It seems that the authorities of Kazakhstan seriously want to dispute the European Parliament’s resolution “On the human rights situation in Kazakhstan”, which provides for the imposition of sanctions against specific people in the country for human rights violations, torture and political persecution. For the sake of this, Kazakhstan even put forward its candidacy for membership in the UN Human Rights Council for 2022-2024.
Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tleuberdi made a corresponding statement at the online meeting of the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council (UN HRC).
“As a responsible member of the international community, Kazakhstan will continue to contribute to the common efforts to achieve peace and ensure human rights. In this regard, we look forward to our membership in the Human Rights Council for 2022-2024. If it’s elected, Kazakhstan will strengthen dialogue, constructive interaction, consensus making and international cooperation,” Tleuberdi said in his speech.
The online meeting was attended by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, heads of government and ministers from over 150 countries, as well as representatives of international organizations.
“As a member of the UN Human Rights Council, Kazakhstan is committed to the effective implementation of all political, economic, civil, social and cultural rights. Among the top priorities is the fight against all forms of intolerance and discrimination, including gender discrimination, racism, sexism, xenophobia,” the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan emphasized.
At the same time, Tleuberdi noted Kazakhstan’s merits in ensuring human rights and freedoms. According to him, this is the adoption of a new law on peaceful assemblies, the decriminalization of defamation, the humanization of certain articles of the Criminal Code, the introduction of a 30% electoral quota for women and young people, as well as the accession of Kazakhstan to the Second Optional Protocol on the abolition of capital punishment.
It should be noted that the speech of the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan took place less than two weeks after the European Parliament adopted a resolution on Kazakhstan by a majority vote, which states that “there are violations of human rights in the country every day” despite the fact that Kazakhstan took many commitments in the field of human rights, including during the conclusion of an extended partnership and cooperation agreement with the EU.
“The European Parliament recalls the global sanctions regime which was recently approved by EU on human rights, that allows the EU to prosecute serious violations of human rights all over the world. In the case of Kazakhstan, it will allow the prosecution of individuals and organizations involved in widespread violations of human rights or related with them, and systematic violations of human rights,” the resolution says.
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