KAZAKHSTAN: MEDIA REPORTS ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING CASES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASTANA 000051 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 ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING CASES ASTANA 00000051 001.3 OF 003 ¶1. The following is a summary of local media reports of human trafficking cases in Kazakhstan September-December 2009. ANTI-TRAFFICKING OPERATIONS ¶2. December 14, "Interfax": During a nationwide anti-trafficking operation, December 7-11, police arrested 55 pimps and two traffickers and registered 371 prostitutes. -December 9, Police from the Department of Interior of Kyzylorda Oblast arrested a 39-year-old from Zhanakorgan for trafficking in minors for purposes of sexual exploitation in saunas and hotels in Taraz. The criminal case is ongoing. -December 10, Police from the Department of Interior of Zhambyl Oblast arrested a 35-year-old from Taraz, who forced Kyrgyz woman to work as a prostitute. The criminal case is ongoing. ¶3. September 14, "Interfax", "Kazakhstan Today": During a nationwide anti-trafficking operation, September 7-11, police arrested 67 pimps and 14 traffickers and registered 409 prostitutes. -Police from the Department of Interior of West-Kazakhstan Oblast arrested three people for attempting to sell an under-aged girl for purposes of sexual exploitation for $200. Police also arrested four members of a criminal group for kidnapping minors and forcing them to work in hotel saunas in Uralsk. -Police from the Department of Interior of Zhambyl Oblast arrested a 25-year-old woman for trafficking a 15-year-old girl from Taraz to Almaty, where she was forced to work as a prostitute. -Police from the Department of Interior of Kyzylorda Oblast arrested five teenaged members of a criminal group who forced a 14-year-old girl to work as a prostitute. -An Astana resident was arrested in Kokshetau city for trafficking a 20-year-old woman for purposes of sexual exploitation. TWO SEXUAL EXPLOITATION CONVICTIONS IN PETROPAVLOVSK ¶4. November 23, "Zakon.kz" from "Kazakhstan Today": Two women in Petropavlovsk were sentenced to five years in prison and their property was confiscated for trafficking in persons for purposes of sexual exploitation. The court suspended the sentence of one trafficker until her son reaches the age of 14. According to prosecutors, the women came to Petropavlovsk in May 2009 to find girls to traffic to Kokshetau. TAJIKS, UZBEKS, AND KYRGYZ FREED FROM HOTEL BASEMENT ¶5. November 16, "Kazakhstan Today," November 18, "KTK": Police in the Almaty Oblast freed 17 young, female trafficking victims who were kept in the basement of a hotel for almost two years and forced to work as prostitutes. The women were from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan and had been promised jobs as waitresses and secretaries by an "employment agency." Three Almaty residents aged 38, 39, and 19 and their 22-year-old female accomplice were arrested. SEXUAL EXPLOTATION ¶6. November 21, "Liter": Police in the Almaty Oblast arrested a group of people who were kidnapping young women for purposes of sexual exploitation. On November 8, the mother of one kidnapped woman gave the police the address at which her daughter was being held. The young woman had been kidnapped from the Chemolgan train station in the Karasai Rayon. The investigation is ongoing. ¶7. September 18, "Zakon.kz" from "Kazakhstan Today": Police in the South Kazakhstan Oblast arrested a 37-year-old-woman named Riza, who admitted that she was involved in trafficking young women from Shymkent. She revealed that she met potential victims on the street ASTANA 00000051 002.3 OF 003 and in cafes and, by means of deceit or threat, trafficked them to Turkestan, where she sold them to clients. She was charged with trafficking in persons, kidnapping, illegal deprivation of freedom, forcing one into prostitution, and pimping. In its press release on this case, the police also detailed the April arrest in Turkestan of a 49-year-old woman for exploiting 14- and 16-year-olds in local saunas. The woman was sentenced to five and a half years in prison. ORPHANED TEENAGERS SOLD INTO PROSTITUTION ¶8. November 5, "Kazakhstan Today": North Kazakhstani police investigated a trafficking-in-persons case involving four teenagers from the local vocational school for orphans, who were allegedly sold by a teacher several months earlier for $1000 and were working in the Akmolinskaya Oblast as prostitutes. This case was uncovered when the Department of Education in Petropavlovsk found 20 students missing during a routine check. Of the missing students, all but one were 15- and 16-years-old. Teachers and five accomplices were charged with kidnapping and trafficking in minors. Later media reports indicate that one suspect fled to Russia, but was later extradited to Kazakhstan. ¶9. October 19, "Interfax": A 27-year-old Kazakhstani woman previously charged with trafficking in minors was arrested in Russia's Krasnodarskyi Krai during a joint North-Kazakhstan Department of Interior-Russian Ministry of Interior organized-crime operation. ¶10. November 9, "Interfax": The 27-year-old Kazakhstani arrested in Russia was involved in selling orphans in North-Kazakhstan Oblast and was extradited to Kazakhstan for further investigation. KIDNAPPING ¶11. December 23, "Express-K": Police in Astana arrested a 17-year-old woman for kidnapping a five-month-old baby from a married couple from whom she rented a room. After the parents went to bed, the girl abducted the child and stole a cell phone and money. When arrested, she could not explain why she kidnapped the child, saying only that she loved children very much. A psychiatrist will examine the woman to determine whether charges should be filed. ¶12. November 18, "Interfax": Almaty police officers, working with colleagues in Kyrgyzstan, found a five-year-old girl who disappeared in September and returned her to her mother. She was discovered in the home of a 20-year-old Kyrgyz woman who had worked as a prostitute in Almaty. The reason for the kidnapping is unknown, and the investigation is ongoing. CHILD LABOR IN COTTON FIELDS ¶13. December 4, "Interfax": The Ministry of Education reports that 25% of all children in the South-Kazakhstan Oblast were absent from the first quarter of the school year because of their work in the cotton fields. Cotton harvesting was classified as a worst form of child-labor exploitation under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, about 900 children aged 7-17 reportedly harvested cotton in the South-Kazakhstan Oblast in 2008-2009. ¶14. Akim (governor) of South-Kazakhstan Oblast Ali Bektayev called cotton harvesting educational and a tradition in his oblast, and said he began to harvest cotton at the age of seven. However, he added his opposition to the harvest of cotton during school hours despite weather conditions which made it necessary this year. The Minister of Education said that the use of child labor has a negative impact on the image of Kazakhstan and recommended modernization of the cotton harvest. LABOR EXPLOTATION ¶15. December 23, "Vremya": A young woman from Shymkent escaped captivity in Moscow, where she worked for a family also from ASTANA 00000051 003.3 OF 003 Shymkent. Unable to find work in Shymkent, her cousin, who had been working in Moscow for a year, invited her there with the promise of a job in a Kazakhstani-run shop. Upon arrival, her documents were taken, and she was forced to work loading fruits and vegetables daily 5:00 AM until midnight. In addition to the long hours, she was poorly fed and regularly beaten. After her escape, IOM Moscow helped her return to Shymkent where the local NGO Sana Sezim provided her with medical treatment. A criminal case was not initiated due to a lack of evidence. ¶16. September 17, "Vremya": Police in Pavlodar Oblast investigated a criminal case of illegal deprivation of freedom for purposes of exploitation. Nine residents of Sherbakty and an Uzbek citizen were forced to work clearing the Chaldai forest. The Uzbek citizen stated that he worked without pay in the forest for two years. The nephew of the local Akim (mayor) owns the company overseeing the forest work. RUSSIA CHECKS BUSES FROM CENTRAL ASIA FOR ILLEGAL MIGRANTS ¶17. October 15, "Interfax": Police in the Moskovskaya Oblast of Russia stopped a 45-passenger bus with 116 illegal migrants from Central Asia. The courts likely will deport the illegal migrants to their home countries. During Operations "Illegal Migrant" and "Bus," the Russian police stopped 14 buses with illegal migrants during one month. ILLEGAL MIGRANTS ¶18. September 4, "Interfax": During a joint Committee for National Security-Prosecutor General's Office in Kostanai operation, migration police found 48 Chinese citizens illegally working in a local brick plant. The workers arrived in Kazakhstan on visitor's visas two months earlier. ¶19. November 4, "Interfax": Police in Taraz arrested 37 illegal migrants from Uzbekistan working on a construction site. The workers arrived on visitor's visas and registered with Kazakhstani authorities in the summer, which allowed them to stay in the country for up to three months. Eight workers without documents were placed in a detention center pending confirmation of their identities and status. The others are awaiting a court decision on administrative fines and deportation. The construction companies that employed the workers will have to pay administrative fines. KAZAKHSTAN'S MIGRATION CONCEPT AND CIS CONVENTION ON LABOR MIGRANTS ¶20. December 21, "Interfax": Kazakhstan is attempting to prevent internal migration problems through the development of a national internal migration concept. Administratively, procedures for single-family housing construction permits and residency registration would be simplified. This initiative would also eliminate the job application requirement of residency certificates, which would make available employment to everyone regardless of residence or registration. Socio-economic measures would develop poorer regions through the modernization of the transportation and energy infrastructure, education, and medical services. The government would establish temporary housing for homeless internal migrants. ¶21. December 11, "Interfax": The Kazakhstani Parliament agreed to ratify the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Convention on Labor Migrants. Kazakhstan signed the convention with every CIS state, except Turkmenistan and Moldova, in Chisinau on November 14, ¶2008. The convention is expected to reduce the risk of forced labor and increase social protections for labor migrants and their families. HOAGLAND