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No justice for torture victims a year after Kazakhstan’s ‘Bloody January’

Hundreds of people reported having been tortured by law enforcement during Kazakhstan’s bloody January. But justice has been elusive

By Daniyar Moldabekov
No justice for torture victims a year after Kazakhstan’s ‘Bloody January’
"Kazakhstan without the Nazarbayevs!" march supporters of the Oyan, Qazaqstan movement | Image: Dmitriy Mazorenko
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Kazakhstani law enforcement didn’t just use lethal force against protesters and people on the streets during mass protests in January 2022 – they also used torture widely during and after the unrest.

At least 190 people were tortured by Kazakhstani law enforcement during the protests, which shook the country earlier this year, according to an independent coalition of human rights defenders. That’s on top of the 238 people killed in the events.

During the chaos of early January, president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev claimed that the protests were hijacked by thousands of “terrorists” who were using the instability to attempt a coup against the Kazakhstani government – a claim that has since been met with extreme scepticism.

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