At the end of November 2025, unidentified individuals and state authorities physically attacked Kazakhstani LGBTQIA+ defenders Temirlan Baimash, Ardzh Tursynkhan, and Zhanar Sekerbayeva. The three defenders were subsequently arbitrarily arrested and subjected to judicial harassment. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (OMCT-FIDH) condemns the repeated acts of physical and verbal violence, intimidation, and arbitrary detention targeting LGBTQIA+ human rights defenders in Kazakhstan and calls for the end of all acts of harassment against them.
Geneva-Paris, 19 December 2025. On 21 November 2025, Temirlan Baimash, co-founder of QueerKZ, Ardzh Tursynkhan, a disabled trans activist and researcher at Education Community, and Zhanar Sekerbayeva, co-founder of the LGBTQIA+ rights group Feminita, and other activists gathered in an office in Astana rented by Education Community for a round-table discussion on discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people in Kazakhstan. A group of five individuals, including anti-LGBTQIA+ and pro-natalist activist Ziuar Zhumanova entered the premises, filming participants, shouting insults, and provoking confrontations by claiming the activists were “enemies” and “spreading LGBT propaganda”.
When the police arrived, one of the intruders filed a complaint against Ardzh Tursynkhan, who was subsequently arrested on allegations of “using profanity” which falls under the charge of “petty hooliganism” as written in Article 434 (1) of the Administrative Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan. However, these profanities were used by Ardzh Tursynkhan against himself, calling himself an “idiot” for coming back to Kazakhstan, and not against any of the intruders.
Ardzh Tursynkhan was detained for a full day in an initially unknown location before his colleagues learned he was held in pre-trial detention at the Saryarka District Police Precinct in Astana, where he was interrogated by the police. Authorities refused to release him, referring to undisclosed “orders from above”.
During detention, police officers made derogatory comments about his gender identity and sexual orientation. He was placed in a cell with detainees who threatened to rape him, physically assaulted him, and broke his glasses. Requests for protection and assistance were ignored by police, despite his evident exposure to immediate danger.
On 22 November 2025, Ardzh Tursynkhan’s hearing took place before Judge Kaidarova. The authorities only informed his lawyer at the last minute and made her join the trial online without any time to prepare adequately. The Specialised Inter-District Court for Administrative Offences of Astana found Ardzh Tursynkhan guilty of “petty hooliganism” (Article 434(1) of the Administrative Code) and fined him approximately 78,000–80,000 tenge (approximately 130 Euros), before releasing him.
Still on 22 November, the same group of individuals, mostly unidentified except for Ziuar Zhumanova, stormed into a café in Astana where Temirlan Baimash, Zhanar Sekerbayeva and other activists were having lunch while searching for information on Ardzh Tursynkhan’s whereabouts and trial. The group began filming, verbally harassing them, preventing them from leaving, and accusing them of spreading “LGBT propaganda”. The defenders managed to exit the café despite attempts to block them, only to find ten police officers, as well as members of the secret service and a representative of the city government waiting for them outside.
Zhanar Sekerbayeva and Temirlan Baimash were arrested and taken to Police Station No. 80, where they were detained for two and three hours respectively. Police claimed their arrest was based on a complaint from one of the attackers, alleging the activists had beaten her.
While the two defenders were released without being charged for the aforementioned complaint, Temirlan Baimash was ultimately fined for not having official residential registration in Astana by a police officer, although by law he should only have received a warning. Police used force during the arrest, leaving him with bruises, to prevent him from leaving. Authorities refused to provide documentation on the charges or inform him of his right to a free lawyer. Even after their release, the authorities refused to give any information about the legal grounds for an investigation and a potential upcoming court hearing linked to the complaint made by one of the attackers.
The Observatory has also been informed that later on 22 November, police forces and the Special Forces Against Organised Crime raided an LGBTQIA+ bar during an event organised by a queer organisation to promote human rights and LGBTQIA+ rights. All staff members of the bar were taken to the police station on unspecified grounds before being released. Even though this event is a separate incident, this appears to be part of targeted attacks against the Kazakhstani LGBTQIA+ community.
These incidents take place in a wider context of politically motivated repression against LGBTQIA+ defenders, coinciding with the introduction in the lower chamber of Parliament (Majlis) of amendments to the law on archival affairs aimed at banning “propaganda of non-traditional sexual orientation”. The law has been unanimously adopted by the lower house of Parliament on 12 November 2025, but has not yet entered into force, pending review by the Senate and signature by the President.
This political climate emboldens anti-rights groups to target LGBTQIA+ activists and further encourages police and judicial bodies to intimidate human rights defenders based on their identity and activism.
The Observatory recalls that LGBTQIA+ defender Zhanar Sekerbayeva has already been the target of threats and was arbitrarily detained in May 2021.
The Observatory strongly condemns the attacks and arbitrary arrest of Temirlan Baimash, Ardzh Tursynkhan and Zhanar Sekerbayeva, which aim to silence their legitimate and peaceful human rights work. The Observatory calls on the authorities in Kazakhstan to immediately cease all forms of harassment, including at the judicial level, against them and all other human rights defenders in the country, as well as to ensure full transparency regarding the legal proceedings initiated against Temirlan Baimash.
The Observatory further calls on the Kazakhstani authorities to put an immediate end to arbitrary arrests of LGBTQIA+ activists and to police raids on LGBTQIA+ community spaces, and to ensure that all LGBTQIA+ human rights defenders in Kazakhstan can carry out their legitimate activities without obstruction, intimidation, reprisals, or fear of criminalisation.
The Observatory further expresses grave concern over the proposed “anti-LGBTQIA+ propaganda” provisions and urges the Kazakhstani Senate and President not to adopt them, ensuring instead the full protection of the rights and freedoms of LGBTQIA+ persons and human rights defenders in the country.
