International Advocacy: Focus on the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

This week, the human rights LGBTQIA+ initiative REQUEST, together with the international network ECOM, submitted a report to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) raising questions about the situation of LGBTQIA+ rights violations in Kazakhstan.

The document was prepared as part of the process of developing the List of Issues for Kazakhstan. This stage is a key element of the review procedure under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as it determines which issues the state will be required to publicly clarify and report on before the UN Committee.

Participation of civil society at this stage helps ensure that topics often absent from official government reports are included in the international review. In this case, the focus is on systemic violations of the rights of LGBTQIA+ people in Kazakhstan.

What the report documents

The submission outlines several key structural problems affecting the realization of economic, social and cultural rights:

• the absence of comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation that explicitly includes sexual orientation and gender identity;
• increasing harassment and hostility, including pressure through administrative and criminal provisions;
• risks associated with the draft law on the so-called “propaganda”, which could affect the spheres of education, healthcare, culture, media, the internet, and public life;
• blocking of internet resources, growing censorship, and interference with the freedom to seek and receive information;
• the lack of safe mechanisms ensuring access to education, employment, healthcare, and housing for LGBTQIA+ people;
• systemic violations of confidentiality, particularly within the healthcare system;
• discriminatory restrictions in family law and guardianship;
• disproportionate restrictions in the area of transgender healthcare, including age barriers, mandatory medical commissions, the absence of evidence-based protocols, and requirements for surgical interventions.

Each thematic section includes specific questions proposed for the Committee to address to Kazakhstan during the official review.

Significance of the submission

The List of Issues procedure effectively shapes the structure of the upcoming dialogue between the state and the UN treaty body, identifying the areas in which the government must provide explanations and information.

Through this submission, REQUEST and ECOM aim to ensure that the situation of LGBTQIA+ rights in Kazakhstan is included in the international monitoring of the country’s obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

REQUEST expresses its gratitude to ECOM for the partnership and support, as well as to all individuals and organizations contributing to documenting violations, conducting analysis, and advancing evidence-based advocacy at the international level.