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Kazakhstan - Initial reports of States parties due in 1996: Addendum [2002] UNCRCSPR 18; CRC/C/41/Add.13 (21 September 2002)
UNITED NATIONS
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|
CRC
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Convention on the Rights of the Child
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Distr. GENERAL
CRC/C/41/Add.13 24 September
2002
Original: ENGLISH
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COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
CONSIDERATION OF
REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES UNDER ARTICLE 44 OF THE CONVENTION
Initial reports of States parties due in
1996
Addendum
KAZAKHSTAN
[Original:
Russian]
[20 November
2001]
GE.02-44605
(E) 251002
CONTENTS
Paragraphs Page
Introduction 1 -
2 5
PART ONE
General information concerning the country and the
people 3 - 14 5
PART TWO
Implementation of the Convention
I. GENERAL MEASURES OF IMPLEMENTATION 15 - 50 10
(arts. 4 and 42
and art. 44, para. 6)
II. DEFINITION OF THE CHILD (art. 1) 51 -
67 17
III. GENERAL PRINCIPLES 68 -
128 19
A. Non-discrimination (art. 2) 68 - 92 19
B. Best
interests of the child (art. 3) 93 - 117 23
C. The right to life,
survival and development (art. 6) 118 - 123 28
D. Respect for the
views of the child (art. 12) 124 - 128 29
IV. CIVIL RIGHTS AND
FREEDOMS 129 - 154 29
A. Name, nationality and citizenship (art. 7)
130 - 134 30
B. Preservation of identity (art. 8)
135 31
C. Freedom of expression (art. 13)
136 31
D. Freedom of thought, conscience and
religion (art.
14) 137 - 140 31
E. Freedom of association and of peaceful assembly
(art. 16) 141 - 143 32
F. Protection of privacy (art. 16)
144 - 145 32
CONTENTS (continued)
Paragraphs Page
G. Access to appropriate
information (art. 17) 146 - 150 33
H. Right not to be subjected to
torture or other cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment or punishment (art.
37 (a)) 151 - 153 34
V. FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERNATIVE CARE 154
- 205 35
A. Parental guidance (art. 5) 154 -
158 35
B. Parental responsibilities (art. 18, paras. 1 and 2) 159 -
163 36
C. Separation from parents (art. 9) 164 -
171 37
D. Family reunification (art. 10) 172 -
174 38
E. Illicit transfer and non-return (art. 11) 175 -
176 39
F. Recovery of maintenance for a child (art. 27, para. 4) 177
- 179 39
G. Children deprived of a family environment (art. 20) 180 -
190 40
H. Adoption (art. 21) 191 - 200 42
I. Periodic review
of placement (art. 25) 201 - 202 44
J. Abuse and neglect (art. 19),
including physical and
psychological recovery and social reintegration
(art. 39) 203 - 205 44
VI. BASIC HEALTH AND WELFARE 206 -
255 45
A. Disabled children (art. 23) 206 - 224 45
B. Health
and health services (art. 24) 225 - 255 49
VII. EDUCATION, LEISURE AND
CULTURAL ACTIVITIES 256 - 289 56
A. Education, including vocational
training and guidance
(art. 28) 257 - 281 56
B. Aims of
education (art. 29) 282 - 284 61
C. Leisure, recreation and cultural
activities (art. 31) 285 - 289 61
CONTENTS (continued)
Paragraphs Page
VIII. SPECIAL PROTECTIVE
MEASURES 290 - 360 63
A. Children in situations of emergency (art.
22) 290 - 304 63
B. Children involved with the system of
administration
of juvenile justice (art. 40) 305 -
340 65
C. Children in situations of exploitation, including
physical
and psychological recovery and social reintegration
(art.
35) 341 - 359 72
D. Children belonging to a minority or
an
indigenous group (art. 30)
360 75
Annexes[*]
Laws and
other legislation relating to the implementation of the provisions
of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child in Kazakhstan
Introduction
- The
Republic of Kazakhstan’s initial report on the implementation of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was ratified
by Kazakhstan in 1994
without reservations, was reviewed on 5 March 2001 at a meeting of the
Commission on Human Rights in the office
of the President of the Republic. It
has been prepared in pursuance of article 44, paragraph 1 (a) of the Convention
and in keeping
with the guidelines regarding the form and content of initial
reports to be submitted by States parties (CRC/C/58), on the basis
of material
supplied by ministries and departments responsible for addressing issues related
to the status of children, the safeguarding
and realization of their rights,
State statistical data and information received from nongovernmental
organizations which deal with
children’s problems.
- Part
One of the report contains general information on the country and people and on
the main directions of changes in the situation
of children during the period
under review. The main part of the report, Part Two, consists of eight
chapters, and includes information
on steps taken by Kazakhstan to implement the
Convention on the Rights of the Child between 1994 and 2000, in accordance with
the
international obligations it has assumed, and on progress achieved,
difficulties encountered and measures planned to implement the
provisions of the
Convention in the future. The annexes contain Kazakhstan’s principal laws
and regulations adopted for the
application of the principles set out in the
Convention. They are available for consultation in the files of the
secretariat.
PART ONE
General information concerning the country and the
people
- The
Republic of Kazakhstan, which contains many nationalities, occupies 2,724,900
square kilometres and consists of 14 oblasts, 160
districts, 85 cities and
towns, 200 settlements and 2,103 rural districts known as auls. On 1
January 2001, 14.8 million people lived in Kazakhstan, according to preliminary
data, of whom 8.3 million (55.8 per cent)
lived in cities and 6.5 million (44.2
per cent) in villages. Figures for 1990 were 9.3 million city dwellers
and 7 million rural
dwellers, giving a total of 16.3
million.
- On
1 January 2000 children aged 0-18 made up 35.7 per cent of the total population
(38.9 per cent in 1990). The decrease in the total
population was caused
by the net flow of emigration, which completely outweighed the natural
population growth, as well as a fall
in the birth rate and a rise in the death
rate.
- Positive
developments in the demographic situation between 1990 and 2000 included:
a fall in infant mortality (from 28.3 deaths per
1,000 births among infants
aged 0-1 in 1993 to 19.6 in 2000), a small drop in mortality (from 10.7 per
1,000 head of population in
1996 to 10 in 2000), and a rise in average life
expectancy (from 63.5 in 1995 to 65.5 in 1999). The average age of women and
men
in 2000 was 32.1 and 28.8 respectively (30.3 and 27 in 1990).
Figure 1
Age and sex pyramid of the population on 1 January 2000
- At
the beginning of the 1990s migration began to increase, with variations as to
nationality, and so in the most recent intercensal
period there have been
substantial changes in the breakdown of the country’s population by
nationality. The growth in the
Kazakh population, according to 1999 census
data, was 1,488,200, or 22.9 per cent, and its share in the total population of
Kazakhstan
rose from 40.1 per cent to 53.4 per cent during the intercensal
period (1989-1999), not only as a result of natural growth but because
of the
return of Kazakhs to
their historical homeland. According to 1999
census results, there are 4,479,600 Russians
(30 per cent of the total
population), 547,100 Ukrainians (3.7 per cent) and 249,000 Tatars
(1.7 per
cent), whose numbers dropped significantly during the intercensal period, as the
number of emigrants exceeded the number
of immigrants and the number of deaths
exceeded the number of births. The number of Germans recorded (353,400 or 2.4
per cent) also
fell during this period, solely owing to the excess of emigrants
over immigrants.
- The
change in the total population is also influenced by the natural growth in the
population resulting from changes in the birth
and death rates. Statistics
indicate that natural growth in the population in 2000 amounted to 69,000
(233,500 in 1990). Natural
growth in the population in 1999 had fallen to a
record low, at 65,900, but rose somewhat between January and December 2000.
Natural
population growth was observed throughout the country, except for the
Qaraghandy, Qostanay, North Kazakhstan and East Kazakhstan
oblasts.
Figure 2
Population of Kazakhstan, 1990-2000
(at
beginning of year)
Table 1
Changes in natural population movements, 1990-2000
|
|
Per 1,000 population
|
2000*
|
1990
|
2000/1990, per cent
|
2000*
|
1990
|
2000/1990, per cent
|
Births
|
218.5
|
362.1
|
60.3
|
14.7
|
22.2
|
66.2
|
Deaths
|
149.4
|
128.6
|
116.2
|
10.1
|
7.9
|
127.8
|
* Data for January-December 2000.
- The
birth rate declined up to 1999, to a low of 14.2 births per 1,000. In 2000 it
stood at 3.5 per cent. The highest death rate
was recorded in 1995-1996,
at 10.7 per 1,000. This was followed by a fall in 1997-1999 (to 9.8 per 1,000),
and a slight rise to
10.1 per 1,000 in 2000. In some parts of the country (the
Qaraghandy, Qostanay, North Kazakhstan and East Kazakhstan oblasts), the
number
of deaths is higher than the number of births.
- The
number of deaths of children aged 0-18 dropped by a factor of 1.9 from 15,800
in 1990 to 8,400 in 2000.
Figure 3
Deaths in Kazakhstan
- In
2000, a substantial fall in the level of infant mortality was observed compared
with 1990. In 2000, 4,200 deaths of infants aged
up to 1 were recorded, a
rate of 19.6 per 1,000 births, against 9,700 or 26.4 per 1,000 in
1990.
- The
number of migrants in 2000 was 374,800, compared with 376,000 in 1999. The fall
in the population resulting from migration was
4 per cent smaller than in 1999,
at 123,200. This was due to a decline in emigration, including a fall of 11.8
per cent in emigration
outside the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
The principal migratory flows are those between Kazakhstan and the other CIS
countries. In 2000 around 75 per cent of the total number of emigrants went to
CIS countries. The most intensive flows of emigration
are recorded in the
Qostanay, Pavlodar and Qaraghandy oblasts.
- Positive
balances of migration continue with Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan,
while negative balances remain the rule for
Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.
Outside the CIS a negative balance continues with Germany, Israel and the United
States of America,
while a positive balance continues with Mongolia, China and
the Islamic Republic of Iran.
- Russians
predominate in the ethnic breakdown of emigrants (over 58 per cent), followed by
Germans (about 19 per cent), Ukrainians
(about 9 per cent), Tatars (2.5 per
cent) and Belarusians (1.8 per cent). Russians constitute 69.9 per cent of
those leaving for
CIS countries, while Germans constitute 63.4 per cent of those
leaving for non-CIS countries.
Figure 4
Infant mortality, 1990-2000
(per 1,000
births)
Figure 5
Kazakhstan - External migratory flows, 1991-2000
- In
2000 the number of movements within the country was almost 11,000 (6.3 per cent)
greater than in 1999. The indicator of intensity
of migratory flows per 10,000
people was 124 compared with 116 in 1999. A negative migratory balance was
recorded in most of the
country’s oblasts, and particularly in South
Kazakhstan (-3,000), Almaty (-2,900), Qostanay (2,700), East Kazakhstan (-2,600)
and Zhambyl (-2,500) oblasts. A positive balance, and the largest growth in
migration, occurred once again in the cities of Almaty
(+10,200) and Astana
(+6,400).
PART TWO
Implementation of the Convention
I. GENERAL MEASURES OF IMPLEMENTATION
(arts. 4 and 42 and art. 44, para. 6)
- In
accordance with article 4 of the Convention, legislative, administrative and
other measures are being adopted in Kazakhstan for
the implementation of the
norms recognized in the Convention. The Constitution adopted in 1995 states
that human rights and freedoms are recognized and guaranteed in Kazakhstan.
Marriage and the family, maternity,
paternity and childhood are placed under the
protection of the State by the Constitution. The confirmation of State policy
in this field in the country’s basic law is in keeping with international
legal instruments
for the protection of human rights, and specifically with the
Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- During
the period under review, between 1994 and 2000, domestic legislation
guaranteeing the rights and interests of children in accordance
with the
provisions of the Convention was further developed. Resources for and means of
protecting the rights of the child were
considerably expanded following the
adoption of several new codes - the Civil Code (1994 and 1999), the Criminal
Code (1997), the
Code of Criminal Procedure (1997), the Code for the Execution
of Criminal Penalties (1997) and the Code of Administrative Offences
(2001) - as
well as the Marriage and the Family Act (1998), the Education Act (1999), the
Family-type Children’s Villages and Young People’s Homes Act (2000),
and others.
- The
adoption of the Marriage and the Family Act marked a step forward in
guaranteeing the rights of children in keeping with the provisions
of the
Convention. The principles of legislation governing the family have been
brought into line with the basic principles and
provisions of the Convention.
The section of the Act dealing with the family contains special chapters on
“Establishing the
parentage of children” and “Rights of the
child”, and lays down, in keeping with the requirements of the Convention,
the right of a child to live and be raised in a family, the right of a child to
protection, to express his or her opinion, to protection
of his or her property
rights, to restoration of maintenance, to protection of the interests of the
child in the event of improper
treatment, including the removal of the child
where there is a direct threat to his or her life or health, and also to
protection
of the rights and interests of children who are left without parental
care. The Act stipulates how children who are left without
parental care should
be brought up, lays down procedures, including legal procedures, for identifying
and placing
such children, and introduces a new form of child-raising in families for
this category of children - fostering. The Act is underpinned
by the
principles of respect for the rights of parents, and equal rights and duties for
the father and mother.
- When
legislation is being prepared which affects the interests of children and young
people and the activities of children’s
and young people’s voluntary
organizations, interested parties are guaranteed extensive participation in its
drafting and discussion
through the organization of round tables and conferences
and the publication of drafts in the mass media. This method was used in
the
preparation of the Outline of State Policy on Young People and the “Youth
Kazakhstan” programme. Representatives
of children’s and young
people’s voluntary organizations are participating in the drawing up of a
bill to amend the Voluntary
Organizations Act by introducing a number of
concessions and measures to create ideal conditions for the activities of such
organizations.
- The
status of the Convention and other international treaties to which Kazakhstan is
a party is defined by article 4, paragraph 1
of the Constitution: “The
law applicable in the Republic of Kazakhstan is made up of the norms of the
Constitution, the laws which correspond to it, other legislation, international
treaty and other obligations and decisions of the Constitutional
Council and the
Supreme Court.” In this way, the norms of international law are directly
applicable and are enforced by the
organs of power, including the courts.
Private individuals and legal entities may directly invoke the provisions of
international
law in settling disputes between them and State bodies,
institutions and organizations.
- Under
paragraph 3 of the article, “International treaties ratified by the
Republic shall have priority over its laws and be
directly implemented, except
in cases when the application of an international treaty requires the
promulgation of a law.”
Hence the Convention is granted the priority of a
norm of international law. This means that, where a contradiction is observed
between a treaty to which Kazakhstan is a party and a piece of legislation, the
rules laid down by the ratified international treaty
are applied. The direct
application of such international treaties, which enjoy precedence over domestic
laws, does not signify
that they cancel the provisions of existing laws.
International treaties which do not require ratification in order to enter into
force and which were concluded prior to the adoption of the 1995 Constitution
are valid, and retain their precedence over domestic laws, if such precedence
for such international treaties is expressly specified
in the domestic laws
which govern the sphere of juridical relations in question. Where rights set
out in the Convention are violated,
the traditional means for their protection
provided for in domestic legislation are applied.
- From
1994 onwards a Commission on Human Rights has been functioning in the office of
the President, who established it by means of
a decree for the purposes of
realization of the human and citizens’ rights and freedoms guaranteed in
the Constitution. A department on family problems has been set up in the
National Commission on Family and Women’s Matters in the office of
the
President, under the leadership of N.A. Kayupova, a Senator in the Parliament.
While addressing family problems, the department
also deals with protection of
the rights and lawful interests of children. In July 2000 the Council on Youth
Affairs was set up
as a consultative and deliberative body within the
Government, composed of representatives of children’s and young
people’s
voluntary associations.
- A
comprehensive programme of child-raising in teaching establishments has been
drawn up with the aim of guaranteeing the development
of personality and
creating conditions for its realization. It sets specific goals and targets for
rearing children and shaping
the environment in which they are brought up. The
State education programme, approved by Presidential decree, sets out measures
for the further development of child-rearing and instruction in
Kazakhstan.
- Between
1994 and 2000 Kazakhstan expanded international cooperation in the field of
protection of the health of children and mothers
through the United Nations
system, the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labour
Organization (ILO), the Office of
the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and
international non-governmental
organizations. Such cooperation has taken the
form of the establishment of WHO Collaborating Centres, the exchange of
information,
the holding of international seminars and the exchange of
specialists. The ASPERA programme is being implemented in the environmentally
harsh parts of the country with technical and financial support from
UNICEF. This programme included the iodizing of salt and prevention
of irondeficiency anaemia in women of child-bearing age and
children.
- A
programme of breastfeeding and an initiative entitled “After hospital, a
friendly attitude to children” are being actively
pursued together with
UNICEF. To date 11 maternity hospitals and one children’s hospital have
been awarded this honorary title,
and two other medical centres are ready for
certification. With technical and financial support from UNICEF, a project
entitled
“Protection of Mother and Child Health” has been initiated.
It covers efforts to combat diarrhoeal and respiratory infections,
integrated
treatment of childhood diseases, protection of mother and child health during
the perinatal period, efforts to combat
anaemia, and improvement of mother and
child health protection services in the provinces. A reproductive health
programme is being
implemented in pilot areas as part of a United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA) project on shaping population and development planning
policy.
- In
accordance with the Budget System Act, the country’s budget, as approved
for the corresponding financial year, contains a
list of maximum outgoings for
each functional group, budget programme administrator and programme. When the
proposed national budget
for a given financial year is being prepared, the
President sets up a budget commission which draws up and submits for approval by
the Government budget indicators which contain expenditure and income ceilings
for each functional group and budget programme administrator.
Within these
limits the budget programme administrators submit their budget programmes to the
Ministry of Finance.
- Each
year the Ministry of Finance approves the Single Budget Classification, which
sets out budgetary expenditure by programme. The
Single Budget Classification
contains programmes providing State support to children in the field of
education, sport and health,
and also special State grants to disabled children
aged up to 16, social security for children and social security provided through
boarding institutions at the local level.
- By
decree No. 448 of 30 September 2000, the President approved the State education
programme, which encompasses the principal aspects
of pre-school, primary,
secondary, higher and post-university vocational education and identifies
priorities for the further development
of the educational system. Education is
one of the priority areas in the strategy for the development of Kazakhstan to
the year
2000 in the area of social policy. In order to implement State policy
in education and guarantee citizens’ constitutional
right to education,
the budget provides the requisite funds each year for the implementation of
programmes in the educational field.
- In
the State budget for 2000 a total of 87,530,314,000 tenge was earmarked for
funding education, including 14,934,580,000 tenge in
the national budget. Under
the National Budget (2001) Act, 19,807,798,000 tenge was earmarked for
these purposes.
- A
sum of 162,000,000 tenge was earmarked for vaccination of newborn children
against the hepatitis B virus as part of programme No.
33, on centralized
purchase of such vaccines, and 162,000,000 tenge was scheduled to be
allocated for the same purpose in 2001.
Under programme No. 40, on the
centralized procurement of vaccines for immunization, 1,833,847,000 tenge was
earmarked in 2000 for
the vaccination of children against the main
vaccine-preventable diseases. In 2001, 283,847,000 tenge was earmarked for
these purposes.
- Under
programme No. 36, on the provision of specialist medical assistance,
subprogramme No. 31, on the Balbulak national children’s
rehabilitation
centre, 33,139,000 tenge was earmarked for treatment of children during 2000,
while 34,781,000 tenge was scheduled
to be allocated for the year 2001. Under
programme No. 38, on the national tuberculosis programme, subprogramme No. 31,
on the Borovoe
national tuberculosis sanatorium, 57,820,000 tenge was earmarked
for treatment and rest for children suffering from tuberculosis
during 2000,
while 59,130,000 tenge was scheduled to be allocated in 2001.
- Under
programme No. 46, on rehabilitation of children, 194,847,000 tenge was earmarked
for treatment of children in the Aksai national
children’s hospital and
for rehabilitation of children in the Alatai national children’s
sanatorium, while 211,284,000
tenge was scheduled to be allocated for these
purposes in 2001.
- Under
programme No. 65, on specialized medical assistance in national clinics
and scientific research institutes, subprogramme No.
31, on provision of
specialized medical assistance to the population in national clinics and
scientific research institutes, 186,100,000
tenge were earmarked for the
Scientific Centre for Paediatrics and Paediatric Surgery and the National
Scientific Research Centre
for Protection of Mother and Child Health, and
201,494,000 tenge was scheduled to be allocated in 2001.
- In
2001, 23,000,000 tenge was earmarked for treatment of children suffering from
leukaemia. In 2000, 82,872,000 tenge was earmarked
for rehabilitation of
children in the Bobek National Education and Health Centre, rising to
96,043,000 tenge in 2001.
- In
local budgets for 2000, 3,914,374,000 tenge was earmarked for activities under
programme No. 45, “Protection of mothers and
children”.
- Under
functional group 06, “Social security and social assistance”, a
total of 612,633,000 tenge was earmarked in 2000
in local budgets under
programme No. 30, “Residential accommodation for mentally retarded
children”. These funds are
intended for permanent residence of children
who require care, household and medical services and social and occupational
rehabilitation.
Under the Special State Allowance Act of 5 April 1999,
394,189,000 tenge was earmarked under the revised national budget for 2000
for
special State allowances for disabled children aged under 16.
- Concrete
efforts are being made to organize partnerships and cooperation between State
agencies and non-governmental associations.
Since February 1999 a national
centre for supporting non-governmental associations, “Info-centre
NGA”, of which some
50 nongovernmental associations are members, has been
operating under the Ministry of Culture and Social Harmony. The work of the
“Info-centre NGA” is aimed at strengthening and broadening
cooperation between State agencies and non-governmental organizations
on the
basis of equal partnership and constructive and integral
dialogue.
- In
1999 a scientific and practical conference entitled “The role of the mass
media and nongovernmental organizations in popularizing
population issues,
gender and reproductive health” was held. It examined opportunities for
non-governmental associations to
publicize a healthy lifestyle. Information on
the negative influence of drug abuse and smoking on the health of the rising
generation
is also being disseminated by such non-governmental associations such
as “Asthma-Baby”, “Diabetes-Astana”
(in the city of
Astana) and “Mothers against drugs” (in the city of Temirtau).
- In
2000, more than 15 round-table meetings, conferences and seminars were held with
the help of the “Info-centre NGA”
on urgent issues arising in the
activities of nongovernmental associations. With extensive participation by
State and non-governmental
organizations as well as representatives of the
Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), Tacis, the United
Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and the Counterpart Consortium, the
following were held: a round table on the topic “Principles
of and
machinery for State support for non-governmental associations”, a regional
round table on “Mutual relations and
cooperation between State agencies
and non-governmental associations”, a national conference on “the
State and non-governmental
associations - a step towards one another”, a
scientific and practical conference-seminar on “the role of the mass media
and non-governmental organizations in publicizing population issues, gender and
reproductive health”, and a round table
involving
21 non-governmental organizations to consider draft
legislation on the rights of the child (September 2000). In October 2000 a
series
of mini-seminars was held for State officials on awareness of
women’s rights in Kazakhstan. In most cases, public discussion
of the
problems involved in the situation of children and the corresponding State
policy measures was followed by the adoption of
recommendations to State
agencies for application in their everyday activities.
- As
a part of cooperation in youth policy between the Ministry of Culture,
Information and Social Harmony and the German federal Ministry
for the Family,
the Elderly and Youth, international seminars have been held since 1995 on
prevention of drug abuse and other forms
of dependence among young people, on
various aspects of social work with children and young
people, and on the development of the best possible mechanisms for
implementing State policy on youth. More than 300 Kazakh specialists
in work
with children and young people - doctors, educationalists, psychologists and
legal experts - and State officials took part
in seminars and conferences in
Germany.
- The
women’s and young people’s movement has become more active in
Kazakhstan. Women’s, children’s and young
people’s
non-governmental organizations constitute a real force in addressing many social
problems in Kazakh society, and first
and foremost those relating to protection
of the rights and interests of children. The Ministry of Culture and Social
Harmony provides
information support to such non-governmental associations,
conducts joint seminars, training sessions and round tables and participates
in
socially significant activities. For example, the women’s voluntary
association “ZHARIA” was provided with
help and support in
participating in tendering under the Tacis programme and in competition for
microprojects under the European
initiative in the field of democracy and human
rights in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and the MASHAV educational programme for
the
non-governmental sector. Technical support was provided to the Aqmola
branch of the “League of Muslim Women of Kazakhstan”,
a voluntary
association, and consultations and methodological assistance were provided to
the “Zhanuya-2030” Mother and
Child Protection Centre, the
“Disabled Children” society, the “Altyn Kazyk”
non-governmental association,
the Taraz city society of disabled young people,
the “Murager” children’s voluntary organization in Qostanay
oblast,
the Kazakhstan scout movement, the national young people’s
movement “For the future of Kazakhstan”, and many other
non-governmental associations.
- The
Registration Committee of the Ministry of Justice reports that 816
national-level and regional-level voluntary associations, and
2,941 local-level
associations, have been registered in Kazakhstan. Of them only 25 are national
and regional children’s voluntary
associations, and 100 local. In
addition, there are 45 offices of foreign and international non-commercial
nongovernmental associations
in Kazakhstan. There is no doubt that the
non-governmental sector plays the role of an equal partner with the Government
in initiating
efforts to make the principles of the Convention on the Rights of
the Child a reality.
- While
at the beginning of the 1990s the task of the non-governmental associations was
to draw the attention of those working in education
to the need for human rights
education, to destroy the stereotypical Soviet style of thinking of those
responsible for teaching and
raising children, and to reorient the system of
legal education in the schools of Kazakhstan, other issues need to be addressed
today.
- First
and foremost, it is noteworthy that the numbers of non-governmental associations
are growing. A large proportion of them exist
thanks to grants to ensure their
viability, and basically, of course, they do not pay major attention to solving
such problems facing
Kazakhstan in the protection and social adaptation of
children as the centralization of actions, the publishing of basic school
textbooks
and much else. But undoubtedly, regional non-governmental
associations are conduits for the idea of protecting single mothers and
their
children, protecting disabled children and children of pre-school age etc. on
the spot, and in their own way constitute sources
of information in remote
areas.
- The
activities of the largest non-governmental associations also display specific
features in their main areas. The “Children’s
Protection
Centre”, for example, carries out theoretical research in the field of
children’s rights. The “Atameken”
children’s and young
people’s association protects the social rights and liberties of children
and young people, while
the “Lyubov Centre for Social Protection of
Children and Adolescents” engages in social protection of the disabled.
The activities of non-governmental organizations are carried out for the most
part thanks to financial support from the Soros Foundation,
the Tacis democracy
programme, the Counterpart Consortium, HIVOS, etc. Efforts to enhance the
participation of non-governmental
organizations in implementing the provisions
of the Convention are facilitated by the existing legislative base, and in
particular
the Voluntary Associations Act, the Non-commercial Organizations Act
and the Social Partnership Act.
- The
message from the President to the people, “Kazakhstan-2030”,
constitutes a single national programme of activities.
Ministries and
departments are working to perform the tasks set out in the State strategy
mentioned above.
- At
the second forum of women of Kazakhstan, President N.A. Nazarbaev stated that
one of the four main lines of State policy to improve
the position of women was
improvement of the health of women and their families. In pursuit of these
tasks, the Government approved
the National Plan of Actions for the improvement
of the position of women in Kazakhstan. It includes 105 programmes reflecting
12
priorities. Their implementation is founded not only on the national and
local budgets, but also on assistance from international
organizations and donor
countries. Thanks to the involvement of the National Commission of
International Donors, 2 million United
States dollars have been invested in
the implementation of a number of programmes under the plan.
- By
decision No. 1272 of 17 August 2000, the Government approved the Outline of
State Population Policy, which had been drawn up by
the Migration and Demography
Agency. The Agency is currently working to prepare a Programme and Plan of
Action for the implementation
of the Outline of State Population Policy, which
will include a programme to stimulate the birth rate and a number of other
measures
to improve the demographic situation in the country, as well as the
provisions set out in the Convention on the Rights of the
Child.
- No
integrated work to popularize the provisions of the Convention has been carried
out among children and adults. The Convention
has been published by
international and Russian Federation organizations, mainly in Russian. Editions
in Kazakh also exist in small
quantities, notably an illustrated version of the
Convention published in Moscow in 1997, when the nongovernmental organization
“Konfliktologichesky
Tsentr” commissioned 2,000 copies. In 2000 the
Scientific Information Centre for Civics Education prepared an initial handbook
about the Convention for use in primary schools.
- The
present report was prepared by a broad range of specialists. A working group
was set up including representatives of the Ministries
of Culture, Information
and Social Harmony, Labour and Social Protection, Education and Science,
Internal Affairs, Justice and Finance,
the
Agencies for Health Affairs, Tourism and Sport and Migration and Demography
and other State bodies. Issues arising in the drafting
of this report, and the
draft of the report itself, were discussed at two meetings of the Commission on
Human Rights in the office
of the President. During the preparation of the
report use was made of official statistical data and information and analytical
material from various ministries and departments.
- This
report is scheduled to be published separately in order to publicize widely the
problems involved in the realization of the rights
of the child. Supplementary
steps will be taken to popularize it through press conference, press releases,
publication in the mass
media, etc.
II. DEFINITION OF THE CHILD
(art. 1)
- The
Constitution of Kazakhstan does not specify the age of majority. Under current
domestic legislation, the age of majority is 18 (Marriage and
the Family Act,
Civil Code). The age of civil responsibility is 18; where a person marries
before the age of 18, full civil responsibility
is acquired from the date of
marriage (Civil Code, art. 17).
- Irrespective
of his or her age, a child has the right to own property received as a gift or
by inheritance, as well as any other property
acquired using the child’s
resources (Marriage and the Family Act). Children aged between 14 and 18 may
enter into contracts
with the consent of their parents, adoptive parents or
guardians and bear liability as to property under contracts concluded in
accordance
with the law (Civil Code, art. 22); in the case of minors aged under
14, contracts must be concluded by their parents, adoptive parents
or guardians.
Children aged under 14 have the right to conclude only small contracts relating
to everyday matters and in keeping
with their age (Civil Code, art. 23); a child
has the right of independent control over investments made by any person in his
or
her name from the age of 14 (Civil Code, art. 25).
- It
is possible for a child aged under 3, or a severely ill child aged over 3, who
in the opinion of doctors requires supplementary
care, to be accompanied in a
medical institution by his or her mother or father or another person directly
providing care for the
child, and to receive an allowance under social insurance
(Citizens’ Health Protection Act, art. 55). No minimum age for benefiting
from juridical services or medical services without parental consent has been
established. However, medical services such as surgical
intervention, blood
transfusions and complex diagnostic methods must be performed on persons under
16 only with the consent of parents
or guardians or close relatives (Marriage
and the Family Act, Citizens’ Health Protection Act). Psychiatric help is
given
to minors with the consent of their legal representatives. In the event
of refusal or in the absence of a legal representative,
examination of a minor
is carried out by decision of the guardianship authorities, which may be
challenged in court (Psychiatric
Help and its Provision (Guarantees of
Citizens’ Rights) Act).
- Children
have the right to express their opinions on any matter affecting their interests
within the family, and also the right to
be heard in judicial or administrative
proceedings, from the age of 10, except in cases where this would run counter to
their own
interests (Marriage and the Family Act, art. 54). The minimum age of
consent to a change in personal status, including change of
surname, family
relationships, adoption and guardianship, is 10 years (Marriage and the Family
Act, art. 54).
- Every
child has the right to know his or her parents, insofar as this is possible; no
age limit is set. The confidentiality of adoption
is protected by the law
(Marriage and the Family Act).
- The
concept of a maximum age for ceasing compulsory secondary education does not
exist. General secondary education (forms 11 and
12) is compulsory (Education
Act).
- The
minimum age for employment is 16. Employment from age 15 is permitted where the
child has completed secondary education or has
left a general educational
establishment with the consent of his or her parents or guardian. Employment
from age 14 may be permitted
with the consent of one of the parents or a
guardian provided that the child has free time available from studies, and that
there
is no risk to his or her health. Persons aged under 18 may not take up
heavy physical work or work involving harmful or dangerous
working conditions
(Labour Act).
- The
minimum age of marriage for men and women is set at 18. If valid grounds exist,
the civil registration authorities in the place
where the marriage is to be
registered may lower this age by up to two years (Marriage and the Family Act,
art. 10).
- Corruption
of a person known to be aged under 14 without the use of force is a criminal
offence (Criminal Code, art. 124).
- Sexual
relations and other acts of a sexual nature with a person known to be aged
under 16 are criminal offences (Criminal Code, art.
122). Recruitment or
sexual or other exploitation of a person known to be a minor, by means of
deception, are criminal offences
(Criminal Code,
art. 128).
- The
minimum age for criminal prosecution is 16, or 14 in the case of offences
representing a serious danger to society, as listed
in the legislation (Criminal
Code, art. 15). A minor who has reached the minimum age for criminal
prosecution but who, at the time
of the commission of a minor offence or an
offence of medium gravity, was unable to fully appreciate the actual nature of
his or
her actions or inaction and the danger they posed to society, or to
control them, as a result of retarded mental development not
connected with
mental disturbance, is not liable to criminal prosecution (Criminal Code, art.
15).
- The
minimum age at which a person may be sentenced to rigorous imprisonment is 16
(Criminal Code, art. 46). Life sentences and the
death penalty are not imposed
on persons who committed the offence in question while aged under 18 (Criminal
Code, arts. 48 and 49).
Prison terms are not imposed on persons who committed a
minor offence for the first time while aged between 14 and 16 (Criminal
Code,
art. 79). A minor who is being tried for the first time for a minor offence or
an offence of medium gravity may be exempted
from punishment by the court in
circumstances laid down by law (Criminal Code, art. 81).
- Children
who by reason of their young age are unable to appreciate the significant
circumstances of a case and testify thereon are
not liable to questioning (Code
of Criminal Procedure, art. 82). Questioning in court of a victim or witness
aged under 14 - or,
at the discretion of the court, between 14 and 18 - takes
place only during the day, in the presence of a teacher, and may not continue
without a break for longer than two hours, or for longer than four hours in
all in any one day. Where necessary the parents or other
legal representatives
are summoned (Code of Criminal Procedure, arts. 215, 352 and 485). Questioning
of a minor who has been accused
or is a suspect is carried out in the presence
of his or her defence counsel, his or her legal representative and, where
necessary,
a psychologist or teacher (Code of Criminal Procedure, arts. 485
and 487).
- A
child whose rights and lawful interests have been violated has the right to seek
the protection of such rights and interests on
his or her own initiative before
the guardianship authorities and, on reaching the age of 14, the courts
(Marriage and the Family
Act, art. 59).
- The
minimum age for obligatory and voluntary military service is 18 (Universal
Military Obligations and Military Service Act). Persons
who reach the age of 17
in the year of enrolment for training in military academies may be enrolled for
military service (Universal
Military Obligations and Military Service Act, art.
18) (annulled by the Universal Military Obligations and Military Service Act
(Amendment) Act of 20 March 2001).
- Children
may not be donors of blood or blood components (Citizens’ Health
Protection Act, art. 30).
- The
minimum age for the purchase of alcoholic drinks is 18 (Code of Administrative
Offences, Rules governing Retail Trade in Alcohol
Products). Kazakh legislation
does not lay down minimum ages for other matters referred to in the
Convention.
III. GENERAL
PRINCIPLES
A. Non-discrimination
(art. 2)
- Human
rights and freedoms belong to all from birth. They are recognized as absolute
and inalienable. They determine the content
and the application of laws and
other legislation. The Constitution of Kazakhstan lays down that no one may be
subjected to discrimination of any kind on grounds of origin, social, official
or property
status, sex, race, nationality, language, attitude to religion,
beliefs, place of residence or any other factors. No restriction
of any kind of
the rights and freedoms of citizens on political grounds is permitted. All are
equal before the law and the courts.
Aliens and stateless persons enjoy the
same rights and freedoms, and are subject to the same obligations, as those laid
down for
citizens, unless the Constitution, laws or international treaties
provide otherwise.
- Propaganda
or agitation in favour of the forcible modification of the constitutional order,
violation of the integrity of the Republic,
undermining of the security of the
State, war, social or sexual superiority or the cult of brutality and violence
are not permitted.
Any actions which are liable to disturb international
harmony are regarded as unconstitutional.
- The
basic functions of education and the avenues of its development are designated
in the President’s message to the people
entitled
“Kazakhstan-2030”. The State’s long-term priorities have been
set out over the period to 2030 and are
reflected in Presidential decisions and
State programmes. In order to implement the Education Act, 30 government
decisions and other ministerial and departmental regulations have been adopted
on current educational issues. On
30 September 2000 the State
education programme was approved by Presidential decree. State programmes for
the computerization of
secondary education and the provision of a new generation
of textbooks, “Bolashak”, as well as issues of universal education
and the development of “Daryn” specialized schools, fall under the
direct patronage of the President.
- The
following have been adopted with a view to the social protection of orphan
children: the Marriage and the Family Act, the Children’s
Villages and
Young People’s Homes Act, and government decisions on the volume and
sources of social assistance granted to citizens
in need while they are being
educated, and on job and housing placement for graduates who are orphans or
children who have been left
without parental care.
- This
legislation and these decisions contribute to the social protection of children
and young people irrespective of their sex, ethnic
origin or age. The
implementation of decisions affecting the fate of children and young people is
monitored by the head of State,
the Parliament, the Government and interested
ministries and departments, and is regularly reviewed at meetings of the
Government
and senior officials in the Ministry of Education and
Science.
- The
activities of those working in the education system are governed by regulations,
and they regularly follow retraining courses,
including courses of study on the
provisions of the Convention. Seminars and meetings are also held to exchange
experience.
- An
Assembly of the Peoples of Kazakhstan has been set up as a consultative and
deliberative body reporting to the President. It is
composed of representatives
of the national cultural centres of all ethnic groups and groupings living in
Kazakhstan. The purpose
of the Assembly’s activities is to study and
analyse the situation in the country and to draw up recommendations to ensure
respect for the rights and freedoms of the citizens of Kazakhstan, irrespective
of their race, nationality, social situation, religion
or belief. Currently, in
pursuance of paragraph 2 of a set of measures for the implementation of the
ideas and proposals expressed
by the President and the participants in the
seventh session of the Assembly, the Ministry of Justice is drawing up a law
concerning
the Assembly which will provide for the conceptual structural renewal
of the Assembly and the raising of its status.
- Around
200 Sunday schools operate in the national cultural centres, providing
instruction in 25 languages of the peoples of Kazakhstan.
In the Sunday schools
the children not only enjoy an opportunity to study their native language and
culture in depth, but also become
acquainted with the culture, art, everyday
lives and traditions of other peoples living in the same area.
- In
1996 an Outline of Language Policy was drawn up to forestall discrimination
against children based on race and ethnicity and to
ensure the all-round
development of every child’s personality. The same issues were addressed
in the Education Act and the Languages Act and in the State programme for the
functioning and development of languages. Language policy is based on the idea
of ethno-cultural
education, which seeks to create a model of instruction
focused on preservation of the distinctiveness of ethnic groups and at the
same
time assimilation of the values and standards of other
cultures.
- The
Constitution guarantees everyone the right to use his or her native language
and culture, and to freely choose the language in which he or she
communicates, is brought up, is educated and engages in creative
activity (Constitution, art. 19). In Kazakhstan 280 preschool institutions
are operating in the Kazakh language, 516 in Russian and 2 in Uzbek; 18
groups are using Uighur, Korean and German as languages of
instruction.
In these institutions 72,700 children of Kazakh nationality, 45,900 of
Russian nationality and 16,600 of other nationalities
(2,500 Germans and
Tatars, 3,400 Ukrainians, 900 Belarusians, 800 Uzbeks, 1,400 Uighurs, 1,600
Koreans, 500 Chechens and Azerbaijanis
and 2,000 Turks, Jews, Gypsies, Kyrgyz,
Tajiks, Lithuanians, Georgians, Dungans, Poles, Mari and Armenians) are being
educated.
Of these, 38,900 children are being brought up in the State language,
including 35,300 children of Kazakhs, 2,300 children of Russians
and 1,300 whose
parents are of other nationalities. The State language is being studied by
72,900 pupils and 11,300 staff in preschool
institutions. The Tatar, German,
Korean, Uighur and Uzbek languages are being studied as native languages in
28 groups, while 11,000
children are studying English in 568 groups.
- General
secondary education is available to every citizen, and is not segregated by sex
(Education Act). During the school year 1999-2000,
7,910 schools offering a
general education were in operation in Kazakhstan. The languages of instruction
were Kazakh (3,395 schools),
Russian (2,365), mixed (2,055), Uzbek (78), Uighur
(13), Tajik (3) and Ukrainian (1). In 143 general schools in 11
oblasts and the
cities of Astana and Almaty, 15 languages are taught as native
languages, namely German, Polish, Ukrainian, Korean, Hebrew, Tatar,
Turkish,
Chechen, Uighur, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Chuvash, Kurdish and
Dungan.
- Orphan
children, children with special needs and children from large and poorly-off
families are categorized as disadvantaged. For
these categories of children the
law stipulates the forms and methods of social protection. State support is
provided to them through
a system of children’s homes and boarding
schools. Children who have been left without parental care are given for
adoption,
guardianship or fostering or placed in children’s homes or
boarding schools (see also paragraphs 181-203 and 207-225
below).
- During
the pre-school period disabled children are raised and taught in accordance with
an individual programme of rehabilitation.
Disabled children, those who have
been disabled from birth and children with special needs study in special
rehabilitative educational
establishments in keeping with their medical
diagnosis, or at home with an individual programme. Kazakh legislation contains
no
discriminatory provisions against specific groups of children. For the
purpose of preventing disabilities among children, and tackling
problems related
to the upbringing of disabled children, their education and vocational training,
as well as their integration into
society, a law has been drafted on social,
medical and educational support for children with special needs.
- In
order to provide social support for orphan children, children with special needs
and children from poorly-off families and environmentally
harsh areas, 1,200
children from all over the country relaxed and improved their health at the
“Okzhetpes” youth camp
during 2000 at the invitation of the
State.
- A
Council on Links with Religious Associations has been set up under the auspices
of the Government to ensure coordination of relations
between State agencies and
religious associations, analyse the religious situation in the country, draw up
recommendations for the
preservation of harmony between faiths, offer expert
advice on draft legislation affecting freedom of conscience and the activities
of religious associations, and monitor compliance with the law in this
field.
- Measures
are being taken to ensure the social protection of children and young people,
and problems and possible solutions are being
identified.
- Women
and men work in educational organizations in accordance with the education they
have received, and enjoy completely identical
rights.
- Health
standards in most educational organizations meet the requirements laid down,
while 40 per cent of general schools and 20 per
cent of children’s homes
and boarding establishments occupy premises adapted for the
purpose.
- The
legislation contains no discriminatory provisions against girls. Children have
an equal right to education, social security and
health protection, irrespective
of their sex. At the same time, there are a number of restrictions on access
for girls to vocational
training for certain occupations involving arduous and
harmful working conditions in which the use of female labour is
forbidden.
- In
accordance with order No. 395 issued by the Ministry of Education and Culture
on 10 July 1998, an age-specific hygiene programme
for adolescent
girls in classes 6 and 7 is taught in all educational establishments. A
textbook on moral and sex education for young
pupils, in which special attention
is devoted to the education of girls, is extensively used throughout the
country. In addition,
a special course entitled “The problems of AIDS and
its prevention” is taught in all educational establishments. A programme
promoting a healthy lifestyle, including sections on observance of the rules of
personal hygiene, the influence of tobacco, narcotic
drugs and glue-sniffing on
health, AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases, early sexual relations, etc. is
also taught.
- Children
living in children’s homes and boarding schools have access to medical
assistance and doctors’ visits. Pupils
in general schools receive these
services at their homes, and also at the school itself once or twice a year,
during medical checks
of the children by specialists.
- The
use of threats or corporal punishment is forbidden in educational organizations.
In each school a parents’ committee and
a pupils’ self-regulation
body operate and take decisions jointly with the teaching
staff.
- Child
labour is not used in Kazakhstan. However, if children themselves so wish, and
with the consent of their parents, places may
be found for them during the
holidays for work which does not require major physical effort (see also
paragraphs 57 above and 342346
below).
- State
statistical records exist concerning the number of disabled children who receive
allowances, orphan children and children who
lack parental care, refugee
children and also families with minor children, including data on the number of
children they contain.
- The
principle that the child’s interests should be protected by the State is
respected in Kazakhstan. This is reflected in
the country’s Basic Law,
the Marriage and the Family Act, the Health Protection Act, the Criminal Code,
the Code of Administrative
Offences, etc.
B. Best interests of the child
(art. 3)
- The
principle that priority should be given to protection of the interests and
rights of the child is laid down in the Marriage and
the Family Act, the Labour
Act, the Education Act, the Citizens’ Health Protection Act and the
various codes. The need to act in the best interests of the child is borne in
mind by the courts and government bodies when handling cases involving divorce
by parents, deprivation of parental rights, adoption,
the placement of orphan
children and children deprived of parental care, and in other cases when
deciding on the future fate of the
child.
- Parental
rights may not be exercised in a manner conflicting with the interests of
children. Parents who exercise their parental
rights to the detriment of the
rights and interests of a child bear responsibility under the procedure laid
down by law. All issues
relating to the upbringing and education of children
are addressed by the parents in the light of the child’s interests and
the
child’s opinion. In the event of disagreement between the parents on this
matter, one or both parents have the right to
request the guardianship
authorities or a court to resolve the matter. Where the parents live apart, the
child’s place of
residence is determined by agreement between the parents.
If there is no agreement, the dispute between the parents is settled by
a court
in the light of the child’s interests and the child’s opinion. In
the event of refusal by one or both parents
to allow close relatives of the
child (a grandfather, grandmother, brothers and sisters, etc.) to exercise their
right to contact
with the child, the matter is settled by a court in the light
of the child’s interests and the child’s opinion. The
court has the
right to deny the parents’ request for the return of the child, after
taking into account the child’s opinion,
if the transfer is not in the
child’s interests. The court may refuse a request by one or both parents
to restore parental
rights, after taking into account the child’s opinion,
if to do so would run counter to the child’s interests. Parental
rights
in respect of a child aged 10 or over may be restored only with the consent of
the child.
- Where
there is a direct threat to the life or health of a child, the guardianship
authorities have the right to remove the child immediately
from his or her
parents or guardians. When placing a child who has been left without parental
care, account is taken of his or her
ethnic origin, membership of a specific
religion and culture and native language, and the scope for ensuring continuity
in his or
her upbringing and education. The legislation provides that
preference in placing a child left without parental care shall be given
to
upbringing in a family.
- During
allocation of appropriations from the budget, and also from extrabudgetary State
social funds, the need to act in the best
interests of children is taken into
account. This is reflected in the budget law (see paragraphs 37-47 above). In
the formulation
of socio-economic policy, including policy in the fields of
construction, transport and the environment, account is taken of approved
government norms relating to culture, the mass media, health, physical culture
and sport, and the social protection of the population.
- Legal
issues relating to refugees are to be resolved following the adoption of a
special Status of Refugees Act, drawn up in keeping
with the Convention relating
to the Status of Refugees. Under the draft, the status of a refugee child
accompanied by his or her
parents is determined in accordance with the
principles of family unity and adoption of a decision at the request of an
adult. The
father or mother has the right to include in the request children
who have accompanied them in search of asylum. When the head of
a family is
recognized as a refugee, asylum is granted to all his or her minor children who
arrived with him or her. A child who
arrived unaccompanied by parents or
guardians and who seeks refugee status will also be issued with a certificate,
on the basis of
which he or she will be sent to temporary accommodation. The
migration authorities must assist the child in obtaining information
concerning
the fate and whereabouts of his or her parents, or any relatives or guardians
(see also paragraphs 291305 below).
- Legal
proceedings in matters relating to minors are governed by the general rules set
out in legislation on criminal procedure. They
are supplemented by special
rules applying to minors. The presence of defence counsel is obligatory in
proceedings on matters relating
to a minor. The parents or other legal
representatives of a defendant who is a minor must be summoned to the court
hearing. The
legal representatives of a defendant who is a minor are present in
the court throughout the proceedings. When an accused minor who
has not reached
the age of 16 is questioned, the presence of a teacher is obligatory. On
completion of the questioning, the teacher
has the right to study the record of
the session and make written observations concerning its accuracy and
completeness. The new
legislation on criminal procedure contains a number of
special features relating to cases involving offences committed by minors.
The
principal court proceedings in cases involving offences committed by minors must
now be attended by a procurator acting as State
prosecutor - a requirement which
was lacking in the earlier legislation.
- In
the interests of citizens who are minors, special units on the affairs of minors
exist within the internal affairs authorities
in Kazakhstan, which deal with
child crime as well as protection of minors against unlawful infringement of
their rights, interests
and freedoms. The legal basis for the activities of the
units dealing with the affairs of minors is made up of the “Outline
of
Children’s Rights”, a Presidential decree on internal affairs
authorities which has the force of law, and other legislation
and regulations
dealing with offences committed by minors and protection of their rights and
interests. The activities of the units
dealing with the affairs of minors are
founded on the principles of the rule of law, openness and respect for the
individual, as
well as cooperation with other State agencies and voluntary
organizations. At the local level this work is performed by sectoral
inspectors
for the affairs of minors
- In
1998 the Government approved a comprehensive programme for the prevention of
crime among minors in the period 1998-2000. The programme
was aimed at
identifying underage offenders, as well as their parents or persons in loco
parentis who were maliciously failing to discharge their obligation to raise
their children and, through their anti-social behaviour, were
encouraging them
to offend. The programme contains a range of measures designed to assign
greater responsibility to parents, teachers
and other persons in charge of
raising minors, in accordance with the requirements of criminal, administrative
and family law.
- In
2000 alone, 925 criminal cases under article 131 of the Penal Code,
“Involving minors in criminal activity”, culminated
in court
proceedings, as well as 35 cases under article 132, “Involving minors in
the perpetration of anti-social activities”,
and 192 under article 137,
“Failure to discharge obligations in relation to the raising of
minors”. In 2000, 43,207
young people and over 100,000 parents, as well
as 5,406 adults who had drawn young people into consumption of spirits, were
charged
with various offences under administrative law. Under the Marriage and
the Family Act, more than 1,300 parents who had maliciously
neglected the
upbringing of their children were deprived of their parental rights (1999
figure: 1,144).
- Work
is being pursued together with the education authorities to strengthen the ties
binding pupils to their educational establishments,
and scientifically founded
principles and methods for the prevention of alcoholism, the abuse of drugs and
glue-sniffing among minors
have been devised and applied.
- Steps
are being taken to open centres for the medical and social rehabilitation of
minors suffering from alcoholism, drug abuse and
glue-sniffing. In 2000 a
rehabilitation centre was opened in the city of Temirtau offering 75 beds for
children and young people.
In the cities of Almaty and Qaraghandy daytime
medical centres with a maximum of 25 beds for the rehabilitation of minors who
abuse
drugs and sniff glue are in operation. In the Qaraghandy oblast
psychiatric centre’s psycho-neurological clinic for children,
there are
two 10-bed wards where young people aged under 14 who are suffering from
psychological disturbance as a result of consumption
of narcotic and other
powerful substances are treated free of charge (see also Chap. VII.B.2 and
paragraph 350).
- With
the aim of providing more prompt legal protection to young people when the fact
that it is impossible to live in their families
becomes the source and cause of
anti-social and illegal behaviour, centres for the temporary isolation,
adaptation and rehabilitation
of minors (TsVIARN) were set up in 1998 as a
result of the reorganization of the former reception and distribution centres
for minors.
These centres, which form part of the internal affairs network, are
used to hold children pending their assignment to children’s
homes or
boarding schools, or pending court rulings on their cases and the issue of
travel passes. The centres are staffed by inspector/psychologists,
who work to
rehabilitate the children and adapt them to new lifestyles. The length of stay
by minors in these centres is limited
to 60 days. With a view to preventing
neglect of minors, lawbreaking and repeat offences, 13,447 children and young
people were
placed in TsVIARN centres during 2000 on a variety of grounds,
including 919 living outside the country. Of the total number of
minors placed
in the centres, 1,380 were registered in children’s homes and 44 were
placed in jobs.
- Under
the law on criminal procedure, in cases involving minors who have committed
serious and especially serious offences, the following
preventive measures are
taken at the stage of preliminary investigation: temporary detention, or remand
- where they are held in
a remand centre separately from adults, for no longer
than six months. To replace criminal penalties for minors convicted for the
first time of minor offences or offences of medium gravity, the court may impose
coercive measures intended to reform their behaviour,
including: a warning;
placing under the supervision of parents or persons in loco parentis, or
a specialist State agency; imposition of an obligation to make amends for the
damage caused; restrictions on the minor’s
leisure and imposition of
special requirements as to his or her behaviour; placement in a special
educational or medical-educational
institution. A special closed school exists
in the city of Taraz where young people who have committed criminal acts are
held until
they reach the age of criminal responsibility. Decisions to send
children to the special school are taken by the courts on the basis
of
information compiled by inspectors from the units dealing with the affairs of
minors and the commissions on minors’ affairs
set up by local
authorities.
- Until
1993 Kazakhstan had special colleges for children with disciplinary problems,
who were sent there by decision of the commissions
on minors’ affairs set
up by local authorities. The colleges constituted a response to two problems:
the need to hold young
offenders temporarily without interrupting their
education, and the need to ensure that until reaching the age of majority a
young
person would not commit repeat offences and would not be the victim of
unlawful acts. The special colleges formed part of the education
system.
Following a decision taken on 18 November 1993 by the Supreme Council of
Kazakhstan concerning the procedure for sending
children and young people who
have committed acts which present a danger to society and contain the elements
of a crime to special
educational institutions, minors were sent to such
institutions only if a court so decided. As a result the number of persons sent
to the special colleges for children with disciplinary problems dropped sharply,
eventually leading to the closure of such institutions
in Pavlodar (for girls),
Lisakovsk, Qostanay oblast (for boys) and Shakhan, Qaraghandy oblast (for boys).
The need to reopen these
colleges was reflected in the State programme to combat
crime, 2000-2002, which provides for the opening of special general and
vocational
schools in each oblast for minors displaying deviant behaviour, as
well as special schools to accommodate minors who have committed
criminal
offences until they reach the age of criminal responsibility (in East Kazakhstan
and Qaraghandy oblasts).
- The
social security system is harnessed to serve the best interests of children
through the provision of grants to individual categories
of children and
families in connection with childraising (including a monthly grant for each
child), meeting the various needs of
children through allowances in kind, and
full-time maintenance of children in social security
institutions.
- There
is a diversified network of child care institutions in Kazakhstan, which operate
under the education, health and social security
systems. They include
children’s homes, boarding institutions for disabled children, boarding
schools, regular schools, summer
camps, homes for infants, social shelters,
centres for medical and social rehabilitation for disabled children, etc. The
primary
consideration in placement in such institutions is the best interests of
the child, in the spheres of care, upbringing, education,
medical, psychological
and social rehabilitation, and also the need to care for and supervise each
child in the context of his or
her parents’ employment (pre-school
institutions, summer health improvement camps).
- Under
the Labour Act, if a worker performing educational functions in an educational
organization commits an immoral act which is
incompatible with the discharge of
such functions, the person’s employer has the right to abrogate his or her
individual contract
of employment.
- The
activities of State institutions which are responsible for the care or
protection of children are governed by regulations approved
by the Government.
The regulations set out requirements concerning the qualifications of staff.
The institutions and the equipment
used in them must comply with health
standards and rules to ensure the safety of the children. Non-State
institutions operate under
licences issued by the authorities; the requirements
laid down for State institutions as regards health standards and staff
qualifications
also apply to them.
- Teaching
staff in various kinds of institution have opportunities to exercise their
rights with the help of non-governmental organizations
(including
children’s voluntary organizations), which uphold and defend the rights
and interests of children on the basis of
applicable
legislation.
- During
the period under review a number of measures were adopted in accordance with
articles 2 and 3 of the Convention for the purposes
of protecting the rights of
children which are vital for their welfare, including the rights and obligations
of their parents and
guardians, as well as other persons who are responsible for
them under the law. In this process the changing socioeconomic living
conditions in society are taken into account (see paragraphs 160-164
and 178180 below).
- With
a view to the realization of the right of children to protection of their
health, there is a network of health institutions providing
curative and
preventive services to children, made up of family health out-patient clinics,
children’s health centres, children’s
departments and hospitals,
clinics in institutions and medical higher educational establishments,
specialist centres for high-technology
medical care for children, sanatoria,
specialist kindergartens, homes for infants, and children’s dairy kitchens
(serving children
from birth to age 1, as well as children suffering from
protracted and chronic illnesses up to age 2). In order to provide children
with the best possible medical assistance, the health system is rapidly
developing the mother and child health service, including
medical technologies
which are designed to lower infant and child mortality and prevent child
disabilities (prenatal diagnoses, genetic
clinics, intensive care, nursing of
premature and sick newborn infants, and also the development of various types of
rehabilitation
and immunization).
- In
order to provide high-quality medical assistance to children, all appropriate
curative and preventive institutions in the country
are subject to mandatory
licensing and certification, as are private medical institutions. In order to
ensure that medical personnel
work to proper standards, Kazakhstan has
introduced a system of licensing and certification for medical workers, and
licenses higher
and middle-level medical educational establishments. In
Kazakhstan there is a diversified network of specialist institutions offering
higher and middle-level special education to train specialists in working with
children, including key medical staff such as paediatricians,
teachers,
specialists in child-rearing and psychologists.
- The
principle of the best interests of the child constitutes an important element of
vocational training. It is put into effect in
a variety of ways: by providing
an adequate level of theoretical and practical training for social workers,
social educationalists,
legal experts, doctors, teachers and other specialists
working in the social sphere, through study of the Convention on the Rights
of
the Child and other international instruments and Kazakh legislation, and by
drawing on overseas experience.
- In
1999, on the initiative of the National Commission on Family and Women’s
Affairs in the office of the President, Kazakhstan
ratified the Convention on
the Political Rights of Women and the Convention on the Nationality of Married
Women, which contain provisions
relating to the rights of the child. A law has
been adopted on family-type children’s villages and young people’s
homes.
This law was drawn up on the initiative of the honorary chair of the
Commission, S.A. Nazarbaeva, the First Lady of Kazakhstan.
It takes into
account experience in the operation of a variety of children’s
institutions.
- A
bill on protection of the rights of the child is currently before Parliament for
consideration.
C. The right to life, survival and development
(art.
6)
- Under
article 6 of the Convention, every child in Kazakhstan has an inalienable right
to life, and the State ensures the survival
and healthy development of the child
to the maximum possible extent. Under the Constitution, every citizen has the
right to life, health protection and a guaranteed volume of medical assistance
free of charge.
- In
Kazakhstan a child born in or after the 28th week of pregnancy, and
weighing 1,000 grams or more, is considered viable. All children
born
in or after the 22nd week and weighing 500 grams or more are placed in intensive
care if they satisfy at least one of the criteria
of live birth as defined by
WHO. However, the survival rate among such children is very low because of the
lack of costly equipment
for nursing very premature babies, and of modern
medicines designed to prompt maturing of the functional systems of premature
children.
- Under
the legislation relating to health, interruptions of pregnancy may be carried
out up to the 12th week in a medical institution
at the wish of the woman
concerned, and after the 12th week if medically
indicated.
- The
child’s right to life is protected in criminal law through the
classification of acts endangering the life or health of
a child as serious
offences. Since 1997 the killing of a newborn infant by its mother has been a
criminal offence. The list of
actions against minors which constitute criminal
offences has been expanded, and specific criminal penalties for offences
committed
against children have been strengthened. The death penalty is not
imposed on persons who have committed offences while aged under
18 (see also
paragraphs 338-339 below).
- The
Citizens’ Health Protection Act contains an article entitled “Right
to health protection” which sets out measures
for clinical monitoring and
treatment of children, the provision of free medical care and health education
for children.
- In
1992 the methodological recommendations relating to intensive care and the
nursing of newborn infants with very low and extremely
low birth weights were
revised, a single set of rules was introduced for initial intensive care for
newborn infants in the delivery
room, measures were taken to strengthen the
intensive care services in maternity institutions and provide them with modern
equipment,
and measures were taken for the nursing of very premature children.
As a result, the death rate for children in maternity institutions
and
children’s hospitals dropped substantially. A set of documents relating
to the shift to viability criteria in accordance
with the WHO definition is
currently being prepared.
D. Respect for the views of the child
(art. 12)
- Among
the fundamental human rights and freedoms which individuals enjoy from birth,
freedom of thought and expression is guaranteed
to all. This is reflected in
the Constitution, the Marriage and the Family Act, the Code of Criminal
Procedure and a number of other laws (see also paragraphs 136-140
below).
- The
provision of social services is based on the principles of a voluntary and
humane approach. Minors in a situation of hardship
are given
priority.
- The
legislation contains provision for measures designed to guarantee the right of
children to express their views during the administration
of justice in matters
relating to minors, and also when they are placed in child care institutions,
and during their stay there (see
also paragraphs 53 and 54
above).
- Under
the Education Act, pupils have the right to participate in the management of
educational establishments in a manner laid down in the rules of each
establishment. This right is exercised both directly, through participation in
general school meetings, and indirectly through children’s
voluntary
organizations, when a group of children select the most trustworthy leader or
representative and confer on him or her specific
powers or rights, which he or
she must uphold in the management bodies - the pedagogical council, the
parents’ committee and
the board of the institution.
- The
views, needs and interests of the children are taken into account when
additional academic disciplines are identified and extracurricular
activities
are organized. The legislation in force enables every child not only to express
his or her views on various types of
activity, but also to ensure that those
views are taken into account in economic, legal, political and other
decisions.
IV. CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
(arts. 7, 8, 13-17 and art. 37 (a))
- The
fundamental human rights and freedoms, including the right of everyone to
citizenship, the free expression of his or her opinion,
freedom of thought,
conscience, religion, the freedom to associate and hold peaceful assemblies, the
inviolability of the home, the
right to
a private life, personal and family privacy, confidentiality in
correspondence, access to information, and the right not to be subjected
to
torture, violence or other cruel or degrading treatment or punishment, are laid
down in the Constitution of Kazakhstan. The constitutional provisions regarding
children are expanded upon in the corresponding legislation.
A. Name, nationality and citizenship
(art. 7)
- The
birth of children is registered in the offices of the civil registration
authorities. Births must be declared within two months
of the birth of the
child, orally or in writing, by one or both parents. In the event of the
illness or death of the parents, or
where it is impossible for them to make the
declaration, registration is carried out on the basis of a declaration by
relatives,
the administration of the medical establishment where the mother was
staying at the time of the birth, or other persons from the
place of the birth
or the place of residence of the parent or parents. The registration entry
indicates the first name, patronymic
and family name of the child, its sex, and
information on the parents and the place and time of birth.
- Under
the Marriage and the Family Act, the child has the right to a first name,
patronymic and family name. The first name is given
by agreement between
the parents or persons in loco parentis, and the patronymic on the basis
of the father’s name or in accordance with ethnic traditions. The
child’s nationality
and citizenship are determined on the basis of those
of the parents. At the same time, modification of the child’s first name
and family name is permitted if the family name and first name of the parents is
changed, and also in keeping with ethnic traditions.
In this context, it is
mandatory under the legislation for the child’s own interests to be taken
into account when he or she
is given a first name and family name, and once the
child reaches the age of 10, his or her family name and first name may be
changed
only with his or her consent.
- Registration
of the name of the mother of a child born to parents who are not married to one
another is carried out on the basis of
a statement by the mother, while
registration of the name of the father is carried out on the basis of a
statement by the father
and mother, or a statement by the child’s father,
or a court ruling. Where a child is born to a mother who is unmarried, and
where there is no joint statement by the parents or court ruling establishing
paternity, the mother’s family name is recorded
in the registration book
as that of the father of the child, while the child’s first name and
patronymic are recorded as decided
by her.
- An
adopted child retains his or her first name, patronymic and family name. At the
request of the adoptive parents, a court may decide
to register them in the
register of births as the parents of the child they have adopted.
- The
procedure for registration of children of foreign citizens and stateless persons
is the same as that for Kazakh children. The
main criteria for the granting of
citizenship to a child are the citizenship of the parents and the place of
birth.
B. Preservation of identity
(art. 8)
- The
Marriage and the Family Act, the Code of Administrative Offences and the
Criminal Code provide that substitution of a child, unlawful
adoption and
violation of the confidentiality of adoption are punishable offences (see
paragraphs 192-201 below).
C. Freedom of expression
(art. 13)
- The
right of a child to express his or her opinion freely is regulated by general
legislation. Under the Constitution, every citizen has the right to freely
receive and to disseminate information by any lawful means. The rights and
freedoms of other
persons must not be violated when this right is exercised.
The law contains a list of information which constitutes State secrets.
Freedom
of the mass media is guaranteed. Censorship is forbidden. This provision of
the Constitution is elaborated upon in the Mass Media Act, the Education Act,
the Code of Administrative Offences, the Criminal Code, etc. (see also
paragraphs 124-127 above).
D. Freedom of thought, conscience and religion
(art.
14)
- The
Constitution guarantees everyone the right to freedom of conscience. The
exercise of this right must not be a condition for, or place restrictions
on,
human and citizens’ rights or obligations to the State. The legislation
regulates the right to practise any religion alone
or jointly with others or not
to practise any, and to freely choose, hold and disseminate religious and other
convictions and act
in accordance with them.
- Respect
for the right of children to freedom of conscience and religion and respect for
the right of parents to guide children in
exercising that right are laid down in
the Freedom of Religion and Religious Organizations Act. Under the law, the
State system
of education is separate from religious groups and is secular in
nature. Parents or persons in loco parentis have the right to raise
their children in accordance with their convictions, but measures to coerce
children into practising a religion
are not permitted. Voluntary instruction in
religious disciplines may be offered in non-State educational and child-rearing
establishments.
Religious disciplines may be included in the curricula of State
educational establishments.
- Young
people who have been convicted by a court are guaranteed freedom of conscience
and religion. Ministers of religion have the
right of free access to prisons,
and have opportunities to make use of such access. Areas are set up in
institutions for young offenders
for the holding of religious ceremonies.
- An
area of much activity in recent years has been the opening of temples, mosques
and religious or Sunday schools of various denominations
in which children can
voluntarily receive religious instruction in addition to their basic general
education.
E. Freedom of association and of peaceful assembly
(art.
16)
- The
activities of voluntary associations are governed by the Voluntary Associations
Act, under which the right to free association is one of the most important
human and citizens’ rights. Article 11 of the Act
lays down that
membership of, or participation in, young people’s voluntary associations
within political parties is open to
citizens who have reached the age of 16.
Age requirements for members of, or participants in, non-political
children’s and
young people’s voluntary associations are set out in
their statutes. Children’s and young people’s voluntary
associations
enjoy all rights that do not run counter to the law, and guarantee
the rights of children and young people to freedom of association
in the pursuit
of overall aims on the same terms.
- Pupils’
and students’ self-regulation bodies - school councils and committees on
young people’s affairs - are also
set up in educational establishments.
The Ministry of Culture, Information and Social Harmony, together with the
Ministry of Education,
and with participation by the schoolchildren and students
themselves, parents and voluntary organizations, draw up recommendations
for the
organization of the activities of such bodies, seminars and exchanges of
experience.
- In
order to support positive initiatives by children and young people, the Ministry
of Culture, Information and Social Harmony is
working to organize regular
meetings between members of children’s and young people’s voluntary
associations and representatives
of State agencies and government leaders.
During 2000 meetings were held with representatives of the ministries of
education, labour
and social protection and culture, information and social
harmony, as well as the chief of the office of the President, the head
of State.
On the basis of the outcome of such meetings, recommendations and measures are
being prepared to address the problems they
discussed.
F. Protection of privacy
(art. 16)
- Under
the Marriage and the Family Act, children have the right to protection of their
rights and lawful interests. Protection of
the rights and lawful interests of
children is ensured by their parents or persons in loco parentis, the
guardianship authorities, the procurator’s office and the courts. A minor
who has been declared to have full legal capacity
before reaching the age of
majority is entitled like any other citizen to exercise his or her right to this
protection independently.
- No
one has the right to enter a home without legal justification against the will
of the persons living there. The privacy of citizens
and the confidentiality of
correspondence, telephone conversations, postal, telegraph and other
communications are protected by the
law. Searches and inspections of
citizens’ premises, the attachment of correspondence and its seizure in
postal and telegraphic
institutions may be carried out only on the grounds and
in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Code of Criminal Procedure.
These rules are fully applicable to minors.
G. Access to appropriate information
(art. 17)
- The
numbers of periodicals (magazines and newspapers), books and booklets published
for children are declining. At the same time,
commercial book publishing,
primarily in Russian, facilitates access to classical literature, encyclopaedias
and reference works,
including those for children. On 1 November 2000 16
children’s newspapers and magazines were being published in Kazakhstan.
To help ensure that the children’s print media are placed on a sounder
technical footing, and adapt them to market economy
conditions, a publicly held
joint-stock company called “Zhas Orken” has been set up grouping
together a number of children’s
publications such as “Ulan”,
“Ak zhelken”, “Boldyrgan” and “Druzhnye
rebyata”.
- With
a view to creating a children’s information space in Kazakhstan, the
Ministry of Culture, Information and Social Harmony,
together with the
“Detskoe Vremya” Children’s Press, Radio, Television and
Cinema Centre, the national children’s
newspapers “Ulan” and
“Druzhnye rebyata” and the United Nations Children’s Fund,
UNICEF, held the second
International Festival of Mass Media for Children and
Young People in Astana in 2000, with the theme “A young capital
through
the eyes of the young”. Over 250 young reporters aged between 7
and 18 from all parts of Kazakhstan, as well as Russia, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan,
Uzbekistan and Poland, took part in the festival. The festival included
training sessions, master classes by well-known
journalists, and a round-table
meeting on problems involved in forming a single information space for children
and young people.
At the end of the festival the newspaper “Astana”
was published, containing the best work of the participants. The
working
languages of the festival were Kazakh and Russian.
- State
radio and television regularly show children’s artistic films and
cartoons, and special broadcasts are created for children
and young people, as
well as educational programmes, such as “Aigolek”,
“Balausa”, “Erte, erte, ertede”
on the channel
“Kazakhstan-1”, and “Kalya-malya”, “Gorod
budushchego”, “Lider 21 veka”
on “Khabare”. The
radio broadcasts the children’s programmes “Balakai”,
“Altyn saka” and
“Detstvo”, as well as programmes for
young people.
- The
Ministry of Culture, Information and Social Harmony, together with
representatives of voluntary associations and children’s
mass media, holds
round tables and conferences on the need to exclude material favouring violence
and brutality from the mass media,
and to shape the principles of a healthy
lifestyle and disseminate them throughout society. In 1999 an international
seminar entitled
“Protection of the rights of the child and prevention of
lawbreaking among young people” was held in the city of Astana.
National
and regional events under the title “Young people against drugs”
were organized in 1999 and 2000 together with
children’s and young
people’s voluntary organizations. Jointly with the Ministry of Education
and health, tourism and
sport agencies, efforts are being made to organize an
anti-smoking campaign among young people, which is being widely publicized
in
national and regional mass media. In 2000 nationwide and regional events were
organized on “Young people against smoking
and alcohol”, as well as
regional events on “Rock against AIDS and drug abuse” (Zhambyl,
Qaraghandy, Astana), “We
are against smoking and alcohol” (Atyrau,
Ust-Kamenogorsk) and “No to drugs!”, encompassing round tables,
seminars,
conferences and other large-scale events.
- Article
14 of the Mass Media Act stipulates that the retail sale of printed publications
which contain material of an erotic nature
is permitted in specially designated
premises for which the location and rules governing sales are determined by
local authorities.
Local authorities have also set up commissions empowered to
investigate print and audio-visual output to determine whether it falls
into the
category of pornography. Together with the internal affairs authorities, these
commissions conduct raids to detect such
material and take measures against
those responsible in accordance with the law. However, there is currently no
special legislation
which lays down a single national procedure and rules for
evaluating print and audio-visual output and defines the grounds for classifying
it as pornographic, or as glorifying brutality and violence. Work is currently
under way to draft amendments to the Culture Act
which will provide definitions
for a number of concepts, including “erotica” and
“pornography”, and enshrine
in the law rules banning the import of
films and video and audio output containing the above-mentioned anti-social
material.
H. Right not to be subjected to torture or other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
(art. 37 (a))
- The
Constitution provides that no one must be subject to torture, violence or any
other kind of cruel or degrading treatment or punishment. The criminal
law
safeguards the security of the person. Punishment and other measures adopted
under the criminal law against persons who have
committed offences cannot be
designed to inflict physical suffering or degradation. The death penalty and
life imprisonment are
not imposed for offences committed by persons aged under
18. Under the Code for the Execution of Criminal Penalties, the application
of
legislation in this area is based on strict respect for guarantees of protection
from torture, violence and other cruel or degrading
treatment of convicted
persons. Causing physical or mental suffering to minors through the systematic
infliction of blows with the
use of torture is punishable as a criminal offence.
In addition, more severe penalties are imposed for a number of offences when
committed knowingly against minors.
- On
the instructions of the President, a special unit has been created in the
Ministry of Internal Affairs to combat violence against
women and girls. It has
regional offices throughout the country. With the participation of
non-governmental and international organizations,
the first State crisis centre
in the country, known as “Zabota” [Care], has been opened, with a
confidential telephone
line and a refuge for women and girls who are victims of
violence. Local crisis centres have been established in the cities of
Almaty,
Taldykorgan, Tekeli, Semipalatinsk, Leninogorsk, Taraz, Qaraghandy,
Qostanay, Petropavlovsk, Shymkent, Uralsk and Ust-Kamenogorsk.
- Recently
adopted legislation has broadened the scope of punishment for offences committed
against minors, to whom the following articles
of the Criminal Code apply:
article 120, “Rape”, article 121, “Violent acts of a
sexual nature”, article
122, “Sexual relations and other acts of a
sexual nature with a person aged under 16”, and article 124,
“Corruption
of minors”.
V. FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERNATIVE CARE
(arts. 5; 18, paras. 1-2; 9-11; 19-21; 25; 27, para. 4;
and 39)
A. Parental guidance
(art. 5)
- The
right of parents to guide their children in accordance with the developing
abilities of each child is laid down in the Marriage
and the Family Act, the
Education Act and the Languages Act. Parental rights are effective from the
birth of the child, and cease when he or she reaches the age of 18 or acquires
full legal
capacity before the age of 18 in accordance with the law. The right
of parents to raise their children prevails over that of any
other persons. The
two parents - even a parent living separately from the child - have equal rights
in relation to their children.
Parents are the legal representatives of their
children and defend their rights and interests in relations with other private
individuals
and legal entities, including in the courts, without requiring any
special authority.
- Parents
have an obligation to ensure that their children receive a basic secondary
education. They have the right, taking into account
the views of the child, to
select an educational establishment and the form of instruction until the child
has received a basic secondary
education. Parents or persons in loco
parentis have the right to select an establishment which uses a particular
language for educating their children. The legal guardian of a
child has the
right to determine independently the manner in which the child is to be raised,
taking into account the views of the
child and the recommendations of the
guardianship authorities. These measures confirm the responsibility of the
parents, guardians
or other legal representatives of the child, allow the child
to be guided in a manner conducive to his or her development, and encourage
participation in the raising of the child by parents who are
divorced.
- Ensuring
the unfettered development of children’s individual abilities and
dispositions, bringing out their creativity in a
context of emotional well-being
and cooperation with their adult teachers is one of the main issues addressed by
the services providing
consultative assistance to families. The network of
medical, social and psychological advice centres has been expanded in recent
years.
- Parental
rights cannot be exercised at the expense of the interests of the child.
Safeguarding the interests of the child is the
main concern of his or her
parents. In exercising their parental rights the parents do not have the right
to harm the physical or
psychological health or moral development of the child.
Under the law the raising of a child must not include neglectful, brutal,
rude
or degrading treatment, insults or exploitation.
- Special
attention is devoted to the family in the State’s policy-making
activities. A process is under way to shape family
policy as a special system
of measures focused on the family with its functional problems and above all
family culture in relation
to the raising of children in a wide variety of
circumstances, including divorce, adoption and birth outside
marriage.
B. Parental responsibilities
(art. 18, paras. 1 and
2)
- Current
legislation provides that parents bear responsibility for the raising and
development of their children. They have an obligation
to watch over their
health and their physical, psychological, spiritual and moral development.
Parents must support their minor
children. The manner and form in which support
is provided to minor children is determined by the parents themselves. The
principle
of common and equal responsibility for the raising and development of
children has been introduced for both parents. The mother
and father also have
an equal obligation to raise and support the children when the marriage between
them is dissolved. Where the
parents do not agree on matters relating to the
raising of a child, or (in cases where the parents live apart) the child’s
place of residence, disputes are settled by the courts with the involvement of
the guardianship authorities, on the basis of the
interests of the child and in
the light of his or her views.
- Favourable
working arrangements have been introduced through legislation to help parents in
discharging their obligations in respect
of the raising of their children. The
State provides a system of benefits for childbirth and child-raising, as well as
schools,
institutions for the care of disabled children, after-school child
care, summer health camps, income tax concessions for parents,
grants payable to
children in the event of loss of the breadwinner, and supplementary allowances
for disabled children.
- Under
the Labour Act, pregnant women may be assigned night work only with their
consent, and overtime work is subject to the consent
of the worker involved. In
addition to maternity leave and leave for childbirth, women are granted
additional unpaid leave at their
request to care for their children up to the
age of 18 months. During this period of additional leave their jobs are kept
open for
them. This leave may be used in full or in batches at any time until
the child reaches the age of 18 months. The law does not contain
any provisions
prohibiting employers from dismissing pregnant women, women who have children
aged up to 3 or single mothers with
children aged up to 14, or 16 in the case of
a disabled child.
- The
most vulnerable groups of families with children (large families, one-parent
families and families with disabled children) enjoy
preferential access to
pre-school institutions. Guardians raising children who are orphans or have
been left without parental care
receive cash payments for food, clothing,
footwear and various small items at standard rates.
- In
1998 the Government approved a comprehensive programme for the prevention of
crime among minors in the period 1998-2000. The programme
contains a range of
measures designed to assign greater responsibility to parents, teachers and
other persons in charge of raising
minors, in accordance with the requirements
of criminal, administrative and family law.
C. Separation from parents
(art. 9)
- The
issue of separation from parents is dealt with in the Marriage and the Family
Act, the Criminal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure
and the Code for the
Execution of Criminal Penalties. Every child has the right to live and be
raised in a family whenever possible,
the right to know his or her parents, the
right to their care and the right to live together with them, except in cases
where this
runs counter to the child’s interests. Parents have the right
to require the return of their children from any person retaining
them in
violation of the law or a court ruling. Kidnapping of a minor is a serious
criminal offence. Substitution of a child for
mercenary or other base motives
is also a criminal offence.
- Where
parents are living apart, a child’s place of residence is determined by
mutual consent. In the absence of such consent,
the place of residence is
decided by the courts on the basis of the child’s interests and in the
light of his or her views.
In this process the courts take into account the
child’s attachment to each parent, brothers, sisters, the child’s
age,
the moral and other qualities of the parents, the relations between each
parent and the child, and the prospective conditions for
the raising and
development of the child.
- Either
parent, or both, may be deprived of his or her parental rights if he or she
fails to fulfil his or her obligations, abuses
his or her parental rights,
treats the child brutally, is legally declared to be suffering from chronic
alcoholism or addiction to
drugs or glue-sniffing or has committed premeditated
offences against the life or health of his or her child or spouse. Deprivation
of parental rights is an extreme measure and one adopted only where it would be
dangerous for the life or health of a child to continue
to live within the
family. When the deprivation or restriction of parental rights is imposed on
one parent, the child is handed
over to the other. If this is not possible, or
if the deprivation or restriction of parental rights is imposed on both parents,
the child is handed over to the guardianship authorities. Deprivation of
parental rights is carried out by the courts on the basis
of a declaration by
one of the parents or persons in loco parentis, the procurator, or a
body or institution whose duty it is to protect the rights of minors. Cases
involving the deprivation of parental
rights are heard in the presence of the
procurator and representatives of the guardianship authorities.
- Parental
rights may be restricted (the child is removed from his or her parents without
depriving them of their parental rights) if
leaving the child with the parents
is dangerous because of circumstances outside the parents’ control, or on
grounds related
to their behaviour. If the parents do not modify their
behaviour, the guardianship authorities must, once six months have passed
after
the adoption of the court ruling restricting their parental rights, apply to the
court for them to be deprived of those rights.
This period may be shortened in
the interests of the child. During this period the social services work with
the parents whose
parental rights have been restricted with the aim of restoring
a normal situation in the family and creating appropriate conditions
for the
return of the child. This work promotes the reconstitution of the family. In
any court proceedings dealing with the separation
of a child from his or her
parents, all interested parties are given an opportunity to participate and
express their views.
- Where
the parents live apart, the child has the right to contact with each of them.
The child also has the right to contact with
his or her parents in cases where
they live in different countries. The parent who lives apart from the child is
entitled to have
contact with the child and to participate in his or her
upbringing and in addressing issues arising in his or her education. The
parent
with whom the child lives must not stand in the way of contacts with the other
parent, provided that such contacts do not
harm the child’s physical and
psychological health or moral development. A guardian does not have the right
to prevent contact
between a child and his or her parents or other close
relatives, except in cases where such contacts are not in the child’s
interests.
- In
recent years the number of families experiencing difficulties has risen as a
result of deteriorating socio-economic circumstances.
Whereas 2,630 children
were abandoned in 1998, the current figure is 4,098; 1,004 children were left in
maternity homes, 1,558 in
homes for infants and 1,536 in centres for the
temporary isolation, adaptation and rehabilitation of minors. The problem of
“de
facto” orphans has become extremely serious. There are over
88,000 children who are orphans or have been left without parental
care; of
these, only 30 per cent have no parents, while 70 per cent have parents who are
alive but have been deprived of their parental
rights or have abandoned their
children for a variety of reasons.
- A
child in a foster family has the right to maintain contact with his or her
natural parents and relatives, if to do so does not run
counter to his or her
interests and normal development and upbringing. Such contacts are permitted
with the consent of the foster
parents. In cases of dispute, arrangements for
contacts between a child and his or her parents, relatives and foster parents
are
determined by the guardianship authorities.
- If
a child is arrested or detained, imprisoned or hospitalized, his or her parents
or persons in loco parentis receive full information on his or her
whereabouts. In the case of children in boarding institutions, the information
is given to
the head of the institution.
D.
Family reunification
(art. 10)
- The
right of citizens of Kazakhstan to leave the country may not be restricted
except on the grounds and in accordance with the procedure
laid down in the law,
and they may not be deprived of their right to enter Kazakhstan. Departure from
Kazakhstan does not entail
for a citizen or his or her spouse or close relatives
any restriction of the rights guaranteed in the domestic legislation of
Kazakhstan
or by virtue of the international obligations it has assumed.
- Citizens
of Kazakhstan who are minors normally leave the country together with at least
one parent, adoptive parent or guardian.
When a minor leaves unaccompanied, he
or she must carry, in addition to a passport, the consent of the above-mentioned
persons to
the departure, certified by a notary, and when a citizen who is a
minor leaves for a period exceeding three months, the consent must
also be
certified by the guardianship authorities. If one of the
parents, adoptive parents or guardians does not consent to the departure from
the country of a citizen who is a minor, the question
of whether he or she may
leave is decided by the courts. If one of the parents, adoptive parents or
guardians of a citizen who is
a minor withholds consent to his or her departure
from Kazakhstan, the question of whether he or she may leave is decided by the
courts. Parents who live in different countries have equal rights to contact
with the child, unless court decisions provide otherwise.
- Through
the appropriate departments, including the Red Cross organization, the
administrations of children’s institutions handle
investigations into the
whereabouts of the parents of refugee children. The Ministry of Internal
Affairs organizes search operations
for parents, persons in loco parentis
and close relatives of children who have arrived from areas of conflict between
nationalities or armed conflict. During searches
for parents, active use is
made of the opportunities made available as a result of the agreement reached by
Internal Affairs Ministers
of the CIS member States concerning cooperation in
preventing the neglect of minors.
E. Illicit
transfer and non-return
(art. 11)
- For
the purpose of implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the
Child, adopted on 20 November 1989, senior officials
of ministries in CIS member
States, meeting in Volgograd on 24 September 1993, signed an agreement on
cooperation in returning minors
left without parental care to their countries of
residence. During a meeting held in Kiev on 30 September and 1 October 1999,
the
Council of Ministers of Internal Affairs of the CIS member countries
examined progress in the implementation of the Volgograd agreement
and set down
additional requirements as to the provision of all-round assistance in the
transport and relocation of minors and the
persons accompanying them, and the
provision of assistance as a matter of priority to child victims of armed
conflicts. Minors left
without parental care and located in a CIS country away
from their places of residence are placed in reception and distribution centres
for minors (renamed TsVIARN centres in Kazakhstan). Minors who are wanted in
the States where they live permanently in connection
with the commission of a
criminal offence are handed over in accordance with the Minsk Convention of 22
January 1993 on legal assistance
and legal relations in civil, family and
criminal cases.
- In
Kazakhstan there are five transit TsVIARN centres through which minors are
transferred to their countries of residence. Minors
housed in such centres who
are residents of another country are transferred to a nearby transit centre and
subsequently moved to
their country of
residence.
F. Recovery of maintenance for a
child
(art. 27, para. 4)
- Issues
related to the recovery of maintenance for a child are governed by the Marriage
and the Family Act and the Criminal Code.
Children have the right to upkeep
from their parents and other members of the family. Parents have an obligation
to provide upkeep
for their minor children. The manner and form in which upkeep
is provided to minor children is determined by the parents themselves.
In the
event of divorce, the parents have the right to conclude an agreement concerning
maintenance of their minor children. If
the parents do not provide upkeep to
their minor children, the courts recover maintenance from them each month as
follows: for one
child, a quarter of the earnings and/or other income of the
parents; for two children, a third; for three or more children, half.
Maintenance may also be recovered in cash, following the principle that the
child’s previous standard of living should be
maintained to the greatest
extent possible. Also following this principle, and the need to act in the best
interests of the child,
the level of maintenance set in cash terms is indexed.
If the child is seriously ill or in other exceptional circumstances, the
courts
may be requested to order each of the parents to make a contribution towards the
additional outgoings necessitated by such
circumstances.
- Maintenance
is also recovered from parents for children who have been left without parental
care, and is paid to their guardians or
foster parents. In the case of children
in childcare institutions, medical institutions, institutions for social
protection and
similar institutions, maintenance is credited to the institutions
and allocated to each child separately. Refusal to pay maintenance
is a
criminal offence. Temporarily, while a parent who has refused to pay
maintenance is being sought, the monthly allowance for
the child is paid at a
higher rate.
- Kazakhstan
is a party to the Minsk Convention on legal relations and legal assistance in
civil, family and criminal cases, together
with other CIS countries, with the
aim of ensuring that parents who now live in the independent States which
emerged from the former
USSR continue to support their children. The Convention
covers the recognition and application of rulings concerning maintenance
for
children. A multilateral agreement has been concluded on citizens’ rights
as regards the payment of social allowances,
compensation payments to families
with children, and maintenance. It is in effect in Russia, Moldova, Ukraine,
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and
Kazakhstan. As a sovereign State, Kazakhstan has concluded a number of
bilateral
agreements on legal assistance and legal relations in family matters,
and treaties on legal assistance in civil and criminal matters.
It has signed a
convention on recovery of maintenance abroad. However, differences in the
economic circumstances of the States
of the Commonwealth and the purchasing
power of the CIS currencies continue to pose problems in ensuring adequate
maintenance for
children living in
Kazakhstan.
G. Children deprived of a family
environment
(art. 20)
- Under
current legislation, the rights of children who have been deprived of a family
environment, and the obligations of the corresponding
institutions and
organizations in the realization of those rights, are set out in the Civil Code,
the Marriage and the Family Act,
the Family-type Children’s Villages and
Young People’s Homes Act, etc. The State is working to create proper
conditions
to enable orphan children, children left without parental care,
children with guardians and foster parents and children from large
and deprived
families to grow up, study and pursue their lives.
- In
1990 there were 42 children’s homes and boarding schools for orphan
children, in which only 4,700 children left without parental
care were being
raised. There are now 66 of them, providing warmth and comfort for 11,704
children - 12 per cent of the total number
of children left without parental
care. This is the only network of institutions in the system of secondary
education which has
not undergone reform. There is an extensive network of
organizations for such children: homes for infants within the health system,
boarding institutions within the social protection system, and in the education
system, children’s homes, boarding schools,
family-type children’s
homes and complexes comprising a kindergarten, a children’s home, a school
and a vocational school.
These institutions have become not only places for
social protection and upkeep of children in which they are fed and clothed, but
also places for study and vocational training for a future life of
self-reliance.
- The
establishment of family-type children’s homes, which constitute a new and
progressive form of placement for orphan children
and children who have been
left without parental care, began in 1990. They create living conditions and
provide an upbringing as
close as possible to those of a family. In all 51
family-type children’s homes were set up in all parts of the country by
local authorities together with the Children’s Foundation, of which only
40 remain today. Nineteen children’s homes
and boarding schools engage in
family-type activities, with 2,782 orphan children in 169 family groups living
in sets of 10 to 15
children of various ages with shared characteristics,
preferences and desires. Organizing the children’s lives in this way
has
a favourable influence on their physical, psychological and moral
development.
- The
State is taking steps to address another problem - that of providing jobs and
housing for orphan children and children left without
parental care when they
graduate from educational establishments. Government decision No. 1882 of 22
December 2000 is intended to
provide fuller protection for the rights and
interests of children in this category. This is a problem of national
significance,
since jobless and homeless young orphans of both sexes are driven
onto the path of crime.
- In
September 2000 the Kazakh State Women’s Teacher Training Institute in the
city of Almaty organized for the first time a preparatory
section for 200 girls
left without parental care, who move on to higher education after the
appropriate studies. The establishment
of such sections for orphan children is
also being considered in other higher educational
establishments.
- The
law provides that children who are placed under the guardianship of families of
citizens are paid allowances for their upkeep.
The payment made to each child
corresponds to the sum that would be required for the upkeep of the child in a
State institution.
- Children
living in children’s homes and boarding schools receive timely medical
help. In the last two years 100 per cent of
orphan children and children left
without parental care have benefited from leisure, activities to improve their
health, and other
activities. Orphan children spend their leisure each year in
camps in the country, sanatoria, dachas, school camps and camps combining
work
with leisure, at the expense of the State and sponsors. A total of 40
children’s homes and boarding schools have their
own leisure areas in the
country.
- Preparatory
work is currently under way for the opening of the “Baldauren”
children’s health camp, which will operate
on the model of the former
Soviet “Artek” camp. At this camp it is planned to organize leisure
and health activities
for orphan children, children from large and deprived
families, children from environmentally harsh regions and gifted children,
and
to carry out festival-type activities involving children selected from all over
the country.
- The
measures listed above testify to the fact that the State is doing everything
possible to address the problem of the decline in
the number of children sent to
boarding establishments, and to restore a family environment for
them.
- The
placement of children left without parental care is carried out by the
guardianship authorities. No other private individuals
or legal entities are
permitted to engage in this work (see also paragraphs 197 and 200203
below).
- Failure
to respect the procedure and timetable for providing information on minors
requiring adoption, guardianship or transfer to
a family for purposes of
upbringing is an offence under the Code of Administrative Offences.
H. Adoption
(art. 21)
- Adoption
issues are covered by the current legislation. Under the Marriage and the
Family Act, adoption is the preferred form of
upbringing for children left
without parental care. Since 1996 adoption of children is effected by the
courts at the request of
the persons wishing to adopt a child. The guardianship
authorities take part in cases involving adoption of a child. Adoption is
authorized in the case of minor children, solely in their interests. The
following may not adopt children: persons who are not
legally competent or of
limited competence; persons who have been deprived of their parental rights by a
court; persons who have
been debarred from assuming guardianship obligations for
improper performance of the obligations placed on them; former adoptive
parents
whose actions have led a court to annul the adoption; and persons whose state of
health prevents them from exercising the
rights of an adoptive parent. The
consent of the child to the adoption is required if he or she has reached the
age of 10. If a
married person wishes to adopt a child, the consent of his or
her spouse is required.
- Issues
relating to the transfer of orphan children to families for adoption or for
guardianship by relatives or persons close to them
are dealt with in accordance
with the procedure laid down by law. Of 88,000 children left without parental
care, 84.2 per cent have
been placed in families: 29.2 per cent have been
placed under guardianship, 55 per cent have been given for adoption and 12.5 per
cent have been sent to boarding institutions for orphan children and children
left without parental care.
- Unlawful
activity in connection with adoption is an offence under the Code of
Administrative Offences. The law requires that the
confidentiality of adoption
should be respected, and this is ensured by holding closed court sessions. The
legislation relating
to adoption does not grant the child an unconditional right
to know his or her biological parents. In individual cases the adopted
child
may maintain relations with one of his or her parents or with the relatives of a
parent who has died.
- Under
article 76 of the Marriage and the Family Act, children who are citizens of
Kazakhstan may be given for adoption to foreign
nationals only if it is
impossible for them to be brought up by Kazakh citizens who live permanently in
Kazakhstan, or to be adopted
by relatives, irrespective of the nationality and
place of residence of the relatives. Children may be given for adoption to
citizens
of Kazakhstan who live permanently outside the country, or to
foreigners who are not related to the children, only once three months
have
passed after they have been placed on a central list in the national databank
kept in the Ministry of Education and Science.
- Foreigners
wishing to adopt a child must choose the child personally, have direct contacts
with him or her over a period of no less
than two weeks, make a written
declaration of their wish to adopt the child to the guardianship authorities,
and present a certificate
indicating their financial solvency, family situation
and health status, as well as information on the personal moral qualities of
the
potential parents provided by agencies officially licensed to provide such
services.
- Currently
there are 25 agencies and foundations operating in Kazakhstan which have been
officially licensed in their home countries,
in Kazakh embassies in their
countries or in their countries’ embassies in Kazakhstan, and have been
registered by the Ministry
of Internal Affairs. Only after these procedures
have been accomplished and the documents in question have been carefully studied
in the Ministry of Education and Science is an agency authorized to operate in a
specific region of Kazakhstan. The work of these
agencies is carried out under
an agreement between representatives of each agency and the guardianship
authorities, covering the
provision of resources to help in strengthening the
machinery of the organization for orphans, a package of measures for improving
children’s health, job placement of school leavers and the provision of
housing for them after they leave the children’s
home. The Ministry of
Education and Science has set up a national commission which is examining a set
of documents on adoption submitted
by bodies dealing with
education.
- Since
the passing of the Marriage and the Family Act in December 1998,
over 500 children have been adopted - around 1 per cent of
the
children who are in the hands of organizations for orphan children and
children left without parental care. Most children whose
parents are suffering
from tuberculosis, syphilis and many other diseases experience difficulties in
their physical and mental development.
There is no demand for children thus
diagnosed in Kazakhstan, but adoptive parents, mainly from the United States,
can help to ameliorate
their condition to some extent. The adoptive parents
first acquaint themselves with the physical and mental shortcomings of the
children and consult their own specialists. Only after having received
information that the child can recover and adapt to living
conditions in the
country do they begin to process the adoption papers. Once or twice a year the
international child adoption agencies
present to the guardianship authorities
reports on the lives and upbringing of adopted children up to the age of
majority. Children
adopted by foreigners become their full heirs and enjoy
equal rights with their biological children, if any.
- In
Kazakhstan the confidentiality of adoption is protected by the law. However, in
many countries, specifically the United States,
this is not the case, and so all
the relatives, friends and neighbours who provide the adoptive parents with
written recommendations
are aware of the child’s adoption. This is one of
the ways in which the fate of adopted children can be monitored.
- Children
adopted by foreigners are watched over by Kazakhstan’s consulates and
embassies in the countries where the adoptive
parents live. Representatives of
these offices periodically visit the adoptive families. The agencies also
organize visits by representatives
of the Kazakh ministries and departments
concerned, the guardianship authorities, the education, health and justice
authorities and
the procurator to the places where the children live in order to
acquaint themselves with their living conditions.
- The
operations of the international agencies and foundations are supervised by the
Ministry of Education and Science and its local
offices. The State attaches
great importance to problems relating to the adoption by foreigners of children
who are citizens of
Kazakhstan. As a result of the amendment of the legislation
on marriage and the family, and in order to ensure more complete protection
of
the rights of minors and their interests protected by law when the courts
consider cases of child adoption, a decision on this
matter was adopted by the
Plenum of the Supreme Court.
I. Periodic
review of placement
(art. 25)
- Periodic
reviews of conditions in the area of child placement are conducted in accordance
with the Marriage and the Family Act and
the Civil Code. The guardianship
authorities in the place of residence of children under guardianship monitor the
actions of guardians.
Twice a year checks are carried out on the living
conditions and upbringing of children under guardianship for the purpose of
providing
any assistance required, as well as monitoring the child’s
situation in the family of the guardian. The guardianship authorities
also
monitor the conditions in which children living in institutions for children
left without parental care are housed, raised and
educated.
- Responsibility
for monitoring the health of children placed under guardianship is borne by
local children’s health institutions
(out-patient clinics and health
centres), which have built up experience in reporting on children being raised
in what are known
as priority families (families raising foster children). In
practice these institutions also watch over the proper raising of the
children.
Local health bodies and institutions have an obligation to provide curative and
preventive care to children living in
homes for infants, children’s homes
and other boarding institutions, each of which must have medical personnel on
the staff
as current rules require. Specialist medical care, when needed, is
provided in local special medical centres. Such medical assistance
is funded
under the State budget.
J. Abuse and neglect (art. 19), including physical and
psychological
recovery and social
reintegration (art. 39)
- The
law provides that parents do not have the right to inflict harm on the physical
or psychological health or moral development of
children. The manner in which
children are raised must not include neglectful, brutal, rude or degrading
treatment, insults or exploitation.
Officials of organizations and other
citizens who learn of threats to the life or health of a child or the violation
of his or her
rights or lawful interests have an obligation to notify the
guardianship authorities in the area where the child is located. On
receiving
such information, the guardianship authorities have an obligation to take the
necessary steps to protect the rights and
lawful interests of the child.
Children under guardianship, and children left without parental care who are
living in children’s
homes, medical institutions, institutions for social
protection and similar institutions, have the right to appropriate conditions
for their upkeep, upbringing, education, all-round development and respect for
their dignity, and protection from abuse on the part
of their guardians or
employees of the institutions in question or outsiders.
- Under
the criminal law, physical violence, including beatings and cruel treatment,
offences against the sexual inviolability of the
individual, and insults,
perpetrated against any citizen, including children, are punishable offences.
The Criminal Code contains
a special chapter on “Offences against the
family and minors”. It contains rules relating to the responsibility of
adults
for inciting minors to commit offences, the systematic consumption of
spirits, narcotic substances, psychotropic substances and their
precursors,
prostitution, vagrancy and begging. Parents and teachers committing such
offences are treated more severely. The chapter
includes an innovation in our
legislation, relating to failure by a parent or teacher or other employee of an
educational or medical
institution to discharge his or her obligations in
relation to the raising of minors, associated with brutal treatment, the misuse
of guardianship rights or the improper discharge of the obligation to safeguard
the life and health of a child.
- In
recent years the number of children whose parents’ whereabouts are unknown
has risen significantly. Abandoned children find
shelter in cellars, garrets,
railway stations, motorway structures and other places in which their lives or
health may be in danger.
With a view to identifying such minors and taking
steps to find the parents or persons in loco parentis, and subsequently
arranging placements for neglected children, there are 18 TsVIARN centres
for the temporary isolation, adaptation
and rehabilitation of minors and 26
children’s shelters operating in Kazakhstan.
VI. BASIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
(arts. 6; 18, para. 3; 23; 24; 26; 27,
paras.
1-3)
A. Disabled children
(art. 23)
- Issues
related to the ability of children with mental and physical disorders, including
disabled children, to perform their vital
functions are set out in the
Constitution, the Citizens’ Health Protection Act, the Education Act, the
Psychiatric Help and its Provision (Guarantees of Citizens’ Rights) Act,
the Labour Act, the Marriage and the Family Act,
the Disabled Persons (Social
Protection) Act, the State Social Allowances (Disability, Loss of the
Breadwinner and Old Age) Act,
the Minimum Living Standard Act and other
legislation, as well as a number of government decisions stipulating the
procedure for
the granting of benefits to families with disabled
children.
- The
problem of child disabilities is a topical one in Kazakhstan, as it has tripled
in scale in the past 12 years. Following a request
made by the Prime Minister
on 7 January 1999, a group of scientists drew up a bill on the subject of
“social, medical and educational
rehabilitative support for children with
special needs”. The bill is currently before the
Government.
- Kazakhstan
considers that there is a need for a legislative basis which can protect the
rights and interests not only of orphan children
and children left without
parental care, but also all those who need support from the State. In the
context of the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child, there is a
need for social as well as juridical guarantees of the right of children to a
life
in dignity, and to education and protection from exploitation. It is
factors related to the social environment (the conditions in
which children and
young people live and grow up) which are connected with growth in the causes of
lawbreaking, the rising proportion
of offences committed with disproportionate
levels of brutality, the proportion of offences committed by those in the 14-16
age group
and the number of repeat offences. For this reason a Protection of
the Rights of the Child Bill has been drawn up to spell out children’s
social and legal rights, freedoms and guarantees which need support from the
State. Application of instruments dealing with the
lives of children and young
people is monitored by the head of State, Parliament, the Government and the
ministries and departments
concerned, and regularly reviewed at government
sessions.
- During
the period under review significant positive developments occurred which created
favourable conditions for children with special
needs to play a part in the life
of society. One of the achievements is the diversified network of special
rehabilitative educational
institutions for children with growth and learning
disorders.
- However,
it must be acknowledged that not all parts of the country are ready for the
large-scale application of the concept of inclusive
education, owing to
legislative, financial, scientific, methodological and organizational
shortcomings and the lack of systematic
retraining of teachers in rehabilitation
through instruction. For example, in general schools in the city of Almaty,
classes have
been created where children with developmental disorders are
grouped together, and some of the lessons are taught in two shifts.
In the city
of Taldykorgan, an auxiliary school for 150 pupils with intellectual
disabilities has been merged with a mainstream
school, and there are classes of
between 25 and 30 children with special educational needs. At the same time,
disabled children
receive special instruction through 12 types of programme
aimed at their adaptation and integration in society.
- Special
rehabilitative organizations are set up for children who, owing to their
psychophysical condition and the nature of their
development, experience
difficulties in studying in regular schools. The activities of these
organizations are aimed at providing
rehabilitation and compensation for
shortcomings in development during the process of learning and growing up,
training pupils in
adaptation and rehabilitation in the social, work and
psychological fields, and eventually integrating them into society as it
develops.
Such rehabilitation is carried out in educational organizations of
various types (special boarding schools, special schools, special
classes,
learning at home using individual curricula).
- Currently
102 special rehabilitative organizations are operating in Kazakhstan, in
which 18,977 children are studying, growing up
and overcoming their
disabilities in 8 basic categories. All types of special rehabilitative
educational establishment have been
set up in the city of Almaty and in
Qaraghandy oblast, while in East Kazakhstan, Qostanay and South Kazakhstan
oblasts between four
and six such institutions have been set up. Of the total
number of special rehabilitative institutions, 55 per cent are auxiliary
schools, which exist in all oblasts.
- Despite
the difficult financial and economic circumstances, special rehabilitative
institutions are being opened in various oblasts:
in the city of Petropavlovsk,
a special-purpose boarding school has been opened for children with functional
disabilities affecting
the locomotor system who cannot move independently, and
combined kindergartens and schools for children with hearing, sight and speech
disorders have forged a reputation in Qostanay, Aktau and UstKamenogorsk, where
the children benefit from less intensive teaching
methods and at the same time
educational functions are added to those of child-raising.
- The
process of opening centres for psychological and educational rehabilitation of
children with behavioural difficulties, and the
establishment of classes for
compensatory instruction for children who have difficulties integrating in
school and in society, have
been stepped up. Such centres in the Aqmola, East
Kazakhstan, Qostanay, Qaraghandy and Pavlodar oblasts are assisting in the
transition
to the provision of comprehensive psychological, medical,
educational, social and juridical support and rehabilitation for children
in
groups which pose a threat to society.
- The
network of centres for rehabilitation is being further developed, creating ideal
conditions for psychologists, neuropathologists,
psychiatrists, disability
specialists and speech therapists to engage in ongoing monitoring and
investigation of children with health
problems. These specialists develop the
child’s abilities, harness all his or her growth potential, carry out
rehabilitation
work, observe, investigate and diagnose the full extent of the
disturbances and the causes and types of difficulties which develop
in the child
during the growth process.
- By
Government decision No. 305 of 31 March 1992, relating to the provision of
effective assistance to persons with developmental disabilities
and the setting
up of a disabilities service in Kazakhstan, a national scientific and practical
centre for social adaptation and
vocational rehabilitation of children and young
people with developmental disorders (SATR centre) has been set up and is now
operating,
offering excellent conditions for the continuous education and
successful adaptation of children and young people with developmental
problems.
The centre has devised a model of social and educational assistance, including
assistance to families who have children
suffering from such problems, and is
engaged in all-round psychological, medical, educational and vocational
rehabilitation of children
with developmental problems. A similar centre was
opened during the current academic year in Atyrau oblast, where infrastructure
has been created to protect the mental health of the children of the area and
provide prompt diagnosis and thorough assessment of
their mental health as well
as instruction oriented towards rehabilitation and growth.
- In
order to meet the current requirements of rehabilitation work with children who
have special needs in a prompt manner using the
latest resources, the SATR
centre is cooperating with highly skilled specialists from such prestigious
research centres as the St.
Petersburg Institute of Early Intervention, the
Scientific Centre of Paediatrics and Paediatric Surgery of the Kazakhstan Agency
for Health Affairs, the Kazakh State Women’s Teacher Training Institute,
the Abay State University in Almaty and the “Kainar”
University.
The SATR centre has prepared a single outline and model of a State system for
the provision of rehabilitative assistance
to children with special needs, which
is of great social significance. The foundation of this system is assistance
to children from birth to the age of three. It should be pointed out that
previously no rehabilitative assistance at all was provided
to this group. This
state of affairs was greatly to the detriment of the health of the rising
generation, since early rehabilitative
intervention leads to more effective
multifaceted assistance in cases of developmental disorders.
- The
foundation of assistance to children with special needs is the earliest possible
identification of the various developmental disorders.
The SATR centre has
developed a package of methods to identify children at risk of developing
psychophysical disorders and an algorithm
for the application of such methods
(jointly with the Scientific Centre for Paediatrics and Paediatric Surgery).
Modifications have
been made in Ministry of Health order No. 480 of
1 December 1996 concerning preventive monitoring of children (screening of
retarded
neuropsychic development of young children).
- Training
in screening methods focused on the SATR centre has been received by nurses from
four children’s clinics in the city
of Almaty. The principles governing
the flow of children and cooperation between institutions reporting to different
departments
were identified. However, to ensure the effective operation of the
system of early identification of developmental disorders in
children on a
nationwide scale, there is a need for extensive organizational measures and the
corresponding funding: preparation
of printed, educational and diagnostic
material, large-scale training of nurses, legislation to underpin cooperation
between institutions
reporting to different departments, etc.
- A
major scientific programme to study the social adaptation and integrated
teaching of children with special needs is currently being
implemented in the
SATR centre. These problems were the subject of an international conference
organized by the SATR centre in March
2000 on “Special education and
social support for children with special needs - cooperation between State and
voluntary organizations”.
- Since
1992 interdepartmental psychological, medical and educational advice centres
have been opened and are successfully operating
in 12 oblasts (not including
Aqtobe and Qyzylorda oblasts) and the cities of Astana and Almaty. They provide
prompt skilled assistance
to the public in investigating the mental health of
children and young people, diagnosing mental disorders and addressing problems
relating to the instruction, raising and treatment of children from birth to the
age of majority.
- There
is no longer any doubt that computers can be used extensively in special
education as an effective tool in the rehabilitation
of the disabled. And among
the new methods of teaching disabled children, computers and information
technologies have earned a definite
place. The ability of such children to use
computers has become a prerequisite for their socialization, their preparation
for life
in present-day society, and their familiarity with the world of
information.
- In
accordance with the instructions issued by the head of State concerning
computerization of the system of secondary education, each
institution engaged
in rehabilitation is to be equipped with computers and special software for
children with sight and hearing disorders.
In future the path will be open for
the inclusive education of school-age children and the provision of distance
education for children
and young people with health problems who need to study
at home using individual curricula. State and voluntary organizations are
cooperating actively to provide special support for programmes of special
education under a project organized by the United Nations
Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on promotion of basic education
for children with special needs.
- The
Government attaches major importance to children with disabilities, as is
demonstrated by the following:
(a) A decision on the volume and
sources of social assistance granted to citizens in need while they are being
educated;
(b) The education programme contains a section entitled
“Children who need support and assistance from the
State”;
(c) A bill on social, medical and educational support in
rehabilitation for children with disabilities.
On instructions from the
head of State, an outline of social protection of the population is being drawn
up, with the main goal of
identifying priority areas of State policy in the
field of social protection of the population in the short and long term.
B. Health and health services
(art. 24)
- In
the field of medical services for children, Kazakhstan recognizes the right of
each child to make use of the most advanced services
of the health system and
resources for treatment of diseases and restoration of health. During the
reporting period the health services
which provide medical assistance to
children were operating in the context of an economy in transition. This period
was characterized
by a fall in the volume of funding for health, and an
inadequate level of resources both from the State budget and from sources
connected
with the expansion of medical insurance. Against a background in
which the incomes of the people were falling, there was a rise
in prices for
medicines, and the range of medical services provided against payment broadened.
In this connection, a key task in
the health sector was the preservation of the
basic potential of the mother and child protection service, its adaptation to
the new
economic circumstances on the basis of restructuring and enhancement of
the role of outpatient clinics and general clinics, ensuring
access to medical
care for all children and the strengthening of services involved with the
realization of the right to life. Towards
these ends, the following strategic
elements were adopted for the protection of mother and child health in a context
of social and
economic reforms: vaccination, the quality of pre-natal care, and
family planning problems.
- But
there are currently rather a large number of unresolved problems in the area of
child health. Between 1990 and 1999, the number
of medical institutions
providing basic health care to children dropped. Specifically, the number of
organizations with children’s
general clinics and surgeries fell from
1,157 in 1994 to 821 in 1999, while the doctor-patient ratio for
paediatricians (including specialists in disorders of the newborn) fell from
1.63 per 1,000 children in 1990 to 1.32 in 1999. In-patient
medical care is
provided in 14 oblast-level children’s hospitals, 180 district and
national hospitals and 15 city children’s
hospitals with a total of 18,428
beds. The level of provision of children’s beds fell from 74.4 per 10,000
children aged 0-14
in 1994 to 34.9 in 2000. Data on children’s medical
services and morbidity in Kazakhstan are set out in tables 2 and 4.
Table 2
|
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
2000
|
Number of paediatricians (thousands)
|
9 017
|
7 984
|
7 267
|
6 769
|
6 063
|
6 056
|
Number of paediatricians per 1,000 children
|
1.71
|
1.63
|
1.43
|
1.38
|
1.32
|
1.42
|
Number of beds for sick children
|
38 953
|
30 153
|
24 328
|
22 011
|
18 428
|
14 876
|
Number of children’s beds per 10,000 children
|
74.4
|
61.0
|
49.0
|
46.0
|
43.1
|
34.9
|
- It
is gratifying to note that in 2000 the main demographic indicators stabilized by
comparison with 1999. Between January and December
2000, the natural growth in
the population was 69,000, compared with 65,900 between January and December
1999. The rise in natural
population growth was due to an increase in the birth
rate, and occurred in spite of a rise of 5,000 in the number of deaths compared
with the corresponding period in 1999.
- In
recent years the birth rate declined to a low of 14.2 per 1,000 in 1999, against
a figure of 18.2 in 1994. In 2000 the birth rate
improved by 3.5 per cent over
1999. The number of births rose in all parts of the country, except for
Qaraghandy and Qyzylorda oblasts.
In such oblasts as Zhambyl, Mangistau,
Atyrau, Qyzylorda and South Kazakhstan, the birth rate was above the national
average (17.2-22.5
births per 1,000).
Table 3
Natural evolution of the population,
January-December 1999
and 2000
|
|
Per 1,000
|
2000
|
1999
|
2000/1999 percentage change
|
2000
|
1999
|
2000/1999 percentage change
|
Births
|
218.5
|
209.0
|
104.5
|
14.7
|
14.0
|
105.0
|
Deaths
|
149.4
|
144.4
|
103.5
|
10.1
|
9.7
|
104.1
|
Marriages
|
90.9
|
85.9
|
105.8
|
6.1
|
5.8
|
105.2
|
Divorces
|
27.4
|
25.6
|
107.1
|
1.8
|
1.7
|
105.9
|
- The
indicator of infant mortality is an objective criterion which reflects the
State’s attitude to safeguarding and enhancing
child health. In recent
years there has been a steady downward trend in infant mortality. The number of
child deaths in the age
range 0-18 fell by a factor of 1.9 from 15,800 in 1990
to 8,400 in 2000. In 1994 infant mortality stood at 27.2 per 1,000 births,
while in 2000 it had fallen by a factor of 1.4 to 19.6 (see annex 1 in the files
of the secretariat). In recent years the death
rate among children aged between
1 and 5 has displayed a steady downward trend, but nevertheless urgent measures
are needed to sustain
the decline in deaths among children aged over
1.
- In
recent years perinatal disorders have been the leading cause of infant mortality
throughout the country, at 32.8 per cent. This
is an unfavourable sign pointing
to a decline in health among women of child-bearing age, shortcomings in the
work of the basic health
services, and mainly that of out-patient centres for
families, in enhancing the health of women of childbearing age, the timely
registration
of pregnant women, and the adoption of measures to safeguard the
foetus during the antenatal period. Second and third places are
occupied by
respiratory diseases (27.5 per cent) and congenital malformations (18.2 per
cent). Antenatal diagnoses, including ultrasound
examinations, are rare, and
genetic factors are ignored. The influence of unfavourable environmental
factors is not examined, and
pregnant women with severe disorders of the
external genitalia and a problematical obstetric history are not properly
treated.
- Infectious
and parasitic diseases take fourth place among the causes of infant mortality,
while deaths of children aged under 1 from
acute intestinal infections, at 4 per
cent, are less common than those caused by accidents (5 per cent). The fall in
deaths from
acute intestinal infections can also be attributed to the
introduction of WHO programmes. Recent years have seen greater prevalence
of
diseases of the blood, the intestines and the gastrointestinal tract and
congenital malformations among children. The latter
have led to a rise in
disability among children. This has prompted the opening of specialist
children’s centres for oncohaematology,
paediatric surgery,
gastroenterology, nephrology and urology.
- In
the current year no cases were recorded of children aged between 0 and 59 months
displaying high temperatures in areas subject
to malaria risk. No cases of
illness caused by the wild poliomyelitis virus have been recorded since June
1995. There have been
no cases of neonatal tetanus for several
decades.
- Measles
cases in 2000 stood at 2.5 per 100,000 children. In 1999, 1,391 children
contracted measles; one child aged under 1 died
who had not been immunized
against measles for reasons of age. Increases in morbidity continue to occur
every three or four years.
A regular rise in morbidity was observed in
1998-1999, when the indicator stood at 12.4-9.32 per 100,000 compared with
19.5-10.6
in 1993-1994 - in other words, the continuous annual 90 per cent
reduction in measles prevalence was not achieved. Since 1997, the
delivery
level of preventive immunization against whooping cough, tetanus, diphtheria,
tuberculosis and poliomyelitis (for children
aged under 1) and measles (for
children aged under 2) has stood at 95 per cent.
Table 4
Incidence of individual diseases and groups of
diseases among
children aged 0-14 in Kazakhstan (number of cases registered
per 100,000 children, first case for each child)
|
1994
|
1996
|
1998
|
1999
|
2000
|
Total
|
62 874.8
|
78 225.5
|
65 586.2
|
68 717.7
|
72 869.3
|
Of which:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Infectious and parasitic
|
4 794.7
|
5 681.3
|
4 523.6
|
3 579.3
|
3 859.0
|
Neoplasms
|
48.1
|
102.6
|
55.6
|
63.1
|
67.5
|
Diseases of the blood, blood-forming organs and individual immune system
disorders
|
936.4
|
2 837.0
|
1 365.2
|
1 874.1
|
1 997.3
|
Endocrine diseases, nutritional disorders and metabolic disorders
|
663.4
|
1 714.2
|
838.9
|
928.6
|
1 007.4
|
Psychological disorders and behavioural disorders
|
264.4
|
1 322.0
|
335.5
|
367.1
|
322.0
|
Disorders of the nervous system
|
4 561.0
|
8 353.9
|
5 920.1
|
6 556.4
|
1 699.0
|
Diseases of the circulatory system
|
177.4
|
580.2
|
337.3
|
412.7
|
389.3
|
Diseases of the respiratory organs
|
36 527.1
|
36 252.7
|
36 856.8
|
38 081.1
|
41 675.4
|
Diseases of the digestive organs
|
4 470.2
|
6 059.9
|
4 133.5
|
4 724.7
|
4 745.3
|
Diseases of the skin and the subcutaneous cellular tissue
|
4 869.7
|
6 456.5
|
4 672.6
|
4 806.7
|
4 713.9
|
Diseases of the osteomuscular system and of the connective tissue
|
426.4
|
883.0
|
670.7
|
814.8
|
865.7
|
Diseases of the genitourinary system
|
924.9
|
2 142.0
|
1 290.2
|
1 506.5
|
1 415.4
|
Congenital anomalies (developmental defects), deformities and chromosome
disorders
|
184.4
|
802.8
|
294.7
|
342.1
|
363.4
|
Wounds, injuries and poisoning
|
3 067.8
|
3 488.0
|
3 154.5
|
3 278.6
|
3 277.3
|
- Within
the overall problem of public health, the reproductive health of women stands
out because of its political, social and economic
significance, given that it
has direct influence on the health of the newborn, and consequently on the
future of the nation and the
State. As part of the current State public health
programme, a special comprehensive medium-term programme for the protection of
mother and child health during the period 2001-2005 has been drawn up. A
special comprehensive programme on protection of mothers
and children is also
being prepared.
- One
of the main priorities in the country’s socio-economic development is the
development of medical science and the conduct
of scientific research in the
field of medicine. In particular, scientific centres dealing with paediatrics
and paediatric surgery
and with protection of mother and child health are
conducting scientific research on the scientific basis for the protection of
children’s
health and current problems in reproductive medicine. As its
main task the Agency for Health Affairs has focused on the four pillars
of safe
motherhood: family planning, antenatal assistance, clean and safe childbirth
and obstetric care.
- Under
a project organized by the International Planned Parenthood Federation, a
national programme on reproductive health and family
planning has been drawn up
for inclusion in the curricula of medical training establishments at all three
levels of training. Family
planning units are in operation in all oblast
centres.
- Integrated
programmes are being carried out for awareness creation among women who have
recently given birth (prevention of diaper
dermatitis), and on oral hygiene
(prevention of stomatological diseases) and the physiology of maturation in
young girls (hygiene
for teenage girls). More than 180,000 pupils in all the
schools in 19 large cities have received such instruction to
date.
- The
health of women of childbearing age is deteriorating: the health index stands
at 30 per cent, falling to 20 per cent or below
in some areas.
Over the past five years the frequency of anaemia in pregnant women has risen by
a factor of 1.5, kidney diseases
by a factor of 1.3, diseases of the
cardiovascular system by a factor of 1.2 and extrogenital diseases in general by
a factor of
1.7.
- One
achievement in women’s health is the downward trend in maternal mortality,
which fell from 77.5 per 1,000 live births in
1998 to 65.3 in 1999 and 61.4 in
2000. Disorders of the external genitalia occupied first place among causes of
maternal mortality
in 2000 at 26.8 per cent, followed by haemorrhage
in childbirth (26.1 per cent), gestoses (19.7 per cent) and sepsis (13.4
per cent).
Of special concern are cases of maternal mortality at home, which
show no signs of diminishing. Six such cases were recorded in
2000.
- The
proportion of medical problems of social significance - tuberculosis, congenital
defects and premature births - is rising. As
a result, there is a high
incidence of complications in pregnancy and childbirth - in 60 per cent of cases
childbirth is accompanied
by complications, and 260 newborn children in
every 1,000 births are born ill. Indicators of reproductive function are
genetically
determined and reflect the genetic health of the
population.
- Of
the total number of women, 51 per cent are of working age, and 12.3 per cent
above. The ratio of the non-working population to
the working population is
rising. The number of females aged under 14 is falling, while the number aged
40 and over is growing.
- Over
the past 10 years there has been a declining trend in the number of abortions,
but unfortunately abortion still remains the principal
method of regulation of
the birth rate, and hence looms large among the causes of maternal mortality. A
tendency has been observed
for contraception to replace abortion as the main
method of regulating the birth rate. Over the past 10 years, the number of
women
of childbearing age using contraception (intrauterine devices, oral
contraceptives and barrier methods) has risen by 30 per cent.
- A
total of 708 women’s and obstetric/gynaecological clinics are in operation
in the country, about 200 maternity homes and maternity
units, over 30 units for
sick newborn children and the care of children born prematurely, and 8 perinatal
and neonatal centres with
intensive care units. Antenatal diagnosis of the
state of the foetus is becoming more widespread, and genetic clinics have
opened.
However, funding difficulties and inadequate equipment levels are
standing in the way of further expanding and raising the efficiency
of these
services.
- In
December 2000, 11-day courses on antenatal, perinatal and postnatal care were
organized for 15 trainers of specialists in newborn
children, obstetricians and
gynaecologists from the cities of Semipalatinsk, Almaty and Astana and Qyzylorda
oblast.
- Paediatricians
are trained in the paediatrics faculties of five State medical academies.
Further training is offered at an institute
and two faculties. Nurses and
medical assistants are trained in 30 medical colleges. Changes lie ahead in the
training of doctors
and medical assistants in primary health care, with the
incorporation of the WHO programme on Integrated Management of Childhood
Illness
into local practice. After testing of this programme in two pilot areas
produced positive results, measures to extend the
introduction of the programme
are being supported by the Government.
- Measures
for the protection of mothers adopted under the Labour Law include the granting
of paid leave during pregnancy and childbirth
for 70 calendar days before
confinement and 56 calendar days afterwards - extended to 70 calendar days in
the case of complications
or multiple births.
- Despite
the measures taken in Kazakhstan, as in many countries, the epidemiological
situation regarding HIV/AIDS continues to worsen.
The number of persons
infected with the HIV virus is 1,347, of whom 84.7 per cent are injecting drug
users. By 1 September 2000
1,189 HIV-infected persons had been registered.
Of these, 1,143 (96.1 per cent) were aged between 14 and 49; 890 (77.8 per cent)
were men and 253 (20.1 per cent) were women. In an HIV/AIDS awareness survey of
1,030 persons, of whom 720 (69.9 per cent) were
women, held during the current
year, correct answers were provided by 180 women (25.0 per cent) and incorrect
answers by 540 (75.0
per cent).
- With
the aim of lowering the rate of growth in HIV infection and countering the AIDS
epidemic, the Government has adopted an outline
of State policy to counter the
AIDS epidemic, under which a special comprehensive programme to counter the AIDS
epidemic over the
period 20012005 is being drawn up. A countrywide computerized
HIV/AIDS monitoring system has been introduced, covering 1.1 million
people in
high-risk groups. In order to prevent HIV infection among newborn children
whose mothers are infected and reduce the death
rate among persons carrying the
virus, there is a need for the centralized purchase of anti-viral
agents.
- In
recent years the water supply situation has somewhat stabilized following the
implementation of the Government health programme.
However, despite the
measures taken, the provision of tap water remains inadequate at 75.1 per cent
of the population, against 75.2
per cent in 1998. As much as 18.7 per
cent of the population relies on water supplied by lorry, 2.2 per cent from
decentralized
sources and 4 per cent from open bodies of water.
- The
incidence of tuberculosis continues to rise, with 18,346 patients suffering from
the active form currently registered, 6.2 per
cent more than the figure of
17,318 patients during the same period of last year. The level currently stands
at 123.2 per 100,000.
There continues to be a high level in Mangistau,
Qyzylorda and Aqtobe oblasts and the city of Astana.
- At
present there are 115 institutions combating tuberculosis, with 15,700 beds. In
all 34,120 persons are receiving specialist treatment
as in-patients and
9,511 as out-patients, while 30,639 are continuing to be treated using the DOTS
method. In all 93.7 per cent
of institutions in the general health network and
the tuberculosis control service are equipped with modern binocular microscopes.
The detection rate using smear examinations is 42.6 per 1,000 subjects.
Instruction in the DOTS strategy continues to be provided
to specialists in the
general health network and the network of primary health care. During the year
so far 3,238 specialists have
been trained - 84.2 per cent of the annual
requirement. Currently all institutions engaged in combating tuberculosis have
been provided
with the specific medicines needed to treat tuberculosis
cases.
- Computerization
of the tuberculosis control service continues. Jointly with the
United States Centers for Disease Control, a computerized
tuberculosis
patient monitoring system is being introduced, specialists in the tuberculosis
control service are being trained, the
installation of network links has been
completed and the introduction of a computer program for collecting data on the
treatment
of tuberculosis patients has begun.
- Research
has begun during the current year on the prevalence of bovine tuberculosis in
livestock and the human population. The research
is currently being conducted
in the central and northern parts of the country. Similar research is scheduled
to cover the entire
country in the future.
- The
State health programme, which was approved by Presidential decree, has been
under way since 1998. Urgent problems facing mothers
and children are to
be addressed under the programme. Special attention is devoted to efforts to
popularize breastfeeding during
the first six months of the life of infants, and
to improve child nutrition as they grow older.
- There
are 246 clinics for young people operating in Kazakhstan. Their work is aimed
at preventing and treating illness among young
people. Young people may also
receive anonymous advice on all matters in confidential centres set up in 34
dermatology and venereology
clinics and 24 units in central district hospitals
as well as 180 dermatology and venereology clinics in medical institutions.
Confidential
telephone lines are available in the cities of Astana, Almaty,
Aqtobe and Qaraghandy. The emergence of problems of pregnancy, HIV/AIDS,
drug
addiction and alcoholism among young people underlined the urgent need to open
such clinics.
VII. EDUCATION, LEISURE AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
(arts. 28, 29 and 31)
- In
the world today 113 million children do not have access to primary education,
and 880 million adults are still illiterate. Young
people and adults
are denied access to knowledge and skills which are essential to obtain work and
play a full part in the life of
society. Hence the problem of the shaping of
the personality and social awareness of individuals is of acute and urgent
importance
in any country at any time.
A. Education, including vocational training and
guidance
(art. 28)
- Under
article 30 of the Constitution and the Education Act, the State guarantees that
citizens embarking for the first time on general secondary and initial
vocational education, and, subject
to entrance examinations, secondary
vocational and higher vocational education in accordance with the educational
aims of the State
and in the context of the mandatory educational standards set
by the State, will be taught free of charge. The principal functions
of
educational development in Kazakhstan are set out among the State’s
long-term priorities as identified by the President
in his Message to the people
entitled “Kazakhstan-2030”, in instructions issued by the President
and in State programmes.
Matters falling under the direct patronage of the
President are State programmes for the computerization of the system of
secondary
education, the provision of a new generation of textbooks known as
“Bolashak”, issues of universal education, the development
of the
“Daryn” specialized schools, etc.
- The
Government has approved over 30 decisions for the implementation of the
Education Act, and has also prepared and approved a package of departmental
regulations governing the functioning of educational organizations
which are
implementing programmes of pre-school and general secondary education. Women
makeup the bulk of educational workers in
schools providing general instruction.
Health standards in schools meet the requirements laid down.
- Disabled
children, those who have been disabled since childhood and children with
developmental disorders are taught in special rehabilitative
educational
organizations in keeping with their medical diagnoses, and at home following
individual curricula.
- In
accordance with the instructions issued by the head of State concerning the
computerization of the system of secondary education,
every rehabilitative
establishment is to be equipped with computers and special software for children
with sight and hearing disorders.
In future the path will be open for the
inclusive education of school-age children and the provision of distance
education for children
and young people with health problems who need to study
at home following individual curricula (see also paragraph 327).
- In
accordance with the national model of education in Kazakhstan, based on the
principle of uninterrupted and continuous study, four
levels of education have
been laid down: pre-school child-rearing and instruction, secondary education,
higher vocational education
and post-tertiary vocational education. This
corresponds to the International Standard Classification of Education
recommended by
UNESCO.
- Information
provided by the Ministry of Education and Science for 1 January 2001 indicates
that 1,562,494 children aged between 0
and 7 inclusive live in Kazakhstan, of
whom 135,287 aged between 1 and 7 have an opportunity to attend day nurseries
and kindergartens,
135,385 aged between 5 and 7 benefit from a one-year
programme of preparation for school in pre-school classes and 333,768 aged
between
6 and 7 are taught in primary classes in general schools. In this way
21.9 per cent of children aged between 0 and 7 receive a pre-school
education
(including 12.3 per cent of children aged between 1 and 7 in day nurseries and
kindergartens) and 25.6 per cent attend
primary school.
- A
total of 1,144 pre-school organizations provide educational and health
improvement services; their work is governed by the Education Act and the
Standard Rules for the organization of the activities of pre-school
organizations. In urban areas there are 897 kindergartens
with
124,400 children, while in rural areas there are 247 pre-school
organizations with 10,800 children. The number of children
in pre-school
organizations increased by 10,500 over 2000 (9,500 in the cities and 1,000 in
the countryside), and the proportion
of children attending kindergartens rose by
2.1 per cent (see figure 6).
Figure 6
Proportion of children engaged in preparation for
school
and
attending kindergartens
|
Proportion of children engaged in preparation for
school
|
|
Proportion of children in pre-school organizations
|
- A
total of 879 pre-school organizations are operating under the Ministry of
Education and Science, covering 112,500 children - 170
more pre-school
organizations and 13,800 more children than in 1999. The network of
departmental day nurseries and kindergartens
fell by 26 to 152, containing
15,300 children. There are 113 non-State pre-school organizations which teach
7,600 children. The
network of non-State pre-school organizations in Qostanay,
North Kazakhstan, Pavlodar, Qaraghandy and West Kazakhstan oblasts is
growing steadily. The task of successfully preparing children leaving
pre-school groups for the conditions prevailing in schools
is entrusted to the
network of “kindergarten-school” complexes, which has grown
by 38 units (46 per cent) since last
school year.
- A
network of innovative pre-school organizations and groups is developing in the
country, covering 22,500 children - 23 pre-school
gymnasiums, 8 centres for
study, childrearing and health improvement, 7 kindergartens with special methods
of instruction, 176 day
nurseries and kindergartens specializing in a variety of
subjects, and 86 gymnasium groups in generalpurpose pre-school organizations.
A
total of 472 commercial pre-school organizations and 571 units providing
supplementary educational and health improvement services
for which charges are
made, containing 23,100 children.
- A
network of special-purpose day nurseries and kindergartens provides
rehabilitative and preventive care. Some 6,000 children with
tuberculous
intoxication are being treated in 45 kindergarten-sanatoriums and 50
sanatorium units within general-purpose pre-school
organizations - 800 more
children than in 1999. In 37 special rehabilitative pre-school organizations
and 180 similar units in general-purpose
pre-school organizations over
8,000 children with speech, hearing, visual, intellectual and locomotor
system disorders receive the
help they need. Despite the growth in the number
of specialized pre-school organizations from 67 units in 1998 to 82 in 2001,
only
21.5 per cent of the demand for such organizations is being met and over
43,000 children still fall outside the rehabilitative educational
programmes.
- The
Education Act provides for compulsory and free preparation of children aged 5
and 6 for school in State educational organizations in the framework
of the
general curriculum. The mechanism for the opening of school preparation classes
is governed by a Government decision of 22
November 1999 dealing with compulsory
school preparation for children. This decision provides that one-year school
preparation classes
for children aged 5 and 6 may be opened in general schools
and other educational organizations, irrespective of their hierarchical
status
and form of ownership. School preparation groups may also be opened on the
basis of older and preparatory units in pre-school
organizations. School
preparation in State organizations (kindergartens and schools) must be funded
from the State budget. The
decision also places an obligation on parents to
provide school preparation for children aged 5 and 6.
- As
a result of these measures, 206,700 children are engaged in compulsory
preparation for school - 56.2 per cent of the total number
of children aged 5
and 6: 110,000 (60 per cent) of children in urban areas and 96,700 (52.7 per
cent) in rural areas. Of these,
82,900 are 5yearolds (38.4 per cent of the
total) and 123,800 are 6-year-olds (81.6 per cent of the total). School
preparation activities
are developing especially actively in Qostanay, Aqmola,
Pavlodar,
Qaraghandy, Aqtobe and Atyrau oblasts, where between 65 and 83 per cent of
future form 1 pupils benefit from them. The figures are
19 per cent in Almaty
oblast and 22 per cent in Qyzylorda oblast, where conditions are not ripe for
school preparation. A total
of 71,300 children (34.5 per cent) receive
preparation for school in 4,000 pre-school groups within kindergartens, and
135,400 (65.5
per cent) in 7,600 school preparation classes organized in
5,500 general schools. According to the Kazakhstan statistical agency,
there are 7,896 rural population centres, but there is a kindergarten for only
one in 32 of them, so that in the countryside the
schools themselves are used
for the most part for pre-school preparation. In urban areas this is mainly
carried out in pre-school
organizations.
- Owing
to the growth in the number of children and the creation of new pre-school
groups, the number of teaching staff in day nurseries
and kindergartens rose
from 13,800 in 1999 to 14,300 in 2001. Of these, 38 per cent had received a
higher education, 2.3 per cent
had not completed their higher education, and 57
per cent had received a secondary special education. In all 7,500 teachers
work
in school preparation classes.
- At
the beginning of the school year 2000-2001, 8,110 general schools were operating
with 3,069,000 pupils. The language of instruction
in these schools was Kazakh
(3,545 schools), Russian (2,356), a mixture of languages (2,009), Uzbek (81),
Uighur (13), Tajik (3)
and Ukrainian (1). In 267 schools 10 native languages
are studied as separate subjects, while in 17 they are optional extracurricular
subjects.
- The
basic curriculum for general schools approved by the Ministry of Education
on 14 April 1994 by order No. 15 contains the following
subjects:
foundations of the State and of law, man and society, ethics and psychology of
family life (which must cover the rights
of the child and human rights) and, as
an option, healthy lifestyles, including guidance on morals and
sex.
- Following
a monitoring exercise conducted with participation by UNESCO and the
“SorosKazakhstan” fund, Kazakhstan’s
report on
“Education for all” was prepared and considered at a UNESCO meeting
in Manila in 1999.
- The
Government’s first priority task is to implement the President’s
programme on computerization of the system of secondary
education. The adoption
of this programme was welcomed outside Kazakhstan. At a UNESCO international
forum in Chişinǎu
it was recognized as the first and only such
document in the CIS. It was emphasized in particular that Kazakhstan was taking
a giant
step for its future. Currently over 5,000 schools have been equipped
with computers and corresponding educational material, and
teachers are
undergoing retraining. By 2001 computers will have been supplied to all
schools.
- The
second priority task remains the realization of the constitutional right of all
citizens to receive a general secondary education.
The establishment of the
Universal Education Foundation played a significant role in providing assistance
to deprived and large
families for the education of their children, on the basis
of Government decision No. 812 of 28 August 1998. These foundations for
universal general secondary education have been set up in all the
country’s schools. As of 10 January 2001, according to information
supplied by the oblast education administrations and departments, 773 children
were not attending school. The Ministry of Education
and Science together with
local representative bodies and law enforcement agencies regularly carry out
searches with the aim of returning
children to their classrooms, as well as
philanthropic activities to help children in need.
- The
Ministry of Education and Science are taking serious steps to respond to the
head of State’s call to ensure that all children
of school age attend
school. Together with the Ministry of the Economy, the Ministry of Internal
Affairs and the statistical office
a plan of action has been drawn up and
adopted, a joint order has been enacted, a working group has been set up, and a
set of criteria
to govern registration of school-age children who do not attend
school has been adopted. Regional commissions have been formed of
representatives of administrative bodies in the field of education, internal
affairs and statistics, headed by deputy akims.
- It
has become customary for searches and operations of various kinds to be
organized jointly with the internal affairs authorities
in areas where truanting
children may be found. This state of affairs made it necessary to revise the
forms, methods and content
of educational activities, leading to a decision by
the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Internal Affairs to
adopt a plan of organizational and practical measures to prevent crime,
lawbreaking, neglect and injuries and ensure full-time school
attendance.
- Despite
the measures taken, there are a number of unresolved issues and problems in the
field of universal education. Every region
experiences non-attendance by
children from families in difficulties and deprived families who move from one
place to another in
search of work and housing. There are parents who oblige
their children to work or to beg.
- In
recent years there has been an upward trend in lawbreaking by minors. In 2000
the number of offences committed by young people
was 2.8 per cent higher than in
1999 (7,359 as against 7,159). Moreover, in 2000 the internal affairs
authorities identified 109,848
young people who had committed administrative
offences, up from 90,408 in 1999. In that connection, the prevention of
lawbreaking
among minors has been assigned priority in the State programme to
combat crime over the period 2000-2002, which was approved by Government
decision No. 1641 of 31 October 2000.
- An
Institute of Education has been set up in the Y. Altynsarin Academy of
Education, and an integrated programme of civic education
in educational
organizations has been adopted. This programme is designed to shape a
multicultural personality characterized by
publicspiritedness, patriotism,
internationalism and elevated ethics and morals, and also to develop
multifaceted interests and skills
among those being raised and
educated.
- A
priority task is that of implementing the special programme for the preparation
and publication of textbooks and teaching materials
for schools offering a
general education. Efforts are being made to develop a new generation of
textbooks and new teaching methods.
Pupils in primary classes have used new
textbooks in Kazakh, Russian and Uighur prepared in Kazakhstan, and work has
begun on the
testing of textbooks for forms 5 to 9. During 2002 it is planned
to complete the transition to teaching using the new generation
of textbooks and
teaching methods.
- Following
the adoption of the Education Act, and the Government’s decision on the
procedure for the provision of textbooks to pupils and boarders in educational
organizations,
textbooks for forms 1 to 11 will be available for retail sale
from the 1999-2000 school year. There is free provision of textbooks
for pupils
in State general schools and boarding schools who are from large families, as
well as from families who are in target
groups for the receipt of social
assistance under the procedure laid down by law, disabled children, orphan
children and children
left without parental care and children under
guardianship, children living in children’s homes and family-type
children’s
homes.
B. Aims of education
(art. 29)
- The
aims of education are defined in the Education Act and in the standard
regulations governing various types of educational establishment, under which
children are to be brought up with
a sense of public-spiritedness,
industriousness, respect for human rights and liberties and love for the
motherland, the family and
nature. The aims of education are promoted through
the implementation of a number of State programmes in the field of education.
- A
broad awareness of legal issues is taught in Kazakhstan to prepare pupils to
live in an active and well-informed manner under the
rule of law and in civil
society. As early as in primary general education, instruction covers
elementary knowledge of democracy,
human rights and the rights of the child, and
moral values. At the stage of basic general and secondary general education,
pupils
are offered a fairly full picture of the world, social links and
relations, and models of behaviour are developed which foster participation
by
the individual in decisionmaking at various levels - from family and everyday
decisions to those affecting the State as a whole.
The child is brought up in a
spirit of tolerance, non-violence and friendship among peoples.
- Work
in school councils and other self-regulation bodies, as well as in voluntary
associations, enables pupils to take part in decision-making
relating to
education and leisure, fosters the accumulation of social experience and ensures
that minors are included in the system
of social relations.
C. Leisure, recreation and cultural activities
(art.
31)
- Institutions
providing supplementary education ensure that children make use of the potential
of their free time to preserve and enhance
their health, their physical,
psychological, spiritual, moral and intellectual development, their education in
legal matters, civics
and values, and identification of and preparation for a
career. These educational establishments foster participation in creative
artistic and technical activities, research, problem-solving and design,
physical culture and sport, tourism and studies of local
lore, astronomy,
economics and ecology, psychology and philosophy.
- The
system of supplementary education has a variety of aims, types of institution
(whose hierarchical status varies), types of programme
and level of instruction.
There are no restrictions on entry. In recent years the system of supplementary
education has expanded
intensively, leading to the creation of a
children’s leisure industry. Institutions providing supplementary
education for
children perform a large number of functions: recreation and
restoration of children’s health, compensation for educational
opportunities the children have missed, individual help in fostering their
creativity, contacts, identification of skills, development
of selfteaching
programmes, education, familiarization with cultural achievements and
restoration of cultural traditions. The structure
of the system of
supplementary education for children includes clubs set up where the children
live and health and education institutions
which organize activities for minors
during the holidays.
- There
are 271 sports schools for children and young people in Kazakhstan meeting needs
in physical culture and sport, where professional
trainers oversee 116,687
children and young people, as well as 132 physical training clubs for children
and young people with 30,183
members, and 163 local young people’s
clubs where sports sections have a total of 21,989 members. There are nine
boarding
schools for children with special skills in sports, where pupils in
forms 7 to 11 study and train in a selected sport after a competitive
entrance
examination.
- During
the summer and winter school holidays, leisure activities are organized in sport
and health camps for pupils of children’s
and young people’s sport
schools. Each year more than 3,000 pupils of sport schools enhance their health
in sport and health
camps. Each year local authorities and education bodies
organize sport and health camps for pupils of general schools in the schools
or
in the countryside. In all 695,359 children spent their holidays in
children’s health camps in the summer of 2000 - 24
per cent of the total
number of schoolchildren in the country. There are 5,244 camps, including 201
countryside camps, 4,710 camps
attached to schools, 28 sanatorium-type
camps and 305 specialist camps.
- With
the attainment of independence in Kazakhstan, the foundations were laid for
regulating tourist activities and revitalizing the
historical and cultural
heritage of the people. The development of tourism is currently regulated by
the Tourism Act of 3 July 1992
and by Presidential edicts on the implementation
of the Tashkent Declaration adopted by the heads of State of Turkic-speaking
States
and the project developed by UNESCO and the World Tourism Organization
for the development of tourism infrastructure along the Great
Silk Road in
Kazakhstan, and on the State programme for the revitalization of the historic
centres along the Silk Road, the preservation
of the cultural heritage of the
Turkic-speaking States and its development in a spirit of continuity, and the
establishment of infrastructure
for tourism. Bearing in mind the great civic
and patriotic significance of the development of such forms of tourism as
studies of
local lore, sports, independent activity, health improvement,
cultural studies, ecotourism, family travel, tourism for the elderly
and
disabled and tourism for children and young people, as well as the formulation
of a holistic State tourism policy, the Government
approved an outline of
tourism development on 6 March 2001. Children in Kazakhstan are fully entitled
to leisure in the country
and abroad. There is no discrimination in respect of
tourist journeys by children within Kazakhstan and abroad. The sole condition
attached to travel by a child is that he or she should be accompanied by adults.
Visas are issued to children under 16 without the
imposition of consular
fees.
VIII. SPECIAL PROTECTIVE MEASURES
(arts. 22, 38, 39, 40, 37 (b)-(d), 32-36)
A. Children in situations of emergency
1. Refugee children
(art. 22)
- There
is no definition of refugee children in Kazakh domestic legislation. There is
no special provision on the status of child
refugees in the Convention relating
to the Status of Refugees, to which Kazakhstan became a party in accordance with
a law of 15
December 1998. The status of child refugee accompanied by parents
is defined in accordance with the principles of family unity and
adoption of a
decision at the request of an adult. Fathers or mothers have the right to
include in their request their children
who have accompanied them in their
search for refuge. When the head of a family is granted refugee status, asylum
is granted to
all his or her minor children who have arrived with him or her.
In other cases, when the minors do not accompany the adults, a written
statement
may be lodged through an authorized representative.
- Any
person who speaks on behalf of a child under the law or an administrative act
(parents in respect of their minor children, adoptive
parents in respect of
minor adopted children, guardians in respect of children under guardianship) is
recognized as the minor’s
authorized representative. In respect of minor
children who have no parents or guardians, the obligations of guardians are
fulfilled
by the administration of the institution in which the child has been
placed.
- A
bill on refugees is currently being considered by the Kazakh Parliament. It
provides that refugee status should be granted to minors
in accordance with a
decision taken in response to a request by the parents, a guardian or other
adult member of the family who has
assumed responsibility for supporting and
guiding the minor.
- As
of 1 January 2001, out of 877 persons granted refugee status, and taking into
account cases in which the person concerned left
or was deprived of refugee
status, or where his or her refugee status lapsed, the number of refugees was
759, including 308 children
- 129 of preschool age and 179 of school
age.
- In
the city of Almaty 48 Afghan schoolchildren attend the Afghan school,
122 schoolchildren are studying in the city’s general
schools and 25
children attend the kindergarten for Afghan children. A Sunday school for child
refugees is run by the Children’s
Foundation. But some of the children
are unable to benefit from education or to attend kindergartens, for a variety
of reasons,
including lack of resources, lack of a permanent home, the fact that
they are temporary residents, etc.
- Problems
also exist with the education of child refugees arriving from Chechnya,
Tajikistan and other parts of the CIS, who do not
have Kazakh nationality, a
permanent place of residence or proper papers.
- Medical
care is provided to child refugees in the normal way.
- On
31 December 1996 the President signed edict No. 3308 relating to the State
programme of support for fellow-countrymen living abroad,
and in accordance with
the requirements of the programme the Parliament adopted the Migration Act in
1997. Subsequently, in pursuance
of the Act, the Migration and Demography
Agency adopted a number of decisions. By order No. 11 of 27 March 1998, it
approved an
Instruction concerning the procedure for the review of applications
to enter Kazakhstan for purposes of permanent residence received
from
representatives of the Kazakh Diaspora abroad who wish to return to their
historic motherland, and an Instruction on the procedure
for determining the
status of repatriated persons (oralmans), re-emigrants, displaced persons and
forcibly displaced persons.
- With
a view to the application of the Migration Act of 13 December 1997 and
Government decision No. 1164 of 31 July 2000 concerning
the plan of action for
the implementation of the programme to combat poverty and unemployment over the
period 20002002, and to provide
social support for repatriated persons
(oralmans) and further improve their standard of living, the Ministry of Labour
and Social
Protection and the Migration and Demography Agency have jointly drawn
up a plan of action for the job placement of repatriated persons
(oralmans) over
the period 2000-2002.
- In
order to simplify the return of ethnic Kazakhs from Mongolia to their historical
motherland, Kazakhstan and Mongolia signed a treaty
on 2 December 1994 to
regulate issues relating to the voluntary resettlement and the citizenship of
persons arriving in Kazakhstan
on labour contracts. The treaty has been
ratified by the parliaments of the two States.
- Each
year the head of State issues an edict establishing a repatriation quota for
oralmans. In 2000, 458 families immigrated into
Kazakhstan under the quota, of
whom 159 were resettled with official help - 19 from Mongolia, 62 from Turkey
(including 16 who were
originally from Afghanistan), 58 from Pakistan (including
16 from Afghanistan) and 20 from the Islamic Republic of Iran. All these
families were settled in Kazakhstan in accordance with the immigration quota,
and they were provided with housing and material assistance.
- In
the 1999-2000 academic year, 440 children of oralmans were accepted for
preparatory courses in higher educational establishments
with the direct help of
the Migration and Demography Agency. On 1 January 2001 there were 25,723
children of pre-school age and
47,535 of school age living in the families of
oralmans. Of these, 47,089 go to school near their homes, while 446 are
studying
in boarding schools. At present there are no children who do not
attend school. There are 13,600 large families among oralmans,
and 12,419 of
them have been registered and granted child allowances - 898 families receive
allowances on grounds of loss of the
breadwinner and 3,014 special grants for
families with four or more children, while 4,398 have received a single grant
for deprived
families.
- Material
help and medical services are provided to all arriving families with meagre
resources by the Red Cross and the Red Crescent,
as well as from charitable
sources. For example, in Qaraghandy oblast children were given school
requisites worth 116,400 tenge,
and in addition 10 free trips for children to
the Cosmonauts health centre, each worth 9,000 tenge, were made available.
- In
the summer of 2000, during the summer holidays after the school year had ended,
126 children of oralmans spent time at health camps
in Aqmola oblast, while the
akimat in the city of Kokshetau offered 19 free trips for children from deprived
families.
- Efforts
to support the families of oralmans are carried out all over the country. In
all the major oblast centres and in the cities
of Astana and Almaty there are
adaptation centres where the children of oralmans and their parents learn the
Cyrillic alphabet.
In Shortandynsk district a Kazakh school has been opened
where more than 80 per cent of the pupils are children of oralmans.
B. Children involved with the system of administration of
juvenile justice
1. Administration of juvenile justice
(art. 40)
- The
rules governing the administration of justice which are set out in part 1,
article 40, of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child are elaborated on in
the new Criminal Code, which entered into force on 1 January 1998. The Code
lays down for the first time
the principle that a minor who has reached the age
of criminal responsibility may be exempted from such responsibility if he or she
does not fully realize the actual nature of the act committed or the danger it
represents to society. This approach makes it possible
to evaluate the act of
the young person more fairly and apply appropriate (non-penal)
measures.
- The
need for a humane approach to minors arises from the inclusion in the Criminal
Code of a special chapter entitled “Special
features of criminal
responsibility and punishment of minors”. It contains rules governing a
special system of measures applicable
to young people under criminal law. The
law forbids the imposition of the death sentence or life imprisonment on a
minor, or measures
which might have a harmful effect on his or her health or the
development of his or her personality (for example, restrictions on
liberty as
applied to adults). The types of punishment to which a young person may be
sentenced are distinguished by their lesser
severity compared with the same
punishments imposed on adults - the maximum prison sentence for adults is set at
20 years, while
that for minors is 10 years, or 12 years for murder with
aggravating circumstances - and additional conditions attached to the sentence
-
a fine, for example, may be imposed only on young people who have their own
earnings. (see also paragraph 337 below).
- The
general rules which define the process of administration of juvenile justice are
based on those of the Constitution. They relate to: the presumption of
innocence; the equality of all before the law and the courts; a ban on the use
of torture,
violence and other cruel or degrading treatment or punishment; State
guarantees of the right to receive skilled legal assistance;
and a ban on the
use in proceedings of evidence which has been obtained unlawfully. These rules
are reflected in the Criminal Code,
the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Code
for the Execution of Criminal Penalties, which were all adopted in 1997.
Special chapters
on criminal responsibility and punishment of minors (chapter 2
of the Criminal Code and chapter 52 of the Code of Criminal Procedure)
were
drafted in the light of the requirements set out in articles 37 and 40 of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- The
current Criminal Code lays down the principle of legality - “The criminal
nature of an act and the fact that it is punishable
are defined exclusively by
the present Code” - and it is not permitted to draw analogies in the
application of the criminal
law. The criminal nature of an act and the fact
that it is punishable are determined under the criminal law in force at the time
the act was performed. The principle of the equality of citizens before the law
applies. Also laid down is the principle of guilt,
without proof of which there
can be no criminal responsibility. All these rules are applied equally to
adults and to minors.
- The
Criminal Code allows for the possibility of exempting young persons from
criminal responsibility and punishment. Under the Criminal
Code, the exemption
of an adolescent from punishment may be accompanied by the imposition of
coercive measures intended to have an
educative effect. A new definition is
provided for the nature of these measures. In this context account is taken of
the need to
rectify not only the adolescent’s behaviour, but also the
process of his or her upbringing and education and the shaping of
his or her
personality.
-
A minor found guilty for the first time of an offence of lesser or medium-range
gravity may be exempted from punishment by a court
if it is found that his
conduct may be rectified through the application of coercive measures intended
to have an educative effect.
The law enumerates such measures as follows: a
warning; placing under the supervision of parents or persons in loco
parentis, or a specialist State agency; imposition of an obligation to make
amends for the damage caused; placement in a special educational
or
medical-educational institution for minors; restrictions on the minor’s
leisure and imposition of special requirements as
to his or her behaviour. The
special requirements may include a ban on visiting specific places, or on
engaging in specific forms
of leisure activity, including those involving the
driving of mechanical means of transport, restrictions on time spent away from
home after a certain hour, and a ban on travel to other localities without the
permission of a specialist State agency. Minors may
be required to return to an
educational establishment or seek work with the help of specialist State
agencies.
- The
Criminal Code devotes special attention to the placement of young offenders in
special educational or medical-educational institutions.
Insofar as such
measures involve the deprivation of freedom, their application is restricted.
They may be applied only in cases
of premeditated offences of medium gravity.
It should be pointed out that the State has taken steps to reorganize the system
of
such institutions. All special educational institutions are classified as
rehabilitative institutions whose purpose is less to punish
than to re-educate
young persons; they must engage in a process of instructing, educating and
curing the young persons. It is forbidden
to apply physical and psychological
pressure against the residents, to use degrading measures, to restrict or ban
contacts with parents
or persons in loco parentis, to reduce their food
portions, to refuse to allow them to take walks, to make use of them in
functions associated with the maintenance
of discipline, or to use community
work as a disciplinary measure.
- The
list of circumstances which the court must take into account during sentencing
has been extended in the new law. The list includes:
positive determination of
age; the minor’s living conditions and upbringing; his or her level of
psychological and intellectual
development, and other personality
characteristics; and the influence of older persons on him or
her.
- In
accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure, minors who are detained must be
provided with legal assistance. The involvement
of a defence counsel who
specializes in cases involving minors is mandatory from the time the adolescent
is served with a detention
order, and investigations in such cases may be
conducted only with the participation of the defence counsel.
- The
interests of minors in judicial, administrative or other proceedings are
protected by their legal representatives, who under the
law are their parents,
adoptive parents, guardians, representatives of institutions or organizations or
persons of whom the child
is a dependant or in their care. Participation by
legal representatives is mandatory in pre-trial investigations and in court
sessions.
They are entitled to challenge any actions by officials. In
particular, a legal representative, like defence counsel, has the right
of
appeal and the right to participate in court proceedings held to check the
lawfulness of a remand in custody or to extend a period
of
custody.
- All
persons who have reached the age of 16 at the time any type of offence is
committed bear overall criminal responsibility for the
offence. For specific
types of offence - murder, premeditated serious harm to a person’s health,
premeditated harm of medium
gravity to a person’s health with aggravating
circumstances, rape, acts of violence of a sexual nature, kidnapping, theft,
robbery, assault with intent to rob, extortion, unlawful seizure of a car or
other means of transport without intent to hijack and
with aggravating
circumstances, premeditated destruction of or damage to property with
aggravating circumstances, hostage-taking,
knowingly providing false information
concerning an act of terrorism, acquisition of weapons, munitions, explosives or
explosive
devices by theft or extortion, hooliganism with aggravating
circumstances, vandalism, acquisition of narcotic or psychotropic substances
by
theft or extortion, violation of corpses or their places of burial with
aggravating circumstances, or putting means of transport
or communication routes
out of commission in a premeditated manner - the age of criminal responsibility
is 14.
- The
threshold of 14 years of age for this list was set in the light of the clearly
serious danger to society presented by these offences,
which can be properly
appreciated by a normally developing minor. Where an adolescent displays
developmental disorders (retarded
mental development), the court can invoke the
principle referred to in paragraph 305 above in full (and exempt him or her from
responsibility),
or partially (and reduce the punishment), if he or she does not
fully realize the actual nature of the act committed or the danger
it represents
to society. When cases involving persons under the age of 18 are being heard,
it is mandatory to identify and take
into account the degree of mental
development and personality characteristics of the defendant.
- When
minors who have committed acts which are dangerous to society and contain the
elements of an offence cannot, because of prevailing
circumstances, be held and
reformed in their place of permanent residence, the court may decide that they
should be sent to special
educational organizations with special regimes -
special general schools for those aged between 11 and 14, and special
vocational
and technical colleges for those aged between 14
and 16.
- In
addition, when sentencing a young person to a prison term or punitive deduction
of earnings, a court may specify that the sentence
is to be regarded as
conditional for a trial period of no less than six months and no more than five
years. When a sentence is conditional,
the young person is required to comply
with specific obligations related to work and studies, which are designed to
modify his or
her lifestyle and conduct. During the trial period the
minor’s conduct is monitored by the body responsible for enforcing
the
sentence. It should be emphasized that conditional sentences are currently the
form of punishment most often imposed on young
people. For example, from 1996
to 2000 the share of conditional prison sentences in the total number of prison
sentences imposed
on minors rose from 11.1 per cent to 65.6 per
cent.
- The
deterioration in the socio-economic situation during Kazakhstan’s
accession to independent, sovereign status has had an
adverse impact on the
living conditions of most of our citizens. In this context, the attitude to
life of some young people has
a markedly material orientation - that of
achieving material prosperity, and doing so by any means available, including
criminal
ones. To a considerable extent these factors have underlain the rise
in crimes against property. The main type of criminal act
which characterizes
the general state of rising crime in the teenage world is offences against
property. Between 1998 and 2000,
theft, robbery, assault with intent to rob and
extortion made up more than 70 per cent of offences committed by minors.
Statistics
show an insignificant rise of 6.4 per cent in total crime among
minors in 1999. At the same time, there was a rising trend in drug-related
offences, premeditated infliction of serious harm to health, rape and
manifestations of hooliganism.
- It
should be pointed out that the state of crime among minors is also adversely
affected by the fact that a proportion of young people
neither work nor study.
In particular, out of 7,524 minors who committed offences in 1999, more
than half (3,882) were neither working
nor studying.
Table 5
|
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
2000
|
Neither working nor studying
|
4 393
|
3 875
|
3 641
|
3 882
|
3 398
|
Studying
|
2 765
|
2 087
|
2 290
|
2 992
|
2 989
|
Working
|
687
|
366
|
1 108
|
640
|
1 114
|
- There
is an alarming increase in offences committed by minors in gangs. In 1999,
3,185 minors were found guilty of offences committed
in gangs, rising to 3,700
in 2000.
- Analysis
of the sentencing practice of the courts shows that the main punishments imposed
on minors found guilty of offences were
those not involving their removal from
society.
Table 6
|
1996
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
2000
|
Total
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
4 542
|
5 393
|
Imprisonment
|
1 981
|
1 783
|
-
|
1 382
|
1 668
|
Fines
|
|
|
|
8
|
19
|
Punitive deduction of earnings
|
|
|
|
|
|
Labour
|
79
|
99
|
-
|
9
|
7
|
Conditional sentences
|
627
|
738
|
-
|
2 754
|
3 540
|
Coercive measures intended to have an educational effect
|
|
|
|
27
|
29
|
Deferred sentences
|
2 776
|
2 785
|
-
|
19
|
27
|
- It
is well known that when unfavourable trends in crime evolve, there is always a
serious risk that sentencing practice will become
harsher and procedural
guarantees will be restricted. However, the State is consistently pursuing a
crime prevention policy whose
priority principle is the protection of the rights
and lawful interests of minors, especially children and young persons falling
in
the category of “social risk”.
- Though
the social measures adopted by the State have yet to produce a radical change in
crime among minors, there are plans to extend
and refine them. At the same
time, recognizing that protecting the rights of minors is a priority in
preventing crime gives rise
to the need to make the process of administration of
justice more humane where minors are concerned, and to organize it in keeping
with the requirements of international law, including those set out in article
40 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
2. Children deprived of their liberty, including any form of
detention,
imprisonment or placement in custodial settings (art. 37
(b)-(d))
- The
right of citizens, and especially minors, to liberty and inviolability of the
person has been substantially broadened and refined
by domestic legislation in
recent years in accordance with the principles and norms of international law
and international treaties
to which Kazakhstan is a party. At the same time,
the rule of law, as enforced by those directly applying legal norms and by
bodies
which exercise monitoring and surveillance functions in this area, has
been tightened. The sole basis for depriving a person of
his or her freedom as
a punitive measure is the decision of a court.
- A
system is in operation in Kazakhstan for monitoring the application of the
special rules governing the holding of minors who are
under investigation -
which involve the organization of daily walks, physical exercise and sport, the
watching of films or television
programmes, and the creation of conditions in
which minors can receive a general secondary education and engage in cultural
self-improvement.
Minors held in custody are permitted to received and purchase
textbooks and school and writing materials in excess of the standard
allowance.
- Special
rules governing the detention of minors who are under investigation relate to
the remand centres in which they are held until
the sentence is handed down.
When young persons are placed in young offenders’ institutions the regime
under which they are
held is laid down in the Code for the Execution of Criminal
Penalties, which takes into account the needs of the developing individual
in
the light of age. Under the Code, minors in young offenders’ institutions
receive a general and vocational education, work
and engage in cultural
selfimprovement. Convicted persons are guaranteed freedom of conscience and
religion under the law. Ministers
of religion have the right of free access to
prisons, and have opportunities to make use of such access.
- In
correctional institutions separate accommodation is provided for convicted men
and women, minors and adults, and this makes it
possible to adopt differentiated
educational approaches as the main means of influencing the changeable
psychological state of minors
as they work, study and engage in sporting and
cultural activities.
- Convicted
minors who receive positive reports may be permitted to leave the young
offenders’ institution alone or without an
escort, or to travel away from
the institution for short periods of up to seven days. The time spent outside
the institution is
counted against the sentence being served. Convicted minors
serving sentences in young offenders’ institutions with ordinary
or
strengthened regimes are permitted six short and two long visits each year, and
to receive eight parcels delivered by mail or
brought by a visitor, and eight
items of printed matter.
- Convicted
minors may be offered incentives for good behaviour, a conscientious attitude to
work and study or active participation
in the work of voluntary groups and
educational activities, by being granted the right to visit cultural spectacles
and sports events
outside the young offenders’ institution in the company
of staff of the institution, the right to leave the institution accompanied
by
parents or other close relatives, or early release from a disciplinary
unit.
- In
the new Code for the Execution of Criminal Penalties, conditions under which
minors serve their sentences are brought into line
with the norms set out in
international instruments, and with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
All convicted persons have
the right to receive information concerning their
rights and obligations, and the procedure and conditions relating to the serving
of the sentence handed down by the court. The administration of the institution
has an obligation to provide such information to
each convict, and also to
acquaint him or her with changes in the procedure and conditions in question.
Convicted persons must not
be subjected to cruel or degrading treatment by the
staff of the institution. They may make suggestions and lodge complaints with
the administration of the institution, higher bodies responsible for the
administration of institutions and the enforcement of penalties,
the courts, the
procurator’s office, government bodies, local authorities, voluntary
associations and inter-State bodies engaged
in the protection of human rights
and freedoms.
- The
law grants minors who have been deprived of their freedom, and their legal
representatives, extensive rights of appeal against
decisions to place them in
pre-trial detention as well as court rulings. Current legislation contains
provision for ordinary appeals
and appeals to the court of cassation against
court decisions which have not yet acquired legal force, as well as a
supervisory procedure
for the review of court decisions and sentences which have
acquired legal force.
- The
application of preventive measures against minors is of great importance in the
penal process. The correct choice of preventive
measure is guaranteed by
precise indications in the law of the circumstances in which its use is
permitted, the presence of a specific
procedural framework, and monitoring by
the procurator to ensure that the bodies responsible for pre-trial
investigations comply
with the conditions and procedure relating to preventive
measures.
- Under
the current legislation relating to criminal procedure, a preventive measure in
the form of remand in custody may be applied
to a minor only in exceptional
circumstances where he or she has committed a serious or especially serious
offence. In pre-trial
proceedings remand may not exceed two months, or six in
exceptional circumstances. In such cases, the minor must be held separately.
However, as the findings of checks carried out by procurators demonstrate,
violations of the conditions for the holding of minors
in remand do occur. In
2000 it was revealed that one minor had been held unlawfully. In the city of
Shakhtinsk, in Karaganda oblast,
the minor C was held together with R., who had
a previous conviction, and K. who had three.
- The
Code for the Execution of Criminal Penalties lays down the procedure for the
lodging of suggestions, statements and complaints
on matters related to
violations of the rights and lawful interests of convicted persons, stipulating
that the administration of
the institution has an obligation to examine not only
written but also oral complaints and transmit them immediately and without
censorship to the proper quarters.
- Enforcement
of the special rules which govern the regime in young offenders’
institutions and the conditions in which minors
are held is effected by means of
checks carried out by the procurator’s office. When visiting such
institutions, the procurator
must earmark a certain amount of time to receive
prisoners personally, accept complaints and statements from them and use his or
her authority to protect their rights.
3. The sentencing of children, with particular reference to
the
prohibition of capital punishment and life imprisonment
(art.
37 (a))
- The
sentencing of minors to death or life imprisonment is prohibited by the Criminal
Code. Protection of minors, and all other citizens
of the country, from
torture, violence and other cruel or degrading treatment or punishment is
guaranteed by the Constitution.
- For
minors who have been deprived of their freedom, the exercise of this right takes
the form of the possibility open to them to lodge
complaints against the actions
of the administration of a young offenders’ institution and its regular
staff. A young person
may communicate information concerning cruel or degrading
treatment to his or her parents or persons in loco parentis
during visits. The Criminal Code broadens the scope for punishing teaching
staff and guards for cruel treatment of minors who have
been deprived of their
freedom.
4. Physical and psychological recovery and social
reintegration of the child
(art. 39)
- Persons
serving sentences are assisted to prepare for their release. The administration
of the institution outlines their rights
and obligations. Children aged up to
16 who are released from correctional institutions are sent to their home areas
accompanied
by relatives or other persons or by a member of the staff of the
institution. Minors who are released from places of detention are
provided with
help in continuing their studies or finding work. This is the task of the
district employment services and the commissions
on the affairs of
minors.
- Job
placement for such persons and the conditions in which they will live and pursue
their studies are handled by police units on
the prevention of crime by minors,
which not only monitor the behaviour of those released but also provide
assistance, including
legal assistance, in addressing their
problems.
C. Children in situations of exploitation, including
physical
and psychological recovery and social
reintegration
1. Economic exploitation of children , including child
labour
(art. 32)
- Forced
labour is forbidden by the Constitution. This applies to all citizens,
including children. The constitutional rule is supplemented by special
legislation governing child
labour. It is founded on recognition of the right
of the child to protection from performing any work which could be dangerous for
his or her health, jeopardize his or her physical, mental, spiritual or moral
development or stand in the way of his or her education.
- As
market relations have developed, minors have begun to play an active role in the
sphere of work. The State takes steps to counter
the exploitation of child
labour and the use of children for work which is dangerous for their physical
and moral health and prevents
them from receiving an education.
- On
1 January 2000 the new Labour Act entered into force. Like earlier legislation,
it sets out specific guarantees and provides for
measures to protect minors.
Specifically, individual labour contracts may be concluded with persons who have
reached the age of
16. At the same time, it is permitted to conclude individual
labour contracts with persons who have reached the age of 15 or 14,
but
with the consent of their parents or guardians. This consent must be recorded
in writing, and the work must be accomplished
during spare time from studying,
must not be harmful to health and must not disrupt the learning process. The
law also bans the
engagement of persons who have not reached the age of 18 for
heavy physical work and work involving unhealthy or dangerous working
conditions, and imposes various other restrictions. Workers aged between 14 and
16 may not work for more than 24 hours per week,
and those aged between 16 and
18 are limited to 36 hours per week.
- The
growth in demand for minors to perform regular and temporary work which has been
observed in recent years has given rise to a
number of problems. Young people,
who are least well prepared in professional terms, experience particular
difficulties in finding
work. The most acute problems are those related to
vocational training and subsequent job placement for those leaving
children’s
residential and educational institutions, children released
from places of detention, young persons aged 14 or 15 who have left school
or
have run away from their parents, children and young people from refugee
families and forcibly displaced persons. It is these
categories of young people
who enjoy least protection on the labour market.
- At
the same time, with the growth in the non-State sector of the economy, and
particularly small private businesses, the number of
young people in unregulated
employment in the cities is rising, and it is not always possible to monitor
respect for the labour rights
and guarantees.
2. Drug abuse
(art. 33)
- The
problem of preventing the spread of alcoholism and drug abuse among minors is
especially acute at the present stage of development
of the Kazakh State. In
2000, 48,235 minors were brought before the internal affairs authorities in
connection with the consumption
of spirits, narcotic drugs, psychotropic
substances and their chemical precursors, compared with 36,552 in 1999. Of
5,393 minors
convicted during 2000, 1,099 were in a state of alcoholic
intoxication at the time of the offence, compared with 936 in
1999.
- A
generally negative trend may also be observed in respect of offences involving
the illegal trade in narcotic drugs committed by
young persons. In 1996, 546
such offences were committed by young persons, 425 in 1997, 455 in 1998 and 521
in 2000.
- The
Criminal Code provides that it is an offence for an adult to habituate minors to
the use of narcotics, and steps have been taken
to increase the seriousness of
such offences. When charges are being drawn up, it is considered an aggravating
circumstance to persuade
a person known to be a minor to use narcotic drugs or
psychotropic substances. Steps are being taken to make minors and also adults
aware of issues relating to drug abuse and glue-sniffing.
- A
law has been in force since 1998 on narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and
their precursors and ways and means of combating
the illicit trade in and misuse
of such substances, aimed at enhancing efforts to prevent the use of narcotic
drugs by minors (see
also paragraphs 100-103 above).
- Non-governmental
organizations play an active role in the provision of assistance to young drug
addicts, and also in publicizing a
healthy lifestyle. They have set up special
rehabilitation centres and mutual help clubs for addicts, organize round tables
and
seminars and issue special publications.
- Under
the Criminal Code it is an offence to incite minors to consume spirits
systematically. Punishments are increased in severity
when such acts are
committed by persons who bear special responsibility for the welfare of children
- parents, teachers or others
upon whom the law confers obligations in the
raising of minors. Under the Code of Administrative Offences it is an offence
for parents
or other persons to induce a state of alcoholic intoxication in a
minor, to sell alcoholic drinks or tobacco products to a minor
or to allow an
adolescent aged under 16 to appear in a public place in a drunken condition.
Children found consuming spirits who
have not committed any other offences are
“named and shamed”. The main form of action taken against minors
who consume
alcoholic drinks is to place their names on a list held by the local
internal affairs authorities and/or the commission on the affairs
of
minors.
- In
order to study the problems and manifestations of tobacco-smoking, drug abuse,
gluesniffing and alcoholism, especially among young
people, as forms of
anti-social behaviour which cause irremediable harm to the health of the
individual and society, and to seek,
study and put into effect a variety of
alternatives and ways and means of countering harmful habits, as well as to
participate in
coordination and cooperation among State, voluntary,
international and religious organizations and foundations in developing and
implementing programmes to prevent and combat smoking and other harmful habits,
a coordinating council was set up on 22 September
2000 to organize and
implement international and national targeted programmes to prevent and combat
smoking and other harmful habits.
3. Sexual exploitation and sexual abuse
(art. 34)
- As
a State party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Kazakhstan assumed
an obligation under article 34 to protect children
from all forms of sexual
exploitation and sexual abuse. All necessary steps are being taken to prevent
these phenomena. Under the
Criminal Code, rape as well as sexual relations
engaged in by a person who has reached the age of 18 with a person known to be
aged
under 14 are criminal offences.
- It
is an offence to incite a person to engage in prostitution by means of the use
or the threat of violence, blackmail, the destruction
of or damage to property
or deception. It is illegal to organize or keep a brothel for purposes of
prostitution. However, in the
absence of a special State body it is not
possible to monitor this process or assess the scale of the
phenomenon.
- Regrettably,
there is no special law which makes it illegal to involve children in the
creation, storage for purposes of distribution,
and distribution of products of
a sexual nature, the incitement of minors to provide services and entertainment
of a sexual nature,
or the use of images of minors in any form in products of a
sexual nature or in the provision of services and entertainment of a
sexual
nature. However, under the Code of Administrative Offences it is an offence to
involve minors in the creation of products
of an erotic nature, and to advertise
products with erotic content outside prescribed places.
- The
problem of sexual exploitation of children in tourism is acute in many
countries. Sexual tourism has become widespread in particular
in what are known
as the countries of the third world, where the standard of living of the
population is very low. Against a background
of a sharp exacerbation of social
problems, the possibility that this trend will grow in Kazakhstan cannot be
ignored. Many countries
such as Australia, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Iceland,
New Zealand, Norway, Finland, France, Sweden and Switzerland have already
amended their legislation to permit criminal prosecution in domestic courts of
their citizens found abusing children abroad. Ireland,
Italy and Canada are
currently contemplating similar changes in their legislation. Kazakh
legislation sets out penalties for citizens
who commit such offences within the
country. Citizens who commit such offences outside the country are liable to
prosecution only
if their actions are unlawful in the country
concerned.
- The
question of creating special units within the Ministry of Internal Affairs to
combat organized sexual tourism and sexual exploitation
of children in tourism
does not arise, since in practice such matters are dealt with jointly by the
criminal, administrative and
migration police.
4. Sale, trafficking and abduction
(art. 35)
- For
the purpose of preventing the sale of children, an article on the sale of minors
was included in the Criminal Code for the first
time in 1997, laying down
penalties for the sale or purchase of a minor or the carrying out of other
transactions with a view to
transferring or taking possession of a minor. The
following are aggravating circumstances: where the same acts are committed in
relation to two or more minors, by a group of persons, by one person repeatedly
taking advantage of his or her official position,
in connection with the
unlawful transport of the minor into or out of the country, with the purpose of
inciting the minor to commit
an offence or other anti-social acts, or with the
aim of extracting organs or tissue from a minor for the purposes of
transplantation.
5. Other forms of exploitation
(art. 36)
- The
law protects children from other forms of exploitation which are inimical to
their lawful rights and interests. This includes
protection of their housing
and property rights. A child’s property interests must be taken into
account when his or her parents
divorce, and a portion of maintenance payments
for a child is transferred to his or her own account.
D. Children belonging to a minority or an indigenous
group
(art. 30)
- The
law provides that all citizens, including children, have the right to use their
native language and culture and to practise their
religion. The State assists
small minorities to organize child-raising and instruction in their native
language, and pursues a policy
for the safeguarding and restoration of the
culture and national distinctiveness of small minorities and ethnic groups (see
also
paragraphs 75-79 above).
-----
[*] The annexes are available for
consultation in the files of the secretariat.
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