May 31 - Day of Remembrance of Victims of Political Repression and Famine

The State Commission for the Full Rehabilitation of Victims of Political Repressions was established by presidential decree No. 456 on November 24, 2020.

The main task of the State Commission is the legal and political rehabilitation of victims of political repressions.

By the decision of the State Commission, ten working groups were established to cover the main categories of victims of political repressions.

In line with the methodology, academics of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan and leading scientists from research institutes and universities were part of the subcommittee and the ten working groups.

In accordance with the current legislation, 2,190 files were declassified in the special archives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 333 archival files on repressions and seven normative legal acts of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the Soviet Union for 1937-1938 were declassified in the special archives of the National Security Committee of Kazakhstan.

The General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan announced the declassification of more than two million documents related to repressions.

A website of the unified nationwide database of victims of political repressions (http://e-memory.kz/) was created. It contains a systematized electronic database (with a search function) covering all categories of repressed citizens of Kazakhstan in 1920-1950 (protesters, kulaks, ordinary citizens, deportees, settlers, prisoners of GULAG camps in Kazakhstan, prisoners of war, and religious workers).

To date, the information on the website is 80% complete. The website is available online. It is regularly updated with information from regional commissions.

Seventeen regional commissions on the rehabilitation of victims of political repressions in the format of consultative and advisory bodies have been created under the supervision of Deputy Akims (Mayors or Governors) who are in charge of local political issues in all regions of the country and in the cities of Astana, Almaty, and Shymkent, with the participation of elected members of maslikhats (local representative bodies), scientists, ethnographers, members of the public, human rights activists and researchers.

265 scientists are involved in the regional commissions, and 215 of them are working in secrecy.

In line with the publishing plan, 29 books, monographs, and collections were published in 2022. The costs were covered by the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan.