Kazakhstan

The world’s largest landlocked country, Kazakhstan borders Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Kazakhstan, under President Nursultan Nazarbayev since its independence from the Soviet Union, remains a largely repressive and authoritarian regime with only very limited political opposition permitted and with elections that fall far short of international standards. In addition to severe restrictions on civil society and media freedom, Kazakhstan is also notable for its failure to prevent the use of torture, limits to freedom of assembly, inhumane penal system, poor record on economic, social and cultural rights, the prevalence of child labour, high levels of corruption and problems around child trafficking.