Capital punishment in Kazakhstan was abolished for all crimes in 2021.
Until 2021, it had been abolished for ordinary crimes but was still permitted for crimes occurring in special circumstances (such as war crimes).
The legal method of execution in Kazakhstan had been shooting, specifically a single shot to the back of the head.
The last known executions in Kazakhstan took place in 2003, when 17 men were executed by shooting between May and November.
On December 17, 2003, President
Nursultan Nazarbayev
Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev ( kk, Нұрсұлтан Әбішұлы Назарбаев, Nūrsūltan Äbişūlı Nazarbaev, ; born 6 July 1940) is a Kazakh politician and military officer who served as the first President of Kazakhstan, in off ...
introduced a
moratorium on executions, and later commuted the death sentences of some 40 inmates to life in prison. In 2007, Kazakhstan amended its Constitution, abolishing the death penalty for all crimes except terrorist acts that cause loss of human life and exceptionally grave crimes committed during wartime.
In 2014,
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and s ...
classified Kazakhstan as "Abolitionist for ordinary crimes only".
Additionally, women could not be sentenced to death under Kazakh law.
Since the moratorium was instituted, six people have been sentenced to death in Kazakhstan. All have since had their death sentences commuted.
In 2008 and 2016, Kazakhstan voted in favor of the UN Moratorium on the death penalty.
On September 23, 2020, Kazakhstani President
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
Kassym-Jomart Kemeluly Tokayev ( kk, Қасым-Жомарт Кемелұлы Тоқаев, Qasym-Jomart Kemelūly Toqaev ; born 17 May 1953) is a Kazakh politician and diplomat who is currently serving as the President of Kazakhstan since 12 J ...
announced that Kazakhstan had signed the
and ratified it on March 24, 2022. The protocol requires all signatories to commit to abolishing the death penalty, with Tokayev adding that Kazakhstan signed it "
ofulfill a fundamental right to life and human dignity," with the intention of soon abolishing the death penalty within its borders.
Notable death sentences since 2003
In 2006, former police officer Rustam Ibragimov was sentenced to death for masterminding the assassination of prominent politician
Altynbek Sarsenbayuly
Altynbek Sarsenbayuly ( kk, Алтынбек Сәрсенбайұлы, ''Altynbek Särsenbaiūly''; 12 September 1962 – 11 February 2006) was a Kazakh politician who served in the Government of Kazakhstan before becoming a political oppositi ...
. In 2014, Ibragimov's death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Until 2016, Ibragimov was the last person to receive a death sentence in Kazakhstan.
In November 2016, a court in Kazakhstan sentenced mass-murderer Ruslan Kulikbayev to death for terrorism after he was convicted of killing ten people (including 8 policemen) in
a shooting attack against police officers in
Almaty
Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to 1936 as an autonomous republic as part of ...
.
Kulikbayev's death sentence was commuted to
life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes fo ...
in 2021 after Kazakhstan abolished the death penalty for all crimes.
References
{{Capital punishment in Europe
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
Human rights abuses in Kazakhstan