OSCE Centre in Astana supports publication of Ombudsman Annual Report

An OSCE-supported report on the activities of National Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsman) in 2013 was presented at a roundtable discussion at the Financial Police Academy in Koschi, Kazakhstan, on 3 June 2014.

The event was organized by the Kazakhstan Ombudsman’s Office with support of the OSCE Centre in Astana for some 330 parliamentarians, government officials, legal scholars, representatives of non-governmental organizations and mass media who discussed the observations on the human rights situation and policy recommendations made to governmental bodies in the Annual Report.

Participants noted an increased number of complaints received by the Ombudsman in recent years and noted specific examples of human rights violations and ways to improve mechanisms for human rights protection in the country.

Kazakhstan Ombudsman Askar Shakirov said: “In 2013, the Ombudsman office focused on the protection of rights of children and disabled people, looked at activities of law-enforcement bodies, the quality of state services and sought to ensure social, labour, land and housing rights.” He emphasized that the status of the Ombudsman as an institution was strengthened in 2013 by adoption of the Law on the National Preventive Mechanism against torture.

“Human rights promotion requires the development of a national culture of human rights. The Ombudsman’s Annual Report serves as an effective tool for the promotion of human rights mechanisms through monitoring, evaluation and greater outreach,” said Ambassador Natalia Zarudna, Head of the Centre in Astana.

The event was conducted as part of the Centre’s long-standing activities on enhancing capacity-building of the National Human Rights Institutions in Kazakhstan.