On October 5 and 6, 2026, in Geneva, at the 93rd session of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan will present its Sixth Periodic Report (CEDAW/C/KAZ/6). State bodies will report on how the country protects women’s rights, combats domestic violence and fulfills international obligations.
However, the actual discussion at the UN is likely to be heated, as Kazakhstan’s independent civil society has submitted a series of alternative reports to the Committee. Human rights defenders, lawyers, and experts are exposing the vast gap between officials’ “polished” reports and the reality on the ground in the country.
Data from the “NeMolchi” Alternative Report
While the authorities report to the UN on “support for NGOs,” the independent human rights sector is being dismantled in the country, often through the persecution of human-rights activists. The “NeMolchi” (“Don’t be silent”) Foundation Report exposed it, as criminal cases have been filed against the leaders of the organization, Dinara Smailova and Almat Mukhamedzhanov; their bank accounts have been frozen; and their transparent public fundraising (crowdfunding) has been labeled as “fraud.” As part of this crackdown, the police have interrogated over 7,200 citizens (donors to the foundation); all those who filed complaints against Dinara under police pressure have long since withdrawn their complaints, and currently, third parties with no connection to the donations are being recognized as “victims.”
The complete failure of the “Saltanat Law”
The Saltanat Law against domestic violence passed after the death of Saltanat Nukenova (killed by her husband in 2024). It was supposed to toughen penalties: beatings and minor bodily harm became criminal offenses, with the possibility of arrest (a few days of detention) for the aggressor. However, due to the lack of detention facilities, a moratorium on the use of criminal arrest for criminal misdemeanors passed, and in June 2026, was extended until January 1, 2030. As a result, the law no longer does what it was meant to do: physically separate the aggressor from the victim right after the violence, when the risk is highest. After only 3 hours of detention, the aggressor is released and can go back to the victim’s home.
Analysis of the effectiveness of law enforcement
Alternative reports offer us interesting data on law enforcement against domestic abuse.
Firstly, between 45% and 61.5% of cases are dismissed each year. In 2025, out of 74.3 thousand registered cases under Article 73 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 36,996 cases (49.8%) reached the termination, which indicates the persistence of the practice of “reconciliation” and pressure on victims.
Secondly, regarding light measures, discontinued cases and warnings in 2025 accounted for 75.5% of the total.
Administrative arrests also drastically decreased from 38.9% in 2023 to 22.0% in 2025.
The report also shed light on the effectiveness of the Saltanat Law. According to it, in 2025, women filed 87,680 complaints of domestic violence. Police classified between 94.1% and 96.6% of them as administrative offenses under Article 73 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, instead of treating them as crimes. Only 827 cases reached the courts as criminal offenses of battery or minor bodily harm (Articles 108-1 and 109-1 of the Criminal Code). Those 827 cases are the sum total of how the Saltanat Law has actually been applied.
The report also exposed that when the abuser is fined, it is often at the expense of the victim herself. In 2024-2025, more than 302 million tenge (about 564 thousand euros) of fines were collected from domestic abusers under administrative and criminal articles 108-1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan and 109-1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Since this money is withdrawn from the common family budget, the financial punishment is shifted to the woman herself and the children. Fines ruin families and block women’s repeated appeals to the police.
Regarding feminicide, its scale is concealed in the officials’ reports. The Ministry of Internal Affairs recorded 142 female victims in 2025 (22 of them an attempt) under Article 99 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Murder), while the courts considered cases of 210 female victims under Article 99 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The real level of femicide in Kazakhstan exceeds 400 women per year, as hundreds of deaths are concealed through the qualification of “grievous harm resulting in death” (Article 106, Part 3 – 94 dead) and “incitement to suicide” (Article 105 – 108 dead, where 98% of cases are closed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs).
Furthermore, when abusers are never held accountable, the situation can escalate, and sometimes the victim ends up committing a serious crime while trying to defend herself. Of the 87,680 reports of domestic violence, 96% come from women. Yet, among people convicted in domestic violence cases, women account for 28% of murder convictions and 42% of convictions for causing serious bodily harm. These women are not cold-blooded killers. We know them: a pregnant mother of many children from Konaev, Lydia from Tekeli, Lobar from the Turkestan Region, and others.
Finally, while 8.3 billion tenge is allocated to Family Support Centers, this money goes toward administrative staff salaries (80,000–120,000 tenge) and rent. No criminal defense attorneys are hired in these centers, which leaves the victims without legal support. By way of comparison: this money would be enough to pay for a qualified attorney (1 million tenge each) for each of the 2,500 registered serious criminal offenses against women and children, as well as to fund a counseling hotline modeled after the “NeMolchit” Foundation for three years!
UN Agenda: Meetings with UN Special Rapporteurs
As part of the visit of the human rights delegation to Geneva, the alternative report of the “NeMolchit” Foundation and materials on the persecution of human rights defenders were handed over to the UN Special Rapporteurs (on the situation of human rights defenders, on violence against women, etc.).
Special public and closed meetings with UN Special Rapporteurs and international experts will be held in Geneva, at which evidence of systemic human rights violations, persecution of independent human rights defenders in Kazakhstan and repressive practices against donors to the foundation will be presented in detail.
The UN Committee has also registered alternative reports of other independent specialized NGOs in Kazakhstan, raising the following problems: Women with disabilities (violence in boarding schools, lack of procedural protection); LGBTQ women (stigma, lack of legal mechanisms to protect themselves from violence); Women living with HIV (discrimination in medicine and maternal health); Women in colonies and after release (conditions of detention, lack of re-socialization).
Where can I find official and alternative reports?
All materials of the 93rd session of CEDAW (official report of Kazakhstan, alternative reports of NGOs) are published on the official portal of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
Official website of the 93rd session of CEDAW (OHCHR / UN):
https://indico.un.org/event/1017962/ https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/…/SessionDetails1.aspx…
