(Washington, D.C. – January 19, 2026) Serikzhan Bilash, Kazakh human rights activist and leader of Nagyz Atajurt Kazakh Human Rights, has issued a serious warning that the organization is facing the threat of being “completely eradicated.” Nineteen of its members were arrested by Kazakhstani authorities for their long-standing efforts to expose human rights abuses committed by China in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, particularly following a peaceful protest. They now face possible prison sentences of up to ten years.
Political Suppression Behind the Name “Atajurt”
Bilash recalled that the organization was originally founded under the name Atajurt (meaning “Ancestral Homeland”), referring to northern Xinjiang—from the Tian Shan Mountains to the Altai Mountains—an area regarded as the historical homeland of the Kazakh nomadic people. However, he noted that under the influence of the Chinese government, authorities of Kazakhstan repeatedly refused to legally register the organization. As a result, it was unable to open bank accounts or raise funds, while being subjected instead to repeated fines and administrative penalties.
“In 2017, national security authorities issued me four written warnings, threatening that if I continued operating under the name of an ‘unregistered organization,’ I would face criminal prosecution,” Bilash said.
Government-Backed “Pro-Official” Organizations Used to Smear Human Rights Groups
In an attempt to avoid accusations of operating an “illegal organization,” the group temporarily changed its name to Atajurt Eriktileri (“Volunteers of the Homeland”), yet this did not stop the repression. Bilash explained that between 2018 and 2019, Kazakhstan’s national security services, “through bribing certain individuals,” rapidly registered multiple organizations with identical or similar names, including Atajurt Zhastary (“Atajurt Youth Organization”) and the Institute of Chinese Studies, presenting them as officially recognized human rights or youth organizations.
Another pro-government organization was registered under the name Atajurt Eriktileri, led by an individual aligned with the government’s position—clearly indicating irregularities behind the registration process.
“These registered organizations later claimed in the media that the Xinjiang camps had been closed, or asserted that all detainees were criminals, while cooperating with the authorities to smear the genuine human rights organization we founded as illegal or even a terrorist organization,” Bilash pointed out.
The issue was also investigated by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), which questioned the government’s role in manipulating the legalization process of the so-called “pro-government version of Atajurt.”
Nagyz Atajurt: Renaming to Expose Puppet Organizations
Bilash explained that in order to clearly distinguish his organization from the above-mentioned “pro-government, controlled, and officially registered puppet organizations,” and to expose their true background, the organization he leads together with Bekzat Maxutkan was ultimately renamed Nagyz Atajurt Kazakh Human Rights (“Genuine Atajurt Kazakh Human Rights”).
“Our goal has never changed: to expose the Chinese Communist Party’s genocide in Xinjiang, to call on the public to resist CCP infiltration, and to oppose political collusion between authoritarian regimes,” he said.
Call for International Intervention
At present, 19 members of Nagyz Atajurt face serious criminal charges. Authorities accuse them of burning the flag of the People’s Republic of China and portraits of Chinese leader Xi Jinping during a protest last November. Bilash stressed that the protest was peaceful and did not violate Kazakhstan’s law. The demonstrators were protesting the unjust detention of their relatives and friends in China.
Bilash warned that if the international community remains silent, these members could be sentenced to up to ten years in prison.
“This is an anti-communist organization that exposes grave crimes against humanity on behalf of all, yet under the silence of the international community, it is being jointly suppressed by Kazakhstan’s authoritarian system and the long-arm repression of the Chinese Communist Party,” he said.
Bilash called on the United Nations, international human rights organizations, the United States, democratic governments, and international media to urgently focus on the human rights violations currently taking place in Kazakhstan, to exert pressure on the President of Kazakhstan, and to launch independent investigations into the related cases.
