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

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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

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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

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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