CIAO DATE: 08/04

Kazakhstan

Victoria Garcia

Center for Defense Information

December 2003

Background

Kazakhstan is an oil–rich Central Asian republic bordering China, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and the Caspian Sea. While there is currently no internal armed conflict, in the recent past Kazakhstan has been involved in border disputes with China, as well as disputes with Russia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan over issues related to the Caspian seabed boundary, and is currently involved in efforts to demarcate its borders with all of its former Soviet neighbors.

The vastness and openness of Kazakhstan’s borders has made it prone to both human and drug trafficking. Kazakhstan is home to a large portion of the Chechen diaspora as well as thousands of refugees fleeing conflicts in the Caucasus. The numbers of displaced peoples often creates ethnic and other tensions in the country.

The government of Kazakhstan is plagued by corruption, and the most recent presidential election in 1999, as well as the last Parliamentary elections in 1999 and Parliamentary by–elections in 2002, have been deemed far from fair by the international community.

According to the 2002 U.S. State Department Human Rights Reports, Kazakhstan’s already poor human rights record only worsened over the last year. Kazakh security forces mistreat detainees, commit arbitrary arrests and detentions, prison conditions are poor, and detainees are held for prolonged periods of time. The judiciary is extremely corrupt, and the Constitution of Kazakhstan places most of the power in the executive. The government restricts democratic expression, the right to register political parties, privacy rights, freedom of the press, as well as freedom of assembly and of association. The government discriminates against women and nontraditional religious groups. Child labor is a problem. Domestic violence and the trafficking of young women are serious issues as well.

U. S. Military Assistance Prior to Sept. 11, 2001

Kazakhstan’s armed forces are estimated at 64,000 personnel. Kazakhstan’s military expenditure is approximated at $221.8 million, which is 0.9 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). According to the UN Register of Conventional Arms, from 1993 to 2001, Kazakhstan did not report any major exports or imports of U.S. conventional weapons. According to U.S. government data, between 1990 and 2001, Kazakhstan received a total of $6.7 million in Foreign Military Sales (FMS) and a little less than $6.7 million in Direct Commercial Sales (DCS). During that same period, Kazakhstan received approximately $3.4 million in international Military Education and training (IMET) funding and $8.9 million in Foreign Military Financing (FMF).

U. S. Military Assistance Since Sept. 11, 2001

The government of Kazakhstan has been extremely supportive in the U.S.–led war against terrorism. Since Sept. 11, 2001, Kazakhstan has allowed over 800 U.S. overflights and offered one of its major airports as an alternative airfield for Operation Enduring Freedom. Moreover, Kazakh security forces have stepped up efforts to protect U.S. government facilities and oil facilities with U.S. private investment, and the government has pledged to freeze the assets of terrorists identified on the U.S. designated terrorist asset–freeze list. In Fiscal Year 2002 (FY 02), Kazakhstan was granted $893,000 in IMET, over $4.7 million in FMF, and approximately $47.3 million in Freedom Support Act (FSA) funding. For FY 03, Kazakhstan was allocated $1 million in IMET, $3 million in FMF, and $43 million in FSA. For FY 04, Kazakhstan has been promised $1.2 million in IMET, $3 million in FMF and $32 million in FSA.

Case Study Profile

Country	Kazakhstan
Government Type	Republic
Infant Mortality Rate (per 1,000 live births–2003 estimate)	58.73
Total Armed Forces (2000 estimate)	64,000
Military Expenditure (U.S.$, millions)	$221.8 (FY 02)
Military Expenditure % GDP	0.9% (FY 02)
Imports/Conventional Arms Transfers (U.S. $, millions – 2001 estimate)	0
Human Rights Record 2002	poor

Kazakhstan’s Submission to the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms
1993	n/a
1994	0
1995	0
1996	0
1997	0
1998	0
1999	0
2000	0
2001	0

Fiscal Year	IMET	FMF	FSA	ESF	Total
1990	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
1991	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
1992	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
1993	$163,000	$0	$0	$0	$163,000
1994	$90,000	$0	$0	$0	$90,000
1995	$97,000	$0	$0	$0	$97,000
1996	$388,000	$0	$0	$0	$388,000
1997	$388,000	$1,500,000	$0	$0	$1,888,000
1998	$587,000	$2,250,000	$0	$0	$2,837,000
1999	$540,000	$1,800,000	$0	$0	$2,340,000
2000	$567,000	$1,500,000	$0	$0	$2,067,000
2001	$893,000	$1,896,000	$0	$0	$2,479,000
2002	$893,000	$2,750,000	$45,815,000	$0	$49,458,000
2002 ERF	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
2002 SUP	$0	$2,000,000	$1,500,000	$0	$3,500,000
2003 (request)	$1,000,000	$3,000,000	$43,000,000	$0	$47,000,000
2004 (request)	$1,200,000	$3,000,000	$32,000,000	$0	$36,200,000
Total	$6,496,000	$19,696,000	$122,315,000	$0	$148,507,000

Sources

“Human Development Report,” United Nations, 2002.

“Human Rights Report 2002,” U.S. Department of State, March 31, 2003.

“Patterns of Global Terrorism 2002,” U.S. Department of State.

“Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Yearbook,” Appendix 5C, Register of the transfer and licensed production of major conventional weapons, 2001.

“The World Fact Book,” U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, 2003.

“United Nations Register of Conventional Arms,” U.N. Department for Disarmament Affairs.