Commissioner for Human Rights of Kazakhstan Pays Visit to Switzerland
Bern, Geneva, March 16-17, 2021 – With the assistance of the Embassy of Kazakhstan, the Commissioner for Human Rights of Kazakhstan pays visit to Switzerland.
During the visit, Elvira Azimova held talks at the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (Foreign Office), took part in a round table with deputies of the Federal Parliament of Switzerland in Bern, and also met with the leadership of the UN human rights institutions in Geneva.
In her speech at the Swiss Foreign Ministry, Elvira Azimova noted that the systemic political reforms of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in the field of strengthening human rights and democracy in Kazakhstan, the implementation of the “hearing state” concept, the adoption in Kazakhstan of laws “On peaceful assemblies” and “On parliamentary opposition ”, lowering the threshold for registration of political parties, as well as the introduction of a 30 percent quota for women and youth on party lists are confirmation of the political will of the country's leadership aimed at further democratic transformations. The role of the National Council of Public Trust created by the Head of State in the process of interaction of civil society with state institutions is separately highlighted at the meeting.
The parties also considered the state and further steps for the implementation of the joint “Technical Project on Combating Tortures”, which was launched in 2019 and has been implemented with the financial support of the Swiss side. This project became possible thanks to the constructive dialogue and high level of political trust between our countries. In addition, the possibilities of implementing new projects in the field of protecting human rights and freedom, improving the institutions of civil control were discussed by parties.
In turn, the head of the diplomatic service for human rights of the State Secretariat of the Swiss Foreign Office Jenny Piaget congratulated Kazakhstan on joining the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on the abolition of the death penalty, noted with satisfaction the joint implementation of the first stage of the “Technical project on Combating Tortures” and expressed readiness to continue work on its practical implementation.
Within the framework of the round table with the participation of the Swiss deputies, the co-chairman of the Kazakhstan-Switzerland Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group, the head of the Swiss delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Josef Dittli, welcomed and highly appreciated the visit of the Ombudsman. In turn, Elvira Azimova acquainted the participants with the reforms and innovations in the field of human rights in Kazakhstan and drew attention to the effectiveness and necessity of such meetings, as well as the demand for inter-parliamentary dialogue on human rights and democracy.
Deputy of the Swiss Parliament Niklaus-Samuel Gugger noted that Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is one of the important international parliamentary institutions for building a dialogue in the human rights sphere and expressed the opinion that Kazakhstan needs to “open the door to this hall.”
In Geneva, Elvira Azimova held talks with representatives of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, represented by the head of the Universal Periodic Reviews department, Gianni Magazzeni, and representatives of its team for Eastern Europe and Central Asia section. The parties discussed the possibility to conduct technical and capacity building projects that the High Commissioner’s office would be able to undertake in Kazakhstan to strengthen the institute of the ombudsman in Kazakhstan.
In general, the meetings and negotiations of the Commissioner for Human Rights in Kazakhstan created keen interest of the Swiss side in political reforms and innovations in the field of protecting human rights and freedoms in our country.
In general, the meeting topics with Kazakhstan’s Commissioner for Human Rights of aroused a keen interest of the Swiss side in terms of political reforms and innovations in the field of protecting human rights and freedoms in our country.