The 19 activists participated in protests last year on Kazakhstan's border with China, where they burned Chinese flags and demanded the release of a Kazakh man imprisoned in China.
Eleven were sentenced in a Kazakh court to several years in prison for incitement. Eight were sentenced to supervision.
It signals that Kazakhstan is willing to sacrifice the freedoms of its people to maintain good relations with Beijing, says Yalkun Uluyol of Human Rights Watch.
In Xinjiang, across the border, China launched a widespread campaign of repression against Muslim groups almost ten years ago. Hundreds of thousands were held in large camps with aggressive indoctrination and reports of widespread abuses.
