeping with UNSC resolution 2396.  This included the use of specialized equipment to interdict suspicious or unauthorized travelers at both official and unofficial air, land, and sea crossing points.  In 2023, an estimated 3,700 foreign citizens reportedly involved in terrorist attacks or “religious extremism” were banned from entering the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Countering the Financing of Terrorism:  Kazakhstan is a member of the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism, and its Financial Intelligence Unit, the Financial Monitoring Agency, is a member of the Egmont Group.  In 2023, Kazakhstan completed its mutual evaluation.  Additionally, the Prosecutor General’s Office brought a total of eight criminal cases involving terrorist financing.

Countering Violent Extremism:  Kazakhstan continued efforts to promulgate officially approved versions of Islam to youth, and to provide alternatives to “extremism” through social programs and economic opportunities.  Working with religious experts, psychologists, and theologians, the Ministry of Culture and Information conducted direct outreach in communities across the country; maintained an educational website on religion, state policy, and prevention of terrorism; and operated a nationwide hotline offering consultations on religious questions.

The Kazakh government continued to block online content it considered “extremist,” including content from schools of Islam that, while not widely considered extremist, differ from the Kazakh government-approved version of Islam.  In 2023 the government identified more than 26,000 websites it considered to contain signs of “extremist” propaganda.  The Ministry of Culture and Information and the General Prosecutor’s Office blocked more than 17,000 links to sites they deemed to contain terrorist and “extremist” content.  In one notable case, the Kazakh government blocked the website of the Russian TV channel Tsargrad for allegedly promoting “extremism” by posting articles containing ethnic hatred toward Kazakh and other Central Asian ethnicities.

The government continued to implement rehabilitation and reintegration programs for individuals convicted of extremism-related offenses and their relatives, who number in the hundreds.

International and Regional Cooperation:  Kazakhstan partnered with the United States and international organizations such as UNDP, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, and the OSCE on a variety of CT and CVE projects.  As a member of the C5+1 diplomatic platform, Kazakhstan participates in the associated C5+1 Security Working Group, which focuses on regional CT and CVE cooperation.  The United States continued implementing technical assistance projects focused on prison-based and community-based rehabilitation and reintegration efforts for returnees from Syria and Iraq.  USAID continued its five-year, $15 million regional program to reduce the risk of, and increase resilience to, violent extremism.

Kazakhstan also participates in CT-related exercises and training through membership in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).  For example, in September the first joint antiterrorist exercises between the CIS and the SCO took place in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic.  Kazakhstan also participated in a joint antiterrorism exercise of the CSTO’s Collective Rapid Reaction Forces.  In October 2022, CIS leaders adopted a “Program of Cooperation in Combating Terrorism and Extremism” for 2023-25.  Aktau and Karaganda are members of the Strong Cities Network.