Written question asked by Paul Keetch (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 2 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 4 March 2010. It was answered by Chris Bryant (Labour) on Tuesday, 9 March 2010 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Kazakhstan: Politics and Government

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government is taking to monitor the progress of the government of Kazakhstan in implementing the commitments to reform made prior to its Chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 2010.

Answer: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and I have raised this issue with the Kazakhstan Foreign Minister in recent weeks. Our embassy in Astana, working closely with EU and other like-minded missions, closely evaluates political developments in Kazakhstan. Our embassy has also supported a project run by Freedom House and the Kazakhstan Coalition of non-governmental organisations to monitor independently Kazakhstan's performance against its Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) commitments, including in respect of elections, political parties, media, local self-governance, and freedoms of assembly and conscience. During the project, the Coalition provided regular briefings to others in the international community to allow wider monitoring. The commitments made by Kazakhstan prior to the Chairmanship were in line with the international standards to which it had already signed up as a partner state of the OSCE. These commitments will continue to be monitored after Kazakhstan's year as Chair comes to an end.

Secondary information