Since gaining sovereignty, Kazakhstan has been taking measures aimed at forming a modern legal system that would effectively regulate all processes, in particular in the field of penal enforcement legislation.
The ongoing transformations give certain positive results.
Kazakhstan has been among the top three world leaders in the prison index for many years.
Over the past 20 years, the number of persons held in places of deprivation of liberty has decreased
by 2.5 times (2002 - 88 thousand, 2021 -34.8 thousand) and now
in the "Prison Population Index" Kazakhstan moved from 3rd (in 2002)at 98th place (in 2020).
In general, democratic changes in the country have directly affected the penal system, significantly changing the role of this sphere in the activities of the state.
Now the main tasks of the penal enforcement system are to ensure the order and conditions for the execution of sentences, the protection of the rights and freedoms of convicts, the determination of means
of their correction, assistance in social adaptation.
There are 80 institutions operating in the country's penal enforcement system: 64 - for the execution of sentences in the form of imprisonment and 16 pre-trial detention centers.
They contain about 35 thousand persons, of which 30 thousand are convicted and 4 thousand are under investigation and arrested, the bulk of which, which is 93%, are serving sentences for grave and especially grave crimes and 45% are previously convicted.
Kazakhstan, as a full member of the world community, is taking active measures
to reform the system of execution of criminal penalties, ensuring proper detention regime
and the creation of a systematic mechanism to counteract torture and ill-treatment of convicts.
In order to exclude the facts of violation of the rule of law, a policy of openness and transparency is being implemented.
We actively interact with the Commissioner
for Human Rights, public Monitoring Commissions (PMC), the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM).
Representatives of these organizations have access
to institutions at any time to meet
with convicts.
They conduct independent monitoring of compliance with the rights and conditions of detention of persons serving sentences and various social activities.
As a result of the ongoing work and constructive dialogue with their participants, the facts of illegal actions are minimized.
Constant monitoring is also carried out by the Prosecutor's office.
Along with this, the Committee has a helpline (72-30-65) and a blog of the Chairman.
To simplify the procedure for receiving appeals
and complaints from citizens, in the WhatsApp messenger
(8-776-677-8077) a hotline has been created, there are official pages on social networks (Facebook
and Instagram), round-the-clock monitoring of the Internet space and the media is being conducted.
However, it is necessary to take into account,
that individual convicts do not comply with the procedure established by law for serving their sentences, for which they undertake various provocative methods of pressure on the administration,
including in the form of false statements.
Despite this, every report of the use of violence, threats and other illegal measures of ill-treatment is perceived as an emergency.
All reports that show signs of possible facts of torture or other illegal actions are subject to mandatory registration and pre-trial investigations are conducted on them.
Considerable work has been done to develop high-quality conditions of detention:
ü Increased food standards for convicts
by 40% (from 630 to 1,018 tenge), by expanding the assortment and weight;
ü The weight of parcels and transfers has been increased (from 14 to 20 kg.), the list of items allowed to be carried, received in parcels, transfers, parcels
and purchased in stores at the institution has been expanded;
ü "electronic stores" have been introduced, for the purchase of products and essential goods.
ü Special terminals are installed,
to submit appeals of convicts in electronic form, directly to the court, the prosecutor's office and the anti-corruption service, bypassing the administration of institutions.
ü The requirements for conducting general search measures have been revised. Now they are held with the mandatory participation of human rights defenders, prosecutors and video recording of the entire process.
ü Video conversations with relatives have been introduced, thereby maintaining socially useful connections.
This is especially true during the period of restricted visits due to the pandemic.
ü Biometric terminals are installed, designed for automatic registration of arrivals and identification of students by fingerprint, which minimizes contacts between citizens and employees.
ü The issue of transferring the function of medical support to the Ministry of Health has been finally resolved.
This will ensure their access to modern methods of examination, diagnosis and treatment.
In addition, the independence of medical workers from the administration of institutions will be ensured.
The relevant draft Law is
under consideration in the Senate of the Parliament.
On behalf of the Head of State, in order to ensure control and prevent possible illegal actions of both employees and convicts, work has begun on installing video cameras in all penitentiary institutions.
The introduction of continuous video surveillance
in institutions of the penitentiary system will be implemented within 3 years.
To improve the conditions of detention, a roadmap has been developed and approved to modernize the infrastructure of the penitentiary system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
It provides for the construction of 20 new institutions within the framework of public-private partnership that meet all international standards.
At the initial stage, from 2022 to 2024, it is planned to build 4 in Almaty, Aktobe, Mangystau and Turkestan regions.
The existing buildings and structures were built in the 30-70 years of the last century, most of which are in dilapidated and disrepair, also
due to the tightening of criminal legislation
since 2020, there has been an increase in the prison population.
Measures are being implemented to improve the penal enforcement legislation.
Last year, within the framework of the Law (entered into force on January 10, 2020) on improving criminal law, legislation and strengthening the protection of personal rights, amendments were made aimed at improving the legal status of convicts.
From one month to 10 days, the deadline for considering a submission for release
due to illness has been reduced, the right to file complaints
in electronic format has been introduced, the requirement
for a positive degree of behavior for transfer to the place of residence has been eliminated, are not included
the number of parcels and transfers includes medicines and medical devices and others.
As part of the implementation (item 9.1)The Plan of priority measures in the field of human rights, approved by Government Decree (No. 405
of 11.06.2021), has developed a draft Law providing for:
- provision of time off for serving a sentence in case of a serious illness;
- immediate execution of court orders on release due to serious illness;
- extension of the child's stay
with the mother after reaching the age
of three if she is released within a year;
- clarification of the definition of "torture",
as well as the introduction of the definition of "ill-treatment"
and others.
At the initiative of the Commissioner for Human Rights, an Interdepartmental working Group
was established, which included representatives of non-governmental organizations, national
and international experts.
They analyzed the implementation of the Nelson Mandela Rules into national legislation, developed a number of proposals (20) to change legal acts, which will also be implemented
in the near future.
These rules define minimum standards
regarding the treatment of prisoners approved by the United Nations.
On behalf of the Head of State, work was carried out on the development of the draft law "On Amnesty" dedicated to the thirtieth anniversary of Kazakhstan's Independence
As you know, at the beginning of December (December 8 of this year)
, it entered into legal force.
The amnesty concerns only certain aspects of criminal law relations and does not in essence
rehabilitate a citizen, it only mitigates the fate of persons who have committed a criminally punishable act.
It consists in full or partial release from punishment, replacement with a milder one, or termination of criminal prosecution.
This humane act is applied to persons who have committed crimes that do not pose a serious threat to the security of citizens and the state, special attention is paid to socially vulnerable categories of citizens – minors, elderly women and men, disabled people (groups 1 and 2).
For reference: Amnesty is applied to 14,045 convicts, in correctional institutions - 2,290, in the probation service - 11,753, of which 4,843 are released from serving their sentences from institutions - 962 and 3,881 convicted probation service.
In the implementation of the law, together with local executive bodies, work
will be carried out on the social adaptation and re-socialization of persons released from prison
An important factor in the correction
and adaptation to life in freedom of convicts is
their employment.
The number of people involved in this area has increased
from 38% last year to 49% this year.
Unused production areas
in closed institutions have been transferred to 226 entities
in trust management, which employ
about 3.4 thousand individuals.
In general, the colonies work over
12 thousand people.
They are mainly involved in the production of building materials, metal structures, wood and plastic products. The processing of vegetables, meat and fish products, as well as the manufacture of bakery products has been established.
The employment of convicts contributes
to their preparation for further social adaptation
in the society and provides them with the opportunity to repay claims for material damage caused by a crime, pay alimony, as well as provide financial support to relatives.
Special attention is paid to training.