KAZAKHSTAN: CHANGES TO PROTECTION LAW WILL BENEFIT

UNCLAS ASTANA 000718 SIPDIS STATE FOR INL/AAE, G/TIP, SCA/CEN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI SNAR KCRM KTIP KZ SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: CHANGES TO PROTECTION LAW WILL BENEFIT VICTIMS OF TIP AND OTHER CRIMES ¶1. SUMMARY: Changes to Kazakhstan's witness protection law will enable the government to more quickly provide a full range of services to crime victims during lengthy, complex investigations. These changes will benefit victims of trafficking-in-persons and other serious transnational crimes. END SUMMARY. ¶2. On April 7, President Nazarbayev signed amendments to the Law on State Protection of Participants in Criminal Proceedings. This law provides the legal basis for the government to provide a full range of assistance to crime victims and witnesses, including pre-trial housing, security, relocation, assistance finding new employment, and, in extraordinary cases, assistance in changing one's physical appearance. ¶3. The new amendments extend the time frame during which government assistance and protection can be provided. Previously, assistance could only be provided after the initiation of a criminal case. The amendments allow the government to provide assistance at all stages of the criminal process from the moment a crime is reported through the investigation and trial phases. In complex crimes, such as human trafficking, the success of a prosecution depends greatly on the testimony of victims and the lack of protection and assistance during the initial stages created unnecessary obstacles to successful investigations. Previously almost all victims had to be transferred to NGOs for assistance until a criminal case was initiated and government funding could kick in. ¶4. Amendments were also made to the Criminal Code, the Criminal Procedural Code, and the Law on Operational Investigative Activities in order to provide protection to convicts, prisoners, and those acquitted or whose sentences were dismissed. HOAGLAND