Astana, April 27, 2018. The international conference "Towards a society without torture: review of practice and next steps" was held today in Astana. The event was organized on the initiative of the Prosecutor General's office of the Republic of Kazakhstan with the assistance of the European Union project "Improving criminal justice in Kazakhstan".
Representatives of the constitutional Council, members of Parliament, representatives of the Supreme court and Central law enforcement agencies, academic and legal communities, non-governmental organizations, international and national experts took part in the work.
It was noted that since Kazakhstan ratified the Convention against torture in 1998, the country has taken a number of effective measures. In particular we have implemented the main elements of international acts into national legislation, torture is a separate article of the Criminal code, introduced alternate jurisdiction for investigating this category of cases, increased criminal liability, the embedded institutions of the independent monitoring etc.
Every year, about 700 reports of torture and violence are registered in Kazakhstan. Over the past 4 years, 86 officials have been convicted of torture.
In order to comprehensively address the problems of torture and ill-treatment in criminal justice, the Prosecutor General's office initiated the project "Towards a society without torture"in 2017.
The Project takes into account the best international experience in the fight against torture, standards and recommendations of relevant UN Committees, as well as features of the national legal system and legislation. The project is planned to be implemented by 2019.
Currently, the Prosecutor General's office has developed a draft law on new steps to improve the effectiveness of the prevention of torture. It proposes to introduce a ban on the release from criminal liability of persons who have committed torture, in connection with reconciliation with the victim and active repentance.
It was also noted that in order to prevent torture, the colonies continue to be equipped with video cameras, as well as providing their employees with video recorders.
A new achievement in strengthening guarantees of protection of citizens at the pre-trial stage was the adoption of the law on the modernization of the criminal process in December last year. The law reduced the period of detention of persons from 72 to 48 hours, including minors to 24 hours, expanded the boundaries of judicial control at the pre-trial stage, and transferred the right to authorize investigative actions to the court.
Equally important in ensuring the rights of citizens is the adoption of the Law "on the victims 'compensation Fund", which defines the basis for paying monetary compensation to victims of torture.
In order to prevent torture during pre-trial investigation, 490 special transparent interrogation rooms equipped with video cameras have been created in law enforcement agencies. Relatives of the persons being questioned can watch the interrogation in real time in specially designated areas.
These measures contributed to a quarter-point decrease (from 38 to 27 thousand rubles).) the number of complaints about actions and decisions of law enforcement agencies, twice the number of illegal investigative methods (from 4.7 to 2.6 thousand) and unjustified deliveries of citizens (from 112 to 54).
To improve the quality of investigation of criminal cases of torture, on behalf of Prosecutor General Kairat Kozhamzharov, the Academy of law enforcement agencies has developed a methodology for investigating allegations of torture based on the Istanbul Protocol, which is sent to all law enforcement agencies and specialized Universities for study and practical application.
In February and April this year, the state of legality in the country's penal system, including measures to counteract torture, was reviewed at meetings of the coordinating Council and the expanded Board of the Department, where the Prosecutor General set specific tasks to ensure "zero tolerance" to torture and violence.
During the conference, participants of the event agreed that this work is carried out by interested bodies consistently with a focus on international standards for the protection of human rights and freedoms.
Press service of the Prosecutor General's office of the Republic of Kazakhstan