GOK INTERAGENCY TIP WORKING GROUP SHOWCASES WORK ON

UNCLAS ALMATY 000406

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP - J. TOPPING, DRL/PHD - P. DAVIS
ALSO FOR EUR/CACEN - J. MUDGE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PINR PGOV PREL PHUM SMIG IO KZ POLITICAL
SUBJECT: GOK INTERAGENCY TIP WORKING GROUP SHOWCASES WORK ON
NATIONAL PLAN



1. (U) On January 13, the GOK interagency TIP working group
met in Astana to discuss GOK progress in meeting TIP
National Plan goals. Minister of Justice Olnasyn Zhumabekov
chaired the highly publicized meeting, which included a
broad range of participation from the GOK, IOM, OSCE, NGOs
and Astana PolOff.


2. (SBU) This meeting, the group's sixth since passage of
the National Plan in February 2004, highlighted the working
group's draft legislative amendments set to go to the
Mazhilis in May. The amendments will affect the criminal,
administrative, labor, immigration and other codes. The
inclusive and transparent legislative drafting process for
the TIP amendments stands in striking contrast to the
secrecy surrounding other recent human rights legislation.
(Comment: Legislation may be drafted at the initiative of
either the executive or the legislative branch. Although
agencies sparred in early sessions, the MOJ was able to
successfully build clear consensus on most issues raised.
While each member of the working group may have initially
been a TIP expert within his/her Ministry, the process
educated every member on the TIP challenges faced across the
board. The process of drafting this set of amendments built
a cadre of TIP experts spread across the GOK, the NGO
community, and international organizations. Because each
part of the GOK affected by the amendments has had an
opportunity to shape them, there is a reasonable chance that
commitment to enforcement of these amendments will be high.
End comment.)


3. (SBU) Among the initiatives discussed at this session
was the possibility of the GOK signing two Protocols of the
2000 Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (2000)
(CTOC): the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish
Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (2001)
and the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land,
Sea and Air (2001) (together, "Palermo Protocols"). The MOJ
believed that the protocols could be independently signed,
and ratified concurrently with the CTOC, when the conflict
with GOK amnesties lapsed. MFA and MVD representatives
contended that the Protocols could not be signed as stand
alone agreements, and could only be signed after Kazakhstan
ratifies the underlying CTOC. (Comment: While Post will
continue to encourage the GOK to ratifying the CTOC and the
Palermo Protocols, Post believes this is more realistically
a longer term goal, since GOK agencies may have concerns
about ratification unrelated to TIP. End comment.)


4. (U) The Ministry of Justice confirmed that two TIP-
related memoranda of understanding were being reviewed. The
first is between the GOK and a nationwide network of TIP
shelters. This agreement, an initiative of the MOJ, would
exceed the current GOK requirements under the National Plan.
A second MOU would formally link the GOK and IOM on TIP
programming and training.

ORDWAY


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