MAN IS THE CENTRAL FIGURE

Human rights are a key theme of the President's current Address to the nation. This is the opinion of the Human Rights Commissioner in the Republic of Kazakhstan Elvira Azimova.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev singled out this topic in a separate block, but Elvira Azimova emphasizes that all of his speech is connected in one way or another with human rights and measures that must be taken to increase people's well-being, establish justice and legality in decision-making. The responsibility of state bodies for decisions taken is also a measure aimed at improving human rights.

-Let's take the topic of online petitions as an example – the President showed how the concept of a "listening state" works at his level, – says Elvira Azimova. -The format of not quite legitimate online petitions is used by Kazakhstanis in social networks. The code on health protection, the law on rallies, the topics of drug provision, and the protection of doctors during quarantine-all this was discussed very actively in the Internet space. The Head of state instructed in his Address that the format, which is close to the people, should acquire a legislative form. Now, for implementation, the Government must provide an up-to-date form that will be in demand. Unfortunately, the current resource "open normative legal acts", where draft laws are currently placed, is not in such demand among the population. As a result, as a rule, people begin to realize how a particular document affects their rights, only in law enforcement practice.

Elvira Azimova is sure that today we see the society's readiness to actively protect its rights and to participate widely in their implementation. One example is the decision of many concerned citizens who were previously out of party life to go to the primaries. People are moving away from the role of sofa critics, and apply an analytical approach to certain problems of society.

– In the current Message, this request is granted. Issues of strengthening local self-government, direct elections of village mayors are also instructions aimed at broad implementation of citizens 'rights," the expert continues. – This also encourages citizens themselves to participate more professionally in public administration. On the other hand, it is a tool for increasing the responsibility of government agencies. The signal of inefficient work or negligence, violation of the law by officials is the facts of citizens ' appeals to the Head of state. I also judge this by the appeals to me, as the Commissioner for human rights – people report problems that territorial bodies, ministries, and so on have not worked to solve.

Last year, the Commissioner for human rights received about 2,000 requests, and this year, during the quarantine period alone, more than 700. About 37% of them related to cruel actions and torture by law enforcement agencies, about 18% related to challenging court decisions, less than 10% related to the right to housing and labor disputes. Unfortunately, the latter category of complaints has increased by 2 times during the quarantine period, including the facts of human trafficking.

– Today, it is encouraging that the problems I mentioned in my recent address to the country's leadership are reflected in the Message. For example, the President instructed to strengthen the fight against human trafficking. And this is not something exorbitant it is cruel modern labor slavery that exists in various forms in our country, - says Elvira Abilkhasimovna.

This was also recorded by international and foreign experts. For example, the US State Department in the report on human trafficking for 2019 included our country in the second checklist, as we have increased the absolute number of victims of such crimes. And these are not baseless reproaches.

– We have a separate article in the Criminal code on human trafficking, but according to official statistics, there were less than 10 such cases last year, - the Commissioner for human rights continues. – For comparison, only during the two months of quarantine, one non-governmental organization that worked on this topic in Nur-Sultan informed me about six similar cases, half of them related to foreign citizens who worked in Kazakhstan.

It is no accident that one of the key recommendations given to us by the world expert community concerned more thorough identification of victims, increased assistance to foreign citizens, and widespread investigation of such crimes.

The second argument that confirms the need to take effective measures against human trafficking is a comparison of statistics with data from neighboring countries that share both the border and the labor market with us. In same Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, the number of labor migrants who left for Kazakhstan is higher than is recorded in our country. This dissonance may indicate an inadequate level of control over the detection, investigation, and punishment of such crimes in Kazakhstan.

Of course, any country can apply its own criteria for interaction with Kazakhstan and recommend that we review certain provisions, but this cannot be ignored. Otherwise, there is a risk of rupture of an important relationship – partner, economic, and humanitarian. The risk of investment restrictions is generally very high since foreign investors always clearly monitor the level of protection of citizens. This guarantees the stability of society and the transparency of state policy, on which the economic stability of the investment project depends.

- And in his Message, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev outlined several instructions, the implementation of which will ensure the creation of stability. Such tools include reforming law enforcement agencies, observing the principle of equality of the Prosecutor and lawyer in court, and strengthening the judicial system, " says Elvira Azimova. – Now I also receive appeals from citizens who are serving sentences but do not agree with the verdict. This means that they are not satisfied with the trial, and the judge should not just pass a verdict, his decision should be clear to all participants in the process and society.

If we continue to look at the Message through the prism of human rights, then an important task of the President is to strengthen alternative ways of resolving disputes. Indeed, we have adopted the law on mediation for a long time, but, unfortunately, it is not actively used. Many citizens are unaware of their existence. We also received information that fees for mediation services are more expensive than going to court.

Elvira Azimova emphasizes that many of the theses of the current Address were a logical continuation of last year's address of the President. For example, last year the focus was on strengthening the fight against violence against women and children. Now, during the period of self – isolation, a new form of violence against the individual-cyberbullying-has become obvious. And the Head of state heard the society, which has recently actively stated the problem. We have to talk not only about physical violence, but also about the degradation of human dignity, which in the form of cyberbullying effects both adults and children, and can lead to irreversible consequences for the individual. Non-governmental organizations reported known suicide attempts due to "soft attacks" in social networks on teenagers and young people. But this negative phenomenon of our society must and can be prevented.

It is important that the President focused on improving and stabilizing criminal legislation. A lot of amendments have been made to it recently, but this work should become systematic, based on high-quality Analytics.

– For example, we have been raising the issue of combating violence for a long time, but when state analysis is prepared, "naked" criminal statistics are taken for it, - the expert notes. Many victims are silent about domestic violence and sexual crimes. Therefore, it is wrong to use only official statistics as a key argument for legislative novels. We also need to rely on data from non-governmental organizations, sociological research, scientific facts, information from the medical community, and so on. Then, when preparing certain amendments, we will get a real picture and systematized legislation. And the Head of state has fixed this stability as a requirement in the Address.

According to Elvira Azimova, the quarantine indicated many things that need to be strengthened. For example, during this period, the number of complaints about torture also increased significantly. And it is not just about the conditions of detention in isolation cells, prisons, and colonies. This applies to all so-called "closed institutions" that a citizen cannot leave at any time, at their own discretion, including medical and social institutions and children's institutions. Since the beginning of the year, tragic deaths and other violations of the rights of children, the elderly, and people with disabilities detained on the street during the quarantine period have received public attention. In this regard, the President's response was to order to strengthen the responsibility and professionalism of the local police and reformat it.

It should be emphasized that the institution of the Commissioner for human rights is part of the National preventive mechanism against torture (NPM) introduced in 2014, provided for by the optional Protocol to the UN Convention. It is the Commissioner for human rights who coordinates the activities of representatives of civil society who have decided to become participants in this public control.

– My colleagues and I have repeatedly discussed how important it is for us to bring the definition of "torture" into line with international law. And the Head of state in his Message gave instructions to bring this matter to an end, – the expert continues. – While the Criminal code is unclear wording, and this entails avoiding the responsibility of the perpetrators. Often the fact of torture eventually passes into the category of abuse of official authority, and this should not be.

In addition, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's order to eliminate all blind spots in closed institutions should change the situation. Elvira Abilkhasimovna confirmed that judging by the appeals of citizens, ill-treatment occurs just in such areas, in addition, video surveillance is managed by the administration of the closed institution itself, which also gives rise to abuse and concealment of crimes. Still, she noted that now the management of the penal system has come to understand that the installation of universal video surveillance is beneficial for the administration itself.

- In summary, I would like to emphasize that human rights are the red line through the entire message To the people of Kazakhstan. One of the main messages that was voiced, which I am sure all citizens will support: "law And justice should be provided by state bodies and officials by default," says Elvira Azimova. – Immediately after the speech of Kassym-Jomart Kemelevich, we exchanged views with human rights defenders and representatives of NGOs, and we all have a positive attitude to participate in the upcoming significant reforms.

 

Source of information: https://www.kazpravda.kz/news/poslanie-prezidenta/chelovek--tsentralnaya-figura