Abstract
Abstract Ever since the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, “human rights” has been a contentious term in the states of post-Soviet Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan). Whereas all Central Asian states are parties to the major multilateral human rights instruments, significant human rights problems persist. Issues such as the rule of law, gender inequality, domestic violence, freedom of the press, and electoral rights are particularly acute. Progress was made in overcoming the Soviet legacy of the human rights nihilism in a few areas, but the Central Asian states still have a way to go to improve their human rights records. National human rights institutions should be accorded real powers. The quality of dialogue between governments and civil society should be improved. Ultimately, societal attitudes toward human rights should shift from perceiving the concept as “Western” and “alien to local cultures” to more constructive paradigms.