Terrorism in Kazakhstan
Terrorism in Kazakhstan plays an increasingly important role in determining Kazakhstan's foreign policy. The Kazakh government's cooperation with the West in counter-terrorism efforts in Central Asia, led by the United States Government, have brought bilateral relations between the two nations to an all time high.However, Vyacheslav Kasymov, Director of the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-terrorist Center of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, has accused the Kazakh government of giving refuge to terrorist organizations, an accusation the Kazakh Foreign Ministry denies. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Human Rights Watch have criticized the Nazarbayev administration's policy of transferring terrorist suspects to neighboring countries, specifically Uzbekistan, where HRW says suspects face torture.
Banned terrorist organizations
On 12 October 2006 the Supreme Court approved a revised list of banned terrorist organizations and the Prosecutor General released the list.
The terrorist organizations the government has banned are the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami, Jamaat of Central Asian Mujahedins (which is also known as "Jamoat Mujahedin" and "Community of Holy Warriors"), Islamic Party of Eastern Turkestan, Kurdistan Workers Party, Boz Kurt, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Social Reforms Society (in Kuwait), Asbat an-Ansar (in Israel), Al-Qaeda, Taliban, and the Muslim Brotherhood.
When the Supreme Court initially added the JCMA and six other organizations to its list in March 2006, critics claimed that the Muslim Brotherhood and Lashkar-e-Toiba do not operate in Kazakhstan on a level sufficient to justify inclusion in the list. Saulebek Zhamkenuly, press secretary for the Prosecutor-General's Office, said, "It doesn't mean all these organizations are active in Kazakhstan. The decision to ban them is a preventive measure. These organizations are considered as terrorist in the Russian Federation, the United States, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan."