Kazakhistan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed the decree ratifying the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that entails a formal commitment to abolish the capital punishment.

The first president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev temporarily halted death penalties in 2003, suspending the execution of all death sentences.

In September 2020, Kazakhstan signed the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, committing it to abolish the death penalty. This was received very positively by the human-rights organizations and the international community. Amnesty International called the news encouraging.