About the appeals received to the Ombudsman in 2020
In 2020, the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Republic of Kazakhstan received 1201 appeals. In comparison with 2019, the total number of complaints increased by 10%.
In the context of the regions, the largest number of appeals came from the cities of Nur-Sultan (212), Almaty (126), Karaganda (132), and Akmola (104) regions. The lowest number of applications was received from Mangystau (13), Atyrau (18), and Aktobe (19) regions.
According to the subject matter of the received appeals, the largest share was made up of complaints about violation of the rights of convicted persons-33%; torture and ill-treatment-12 %; actions/omissions of law enforcement agencies-10 %; disagreement with court decisions or sentences that have entered into force – 6% (see the slide below).
Complaints of convicted persons for violation of their rights in comparison with the indicators of 2019 increased almost 2.5 times. Most of the complaints were received during preventive visits to penitentiary institutions by participants of the National Preventive Mechanism, which is coordinated by the Commissioner for Human Rights.
The vast majority of the convicts ' complaints related to access to medical services, meetings with lawyers and public defenders, medical supplies, visits with relatives, food, etc. conditions guaranteed by the Criminal Executive Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as in connection with the introduction of quarantine restrictions in the context of the COVID 19 pandemic.
There is an increase in complaints of torture and ill-treatment compared to 2019 (90 complaints).
The prevailing majority of complaints about the actions/omissions of law enforcement agencies concerned the stage of pre-trial investigation, namely: abuse of authority by officials, exerting pressure and forcing confessions, delaying the investigation of a criminal case, improper prosecutor's supervision during the investigation.
Appeals for disagreement with judicial decisions and sentences were submitted to the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan for analysis by the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated March 18, 2008. In essence, they were not considered due to the lack of the relevant competence of the Commissioner for Human Rights under the current legislation.
In 2020, the national preventive mechanism, which is a type of public control under the coordination of the Commissioner for Human Rights (hereinafter referred to as the NPM), continued its work. Within the framework of the NPM, to monitor the observance of human rights, monitoring visits were carried out to institutions of the penitentiary system, special institutions under the jurisdiction of the internal affairs bodies, as well as State social institutions where children, citizens with disabilities or those in difficult life situations stay. Of these, NPM participants visited 516 institutions (see slide below). Within the framework of the NPM, 414 appeals were considered, including 107 repeated ones. As a result of monitoring visits, law enforcement agencies conducted 323 pre-trial inspections. Criminal cases were initiated on the revealed facts.
As a result of the actions taken by law enforcement agencies, including based on complaints received by the Commissioner for Human Rights, 23 officials were convicted under article 146 of the Criminal Code (torture) and 37 officials under article 362 of the Criminal Code (abuse of power and official authority), of which 28 persons were convicted for abuse of official authority with the use of violence or threat of its use.
Based on the analysis of the received appeals, a package of developed proposals for legislative changes related to systemic violations is currently being discussed together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Prosecutor General's Office, and other State bodies. The relevant proposals were also submitted to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the deputies of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
In addition, the proposals based on the results of the analysis of appeals were also taken into account by the authorized bodies when developing an action plan for the reform of the social service, as well as in the framework of working groups in the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan on draft laws related to the protection of the rights of women and children, social protection.
Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Republic of Kazakhstan