Silencing of Activist Shows Kazakhstan’s Contempt for Rights

Expand Serikzhan Bilash, a prominent activist who has campaigned for the release of ethnic Kazakhs in China, poses for a photograph, in Almaty, Kazakhstan, August 17, 2019. © 2019 AP Photo/Vladimir Tretyakov When Serikzhan Bilash, a well-known rights activist in Kazakhstan, was freed from jail after a hearing late on August 16, 2019, he was very clear about the terms of his release: Cease all activism against China. “It was that or seven years in jail. I had no choice,” said Bilash, who has exposed human rights violations against Turkic Muslim minorities, including ethnic Kazakhs in China’s…

© Human Rights Watch - mercredi 21 août 2019