OSCE Centre supports conference on establishing national preventive mechanism on torture in Kazakhstan

ASTANA, 15 February 2010 - A two-day conference co-organized by the OSCE Centre in Astana to discuss implementation of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture (OPCAT) and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment and the development of a national preventive mechanism started in Astana today.

The event brings together some 80 participants, including officials of Kazakhstan's Presidential Administration, the Parliament and the Ministries of Justice, Internal Affairs, Education, Defence, Labour and Health. Representatives from the Committee of National Security, the Prosecutor General's Office, the Commission on Human Rights, the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Council, academia and human rights defenders are also taking part.

The main focus of the conference is to discuss the draft law developed by the Justice Ministry on establishing public control in places of detention through a national preventive mechanism (NPM), as stipulated by the OPCAT, which Kazakhstan ratified in October 2008. The conference participants will formulate recommendations for the Justice Ministry on the legal and operational aspects of implementing the OPCAT.

Ambassador Alexandre Keltchewsky, the Head of the OSCE Centre in Astana, said: "Kazakhstan ratified the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture over a year ago, but the national prevention mechanism is still to be established. I hope that Kazakhstan will preserve a broad-based dialogue in defining the NPM and, ultimately, developing the system that fully meets the standards set by the OPCAT - functional independence, independence of personnel, the necessary financial and human resources and due regard to the so-called 'Paris Principles' relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights".

Leading international experts from the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, the European Committee on Prevention of Torture, the Association for the Prevention of Torture and Penal Reform International will share global best practices during the conference.

Alison Hannah, Executive Director of Penal Reform International, emphasized the importance of NPM financing: "The system of support should be transparent. NPMs receiving grants from the ministries responsible for the institutions which will be monitored by these NPMs, will not be independent enough. Therefore, in the case of direct support of the NPM's work, the decision on grants should be decided by a board of independent experts."

The conference is co-organized by the OSCE Centre in Astana, Kazakhstan's Justice Ministry, the Committee of Legislative Reform of the Mazhilis (Lower Chamber) of Parliament, Penal Reform International (PRI/Central Asia) and the British Embassy in Astana.