Qantar Oqyğasy — January Uprising in Kazakhstan 2022

Course of events

In early January 2022, Kazakhstan saw the largest wave of protests since independence — beginning in the oil-producing Mangistau region on 2 January 2022 after an increase in LPG gas prices. The protests quickly spread to other cities and escalated in Almaty into looting and clashes with security forces. On 5 January, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declared a state of emergency, and on 7 January he issued the controversial shoot-to-kill order without warning.

Casualties and criminal proceedings

The toll: at least 200 civilians dead (official figures; NGO estimates are higher), 19 security personnel dead, around 10,000 arrests and, in their wake, roughly 1,600 criminal proceedings. The central site of the arrests was the SI-1 pre-trial detention facility in Almaty.

Amnesty Act of 27 October 2022

Under the Amnesty Act of 27 October 2022, roughly 1,071 criminal proceedings were dismissed. Excluded were proceedings for torture, terrorism and extremism — which in practice leads to the continuation of proceedings against prominent defendants.

Significance for extradition law

The Qantar events are a central piece of evidence in German extradition proceedings concerning Kazakhstan, pointing to structural deficits in the handling of political opposition and the use of force. Extradition requests connected to the January events must be examined carefully for whether the underlying conduct is a political offense (Section 6 IRG) — the Kazakh authorities classify many incidents as “terror,” which is not binding in German proceedings.

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