Wanted foreigners will not always be arrested

The Office of the Commissioner analyzed the observance of human rights during the detention of foreigners on the wanted list in Kazakhstan.
According to the current legislation, wanted foreigners, if they are detected in Kazakhstan, are placed under arrest for up to a year until the issue of their extradition to the country from where they fled from justice is resolved.
The Criminal Procedure Law does not provide for other preventive measures, such as recognizance not to leave, surety, bail, house arrest, etc. to foreigners.
At the same time, foreigners can be wanted for various crimes, including those for which the punishment barely exceeds a year of imprisonment, that is, the maximum period of detention under extradition arrest in our country.
The extradition process itself is also very responsible and takes time, since it is required to make sure that a person is wanted in his country for a crime that should also be punishable in Kazakhstan.
Also, guarantees are demanded from foreign authorities that the extradited person will not be subjected to the threat of torture, will not be persecuted for his political beliefs, etc. This is particularly important in the context of international human rights standards.
For this purpose, the authorized body contacts its foreign colleagues, requests, studies the materials received, and only after their careful consideration is the issue of extradition resolved.
All this time, a foreign citizen will be awaiting a decision under extradition arrest, which may not take place in favor of the requesting party for various reasons.
In this regard, the Commissioner for Human Rights analyzed international principles in the field of human rights, recommendations of UN human rights institutions, as well as world best practices.
As a result, a letter was sent to the Prosecutor General's Office with a proposal to amend the CPC so that alternative preventive measures could be applied to wanted foreigners, depending on each specific case.
The Prosecutor General's Office supported this proposal and amendments will be made jointly based on the results of legislative work.