Kazakhstan

Media

Kazakhstan is ranked 161 out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Without Borders.[273] A mid-March 2002 court order, with the government as a plaintiff, stated that Respublika were to stop printing for three months.[274] The order was evaded by printing under other titles, such as Not That Respublika.[274] In early 2014, a court also issued a cease publication order to the small-circulation Assandi-Times newspaper, saying it was a part of the Respublika group. Human Rights Watch said: "this absurd case displays the lengths to which Kazakh authorities are willing to go to bully critical media into silence."[275]

With support from the US Department of State's Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL), the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative opened a media support centre in Almaty to bolster free expression and journalistic rights in Kazakhstan.[276]

UNESCO World Heritage sites

Kazakhstan has three cultural and two natural sites on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The cultural sites are: