KAZAKHSTAN: SIX TRAFFICKERS DO THE CRIME... AND GET TIME

UNCLAS ASTANA 001925 SIPDIS STATE FOR INL/AAE (ALTON),G/TIP (FARAJ),SCA/CEN (O'MARA),SCA/RA (PFLEIDERER),TASHKENT FOR ALLEN SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SNAR KCRM KCOR PREL PGOV KZ UZ SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: SIX TRAFFICKERS DO THE CRIME... AND GET TIME REF: A) 06 ASTANA 32 B) ASTANA 62 ¶1. (U) Summary: On July 12, the town court in the western Kazakhstani city of Aktobe convicted and sentenced six people for torturing and using force to secure the labor and sexual services of 13 citizens of Uzbekistan. The Uzbek men and women had been held as slaves in a sauna complex. The police discovered the situation on July 17, 2006 and moved the victims to a shelter for the duration of the trial. The successful conviction of the traffickers was result of cooperation between Uzbekistani and Kazakhstani police and representatives of local and international NGOs funded by INL and USAID grants. End summary. ¶2. (U) Interfax Kazkhstan reported on July 12, 2007 that six traffickers were convicted of trafficking or abetting trafficking. The main defendant was a 37-year old woman who was the owner of the Atager sauna complex in Aktobe. She was sentenced to seven years in prison for trafficking in persons and using force against people. Her two brothers were convicted of rape and torture. One brother received six years in prison and the other three years probation. A brother-in-law, an employee of the sauna complex, was convicted of sexual assault and torture and sentenced to six years imprisonment. ¶3. (U) Two intermediaries from Beineu (a town near the Kazakhstani-Uzbekistani border) were also convicted. One woman was sentenced to three years in prison and the other was put on probation for two and a half years. (Note: The woman received probation because she had a minor child. End note.) The press reported that three Uzbek recruiters were convicted in Uzbekistan and will be imprisoned in Uzbekistan. ¶4. (SBU) Post contact Timur Karimov, Head of the Trafficking in Persons Unit of the Criminal Police Department in the Ministry of Interior, confirmed the substance of the story as reported by Interfax. He also provided further details on the convictions and terms of sentences - the court ordered the traffickers to pay each victim $400 as compensation for moral damage and a total of $2,000 in salary compensation split between the 13. ¶5. (SBU) Comment: Joint efforts of Kazakhstani and Uzbekistani police to investigate this case, their cooperation with local NGOs and with the International Organization for Migration in both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan resulted in the successful conviction and sentencing of the traffickers. In this one case, the government of Kazakhstan quintupled its conviction rate over the previous year. ¶6. (SBU) Comment continued: Programs of the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Office (INL) and USAID both contributed to this successful prosecution, conviction, and sentencing. INL has been trainng law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judges to properly detect, investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers. One notable participant in INL courses has been Serik Aldashev from the Aktobe police department who led the case against the sauna traffickers. USAID has been working with local and international NGOs to provide assistance and protection to Uzbekistani victims. End comment. MILAS