January-June 2025 Across Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, civic space continues to shrink. Our latest report (covering the first half of 2025) documents the growing crackdown on media freedom, political dissent, and civil society — from arbitrary detentions and surveillance to transnational repression and the use of courts as tools of political control. Rampant […]
Central Asia Human Rights Report Read More »
In Kazakhstan in early January 2022, 227 people were tragically killed when popular demonstrations over gas prices turned into violent riots. Over a year later a former prime minister of Kazakhstan, Karim Massimov, was jailed for treason for his apparent role in the unrest. His imprisonment marked an incredible fall from grace for one of
New report: NAPOLEON COMPLEX The Corruption of Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov Read More »
Written by: Thomas Mayne, Leila N. Seiitbek, Fatima Kanji and Erin K. Schornick Kazakhstan stands as one of the strongest examples of a modern kleptocracy, because for the last thirty years the political economy of Kazakhstan has been dominated by an elite coterie of state officials who have used their power to capture the country’s
Bad Connection: Corruption in Kazakthelecoms Read More »
What does Uzbekistan’s “klepto-baby”, Gulnara Karimova, teaches us about enablers and asset repatriation to help civil society gear up? Gulnara Karimova is one of the most recognizable faces of kleptocracy. While she has been convicted for her crimes in Uzbekistan, other kleptocracy dynasties continue to rampantly steal their countries’ coffers with impunity — from Equatorial Guinea’s Obiang and his
Who Enabled the Uzbek Princess? Read More »
Written by: Freedom for Eurasia The countries of Central Asia and other members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) as a tool to circumvent sanctions against the Russian Federation, its legal entities and individuals January 2023 After the beginning of the large-scale aggression of the Russian Federation (RF) against
Analytical Report On Sanctions Evasion by Russian Federation (Updated) Read More »
