Human Rights Protection in Kazakhstan discussed at UN Human Rights Council side event

As part of the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council, an online event was held to discuss the January events in Kazakhstan. The meeting was initiated by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International.

The Kazakh side was represented by the Commissioner for Human Rights in Kazakhstan Elvira Azimova, representatives of the ministries of foreign and internal affairs, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Kazakh International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, the Almaty Bar Association, as well as several human rights activists.

During the meeting, representatives of international human rights organisations, state bodies of Kazakhstan and domestic non-governmental organisations held an open dialogue on the impact of the events in January on the overall human rights situation in Kazakhstan, as well as on some specific issues related to the right to a fair trial and the situation of lawyers.

The event facilitated an exchange of views on the most acute events and problems, to outline steps for further joint work in the field of strengthening the system of human rights protection and the rule of law in Kazakhstan.