KAZAKHSTAN TIP REPORT -- ONLY FRIENDS CAN TELL EACH OTHER

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 001042 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, G/TIP, INL/AAE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV SOCI KCRM KTIP KZ SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN TIP REPORT -- ONLY FRIENDS CAN TELL EACH OTHER THE TRUTH REF: STATE 60633 ¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet. ¶2. (U) Per reftel, on June 16, Post delivered the 2009 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report for Kazakhstan to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Director of the Department of International Law of the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) Elvira Azimova, and Deputy Chairman of the Criminal Police Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) Beket Aimagambetov. We provided copies of the Kazakhstan narrative and the non-paper on the overall report. INL Officer complimented the Ministries of Justice and Internal Affairs for their efforts to improve victim assistance, trafficking prevention, and investigations and convictions of traffickers. He also underlined the recommendations made in the TIP Report. ¶3. (SBU) At the MVD, Deputy Chairman Aimagambetov thanked the Embassy for its continued cooperation with the Criminal Police Committee. He expressed appreciation for the Embassy's positive assessment of police efforts to investigate human trafficking cases. Referring to the TIP Report, Aimagambetov acknowledged that only friends can tell each other the truth. He said that the MVD and INL have been friends for many years and are working together to achieve common goals. ¶4. (SBU) Aimagambetov also proposed further cooperation. A career police officer, Aimagambetov stressed the importance of victim cooperation during investigations. He said that he knows from his own experience that victims cooperate only when they feel safe and protected. Therefore, he suggested implementing a victim advocacy program to train advocates who would be assigned to victims from the very beginning of the process. ¶5. (SBU) The MVD would also like to establish an anti-trafficking interagency working group in South Kazakhstan oblast. Armabek Khakimbekovich Baimurzin, Chief of the Organized Crime Division, proposed this idea after attending an IVLP in Houston and seeing a similar group. During the IVLP, he had the opportunity to meet with the Harris County Sherriff's Office and the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance (HTRA),which is made up of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies working together with social service organizations to identify and assist victims of human trafficking and to arrest and prosecute traffickers. Baimurzin found the alliance to be an extremely effective structure and expressed interest in implementing such a program in Kazakhstan. ¶6. (SBU) Director Azimova of the MOJ thanked the Embassy for its patience and accuracy in submitting statistical and other data for the TIP report. She recognized that it is not easy to convert statistical data into a unified report because of the differences in criminal codes. She reported that the MOJ has done much to improve victim assistance in the past year. In particular, the new social services law was adopted and the law on the protection of participants in the criminal process was amended to allow government funding prior to the initiation of a criminal case. The government's 2009-2011 plan has been adopted and includes funding for shelters. Under this plan, the MOJ will be allocated 8 million tenge (approximately $50,000) a year for the next three years for shelter assistance. Most likely, the MOJ will fund the newly-established TIP NGO Korgai Fund, which is chaired by a former police officer with experience in establishing a drug treatment facility. The MOJ also plans to develop recommendations for victim identification by police and victim assistance recommendations for shelter personnel. ¶7. (SBU) The government intends to continue to work to improve its TIP ranking by enhancing the victim assistance and protection components of the national anti-TIP action plan. Azimova expressed thanks for the assistance that INL has provided in the past year and looks forward to future cooperation. INL informed Azimova that improving Kazakhstan's assistance to TIP victims would remain a ASTANA 00001042 002 OF 002 priority. Realizing the importance of trafficking prevention, Azimova assured INL that Kazakhstan will continue to conduct wide-spread information campaigns next year. HOAGLAND