Despite government claims to the contrary, Kazakhstan has a disappointing human rights record. It failed to carry out meaningful rights reform during its 2010 chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and keeps tight control over freedom of assembly, religion, and media. In mid-December 2011, law enforcement used lethal force against civilians in response to rampages and looting in Zhanaozen, the site of a 7-month oil workers’ strike in western Kazakhstan. In October 2012, authorities sentenced Vladimir Kozlov, an opposition leader, to seven-and-a-half years in prison on multiple charges, including “inciting social discord,” a vague and overbroad criminal charge that is incompatible with international human rights law.