Kazakhstan: about 90 cases of torture were registered since the beginning of the year
88 crimes under the article “Torture” were committed in Kazakhstan during the first two months of 2021. Such data are presented in the consolidated report on registered crimes and the results of the activities of the criminal prosecution bodies of the Committee on Legal Statistics and Special Accounts of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Kazakhstan.
According to the data published in the report, 32,270 offenses were committed during the specified period. Of these, 459 are especially grave crimes, 7607 are grave, 14281 are of medium gravity, 5491 are of minor gravity.
It should be noted that among these offenses there were also those that relate to criminal offenses against constitutional and other human and civil rights and freedoms. So, according to the Committee on Legal Statistics and Special Accounts, 366 such crimes were committed in January-February. Of these, 88 were under the article “Torture”, 16 – under the article “Violation of the privacy”, 4 – “Illegal violation of the secrecy of correspondence, telephone conversations, post, telegraph or other messages”, 61 – “Violation of the inviolability of the home”, 5 – “Violation of labor laws” and 192 – “Violation of labor protection rules”.
As for torture, 50 out of 88 crimes are classified as grave or especially grave, including 4 crimes committed against women and 1 – against a minor.
The most remarkable thing is that out of 88 crimes, only one case was investigated and one case was sent to court. In 40 cases, the investigation was terminated; in 8 cases, the investigation period was expired.
It’s worth noting that in the rating “Freedom in the World”, published by the international human rights organization “Freedom House”, Kazakhstan was once again recognized as a not free country, gaining only 23 points out of 100 possible.
“As a deadly pandemic raged across the world in 2020, there was a lack of economic and physical security, there were violent conflicts, and the defenders of democracy faced with new heavy casualties in their struggle against authoritarian adversaries, because the global balance has moved towards tyranny. The incumbent rulers increasingly resorted to force to crush opponents and settle scores with their critics, sometimes “in the name of public health”, while the activists, deprived of effective international support, were imprisoned, tortured or killed,” said the report, compiled by Sarah Repucci and Amy Slipowitz.
