KAZAKHSTAN: MEDIA REPORTS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING CASES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASTANA 000045 SIPDIS STATE FOR INL/AAE, G/TIP, SCA/CEN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV ELAB SMIG SOCI KCRM KTIP UZ KZ SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: MEDIA REPORTS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING CASES REF: A) 09 ASTANA 0368 B) 09 ASTANA 1977 ASTANA 00000045 001.3 OF 003 ¶1. The following is a summary of local media reports of human trafficking cases in Kazakhstan May-August 2009. SEXUAL EXPLOTATION ¶2. May 6, "Interfax," "Zakon.kz": Two women were arrested in Petropavlovsk for pimping and trafficking in persons. The North-Kazakhstan Oblast Department of Interior reported that police and two local citizens went undercover to investigate the women who recruited young women to work as prostitutes in Astana, Kokshetau, and Borovoye. The women were sold for approximately $450, but police negotiated the price to $200 during the undercover operation. The two women were arrested at an internal checkpoint while attempting to leave Petropavlovsk. Both women were found to have previously worked as prostitutes. ¶3. July 01, "Interfax": A 33-year-old woman reported to the Aktobe Department of Interior that a man who hired her for a construction job forced her to work as a prostitute. She and two other women, a 39-year-old and a 32-year-old, were taken to an apartment near railway station, which they thought they would be repairing, and sold for $170 each. The women were held in the apartment and beaten. Police arrested a 44-year-old and released another suspect, who signed a statement pledging to stay in Aktobe. The criminal case is ongoing. ¶4. August 11, "Yuridicheskaya Gazeta": An Uzbek woman using the name Dalila was arrested in Ust-Kamenogorsk while trying to traffic seven women to the United Arab Emirates. She had promised the young women jobs as dancers and models in the UAE and had told them that they would have the opportunity to marry rich sheiks or bankers. Women who had worked previously as prostitutes were promised exclusive clients, such as Jean Claude Van Damme, oil executives, or other well-known millionaires. During the investigation, police found that Dalila had attempted previously to recruit women in Ust-Kamenogorsk under the name of Nelli. LABOR TRAFFICKING ¶5. May 26, "Vremya," "Zakon.kz": A 63-year-old man arrived at a shelter in Almaty after working for various people for only food and water for more than 10 years. He said he did not blame anyone, because "every rich man in the village should have a farm-hand." He further stated that he had no choice because he had neither documents nor a home. After a divorce, he lost his home and often slept in the street. He was offered work in a village near Almaty, where he was provided "all that I dreamed of -- food, a bed, and alcohol." However, his life worsened when he was sent to work on another farm where he was locked in the house doing heavy work. When he got sick, he was thrown out. President of the Association against Trafficking in Persons in Central Asia (ATIPCA) Yekaterina Badikova commented that though the man called himself a farm-hand, he was actually a slave. In this particular case, trafficking would be difficult to prove, she said. ¶6. August 25, "Kazakhstan Today," "Interfax": Two managers of a local company in Almaty lured 26 Uzbeks with well-paying jobs, locked them in the basement of an Almaty house, and forced them to perform landscaping and street cleaning. Following repeated escape attempts, four of the workers filed a complaint with the police. The managers, who do not dispute the accusations, are charged with illegal deprivation of freedom for the purpose of exploitation. ORPHANAGE DOCTOR CONVICTED OF TRAFFICKING ¶7. May 14, "Interfax," May 18, "Azzattyk Radio": The senior doctor of an Atyrau orphanage, Zhanibek Koshaliyev, was found guilty of trafficking in babies and sentenced to seven years in prison. Prosecutors found the sentence too lenient and are appealing. Koshalitev sold newborn boys for $4,000-$5,000 and girls for $2,000-$3,000 (reftels A, B). ASTANA 00000045 002.3 OF 003 ¶8. June 4, "Zhas Alash": An editorial asked why only the doctor -- not his lawyer nor the government officials who prepared or notarized the adoption documents -- was prosecuted. A criminal case was initiated against the woman who filed the original complaint against the trafficker. POLICE ANTI-TRAFFICKING OPERATION ¶9. June 15, "Zakon.kz," "kz-today": During a June 8-12 nationwide anti-trafficking operation, police uncovered six cases of human trafficking, one case of trafficking in minors, two cases of illegal deprivation of freedom for the purpose of exploitation, and four cases of forced prostitution. Police arrested 52 pimps and registered 393 prostitutes. ¶10. During the operation, members of a criminal group, which sold young women and moved them between Karaganda and Astana, were arrested. One of the members was arrested in Astana as he was negotiating the sale of a woman for $300. The criminal case is ongoing. ¶11. Members of a criminal group from East-Kazakhstan and Dzhambyl Oblasts were arrested for trafficking two women from Shymkent and two women from Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The women were forced to work as prostitutes in saunas and hotels in Almaty. ¶12. Transport police from the South-East Oblast Department of Interior arrested a farmer accused of transporting five people to his farm for the purpose of labor exploitation. UKRANIAN WOMAN SAVED FROM SLAVERY -- A STORY WITH A HAPPY ENDING ¶13. June 23, "Express-K": A 42-year-old Ukrainian woman was held for more than 14 years in the Szhetskyi Rayon of Kazakhstan. Soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the woman left Ukraine to look for a job. She lost her passport and found herself unemployed and homeless. To make money, she occasionally repaired and cleaned apartments. She arrived in Karaganda where a woman offered her a job in a village. When she arrived in the village, she was force to live in a barracks with dozens of men. She performed household chores and took care of cattle, receiving very little food and clothing. Often abused, she was never able to escape. A newly-arrived worker named Yermek escaped and reported to the police, which was running an anti-trafficking operation at the time. After her release from the farm, Yermek proposed to her, and they were married. ILLEGAL MIGRATION ¶14. May 27, "Interfax": 28 Uzbeks working on municipal improvements were arrested in Ust-Kamengogorsk. According to the police, they entered the city May 18 on visitor visas and had not registered with the local authorities in order to work in Kazakhstan. ¶15. July 9, "Interfax": During Operation Migrant in the Akmolinskaya Oblast, police arrested 10 Chinese citizens for violations of the migration law. The Kokshemelinvest company employed them to instal equipment. A total of 214 foreign citizens were arrested during the operation. ¶16. July 14, "Interfax": More than 1,800 illegal migrants, a vast majority of whom were from the CIS, were deported during Operation Migrant, July 8-12. During the operation, migration police identified over 15,600 illegal residents in Kazakhstan. Over 300 employers were charged with violations of labor regulations, and 4,843 Kazakhstanis faced administrative actions. ¶17. August 24, "Interfax": During the four-day Operation Law-and-Order, police in Almaty identified nearly 1,000 foreign citizens who violated Kazakhstani migration law. Of the 998 identified, 952 were from the CIS. A total of 243 migrants were deported. ASTANA 00000045 003.3 OF 003 KAZAKHSTAN-CHINA GAS PIPELINE: FOREIGN EMPLOYMENT VIOLATIONS ¶18. May 4, "Interfax": Prosecutors in the Dzhambyl Oblast uncovered numerous violations of labor regulations in the construction of the Kazakhstan-China gas pipeline. Authorized offices supplied certifications with fake qualifications, service records, and organizations for Chinese workers and then issued work permits. The company Dou Knisk was found to have received work permits for 240 Chinese citizens with fraudulent documents. A total of 1,692 such work permits were received by 17 companies involved in the construction of the pipeline. Dou Knisk allegedly refused to hire 83 local workers on dubious grounds, paid foreign workers less than the legal wage and made them work weekends and holidays. 70 Chinese workers lived in rural schools in the Shuisckyi Rayon, for which the construction companies had received local-government permits to renovate into dormitories. The General Prosecutor's office ordered the recall of all permits, eviction of the workers, and firing of officials. HOAGLAND