Kazakhstan: less than 38% of children know about their rights
37.8% of Kazakhstani children are aware that they have rights. Moreover, more than half of the survey participants (57%) know that they have some rights, but do not know which ones. Such data are contained in the draft of the fifth and sixth consolidated periodic report on the implementation by the Republic of Kazakhstan of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The draft periodic report was published on September 22 on the Open Regulations portal for public comment, which will end on October 6. After that, the draft report will be submitted for approval to the government of Kazakhstan, and then – sent to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.
As stated in the annotation to the draft, the report reflects the measures taken by Kazakhstan to implement the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict.
The author of the report is the Committee for the Protection of Children’s Rights of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Representatives of the Supreme Court, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population, the Ministry of Culture and Sports, the Ministry of Justice, and the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms and the civil sector were also involved in its preparation.
As follows from the general information, as of January 1, 2021, the child population in Kazakhstan was 6,295,590, with a total population of 18,879,552 people.
At the same time, the authors of the report note that the level of poverty has increased in Kazakhstan. So, against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the share of the population with incomes below the subsistence level ($ 77) increased to 5.3%, while in 2019 this figure was 4.3%. “This trend is observed throughout Kazakhstan against the background of a decrease in economic activity and the consequences of the coronavirus infection COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the population with incomes below the subsistence level amounted to 1.1 million people, ”the authors of the report note.
Of particular interest in the document is the chapter, which provides data on how Kazakh children are aware of their rights. Even though the authorities of Kazakhstan, as well as international organizations present in the republic, conduct various training, seminars, and forums aimed at raising the awareness of children and teenagers in Kazakhstan about the provisions and articles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the level of awareness remains quite low. According to the results of a sociological survey conducted in 2020 as part of the preparation of the Report on the Situation of Children in the Republic of Kazakhstan, only a little more than a third of the respondents (37.9%) answered that they know that they have rights. At the same time, more than half (57.0%) of the children participating in the survey specified: they know that they have such rights, but do not know which ones.
“Children are the most informed about such political and legal documents as the Law On Education – 54.4%, the Constitution of Kazakhstan – 50.9%, the Law On the Rights of the Child in Kazakhstan – 49.1%, the Convention on the Rights of the Child – 48, 1%, the Law On the prevention of delinquency among minors and the prevention of child neglect and homelessness – 44.9%, the Law On social and medical-pedagogical correctional support of children with disabilities – 38.0%, the Law On the prevention of domestic violence – 35.5%. The least known are the Law On State Youth Policy – 32.5%, the Code On Marriage (Matrimony) and the Family – 32.0%, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination – 28.2% “, the authors of the report note.
The report also provides reporting on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child for the reporting period and the implementation of the concluding observations on the fourth periodic report of Kazakhstan, adopted at the 70th session of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.
On the concluding remarks on the torture of minors, the authors of the report said that during the reporting period, “no facts of torture or other types of cruel treatment of minors serving criminal sentences in institutions of the penitentiary system were registered”.
“In the institution LA-155/6 (the correctional institution in Almaty) for males, a special meeting room is equipped for participants of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) with convicted under-ages. Juveniles serving sentences are provided with an independent complaints mechanism. The institution has installed and sealed special boxes for letters to the prosecutor’s office, to the public monitoring commission, to the NPM, to human rights NGOs, and to the media. Human rights NGOs have unhindered access to monitoring the conditions of detention of minors deprived of their liberty. In particular, representatives of NGOs, such as public funds “Zhetiagash”, “Zhartas Kazakhstan”, “International Association of Social Projects”, International Prison Reform “PRI” regularly visit educational colonies, special educational organizations, pre-trial detention centers, and temporary detention centers, ”the report says.
At the same time, from the summary table attached to the report on the number of minors held in places of confinement, it can be concluded that child crime is on the rise in Kazakhstan. So, if in 2016 there were 44 minors in educational colonies, then in 2020 their number was already 51 people. If in 2016 there were 63 minors in pre-trial detention centers, then in 2020 there were already 70 of them.
With regard to measures to promote the physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of child victims, then, according to the assurances of the authors of the report, everything is in order in Kazakhstan. For example, the country carried out special humanitarian operations “Zhusan” and “Rusafa”, within the framework of which 700 citizens of Kazakhstan were returned to their homeland from the combat zone in Syria, including 502 children, 37 of whom are orphans. At the same time, all children who returned from the combat zone received medical, psychological, social, economic, and legal assistance. Local executive bodies have carried out work to provide access to education. More than 118 children went to preschool institutions, more than 227 to schools. Also, more than 140 children were given the opportunity to participate in workshops, sports sections, and additional activities during non-school hours.
Concerning deprivation of parental rights, according to the draft report, this measure is exceptional in Kazakhstan and is practiced quite rarely.
“Since 2016, the proportion of satisfied claims has decreased from 91.7% to 61.8%. In general, over the past five years, there has been a decrease in the number of satisfied claims for deprivation of parental rights from 2,107 in 2015 to 1,240 cases in 2020, ”the report says.
It also notes that Kazakhstan is implementing a successful deinstitutionalization policy aimed at placing children out from boarding schools and working with parents to keep children in families.
“At the time of gaining independence, the number of orphans and children left without parental care in Kazakhstan was about 100,000. By the end of 2020, this number decreased by 4.3 times and amounted to 23,410 children. Compared to 2016, the reduction was 5,009 children. Of these, 81.8%, or 19,156 children, are brought up in families of Kazakh citizens under guardianship and in foster families. The number of inmates of boarding schools decreased from 7,236 in 2016 to 4,254 in 2020. Thus, the proportion of children in boarding schools has decreased from 25.5% in 2016 to 18.2% in 2020, which in figures is 146 to 98. As of the end of 2020, in Kazakhstan, there were 60 organizations in the education system (3,336 children) for orphans and children left without parental care, in the health care system – 20 organizations (272 children), in the social protection system – 18 organizations ( 646 children), ”the authors of the report boast.
