Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09ASTANA1042
2009-06-19 09:07:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Astana
Cable title:  

KAZAKHSTAN TIP REPORT -- ONLY FRIENDS CAN TELL EACH OTHER

Tags:  PHUM PGOV SOCI KCRM KTIP KZ 
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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

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