Speech by Head of European Union Delegation to Kazakhstan at the Prison Reform Forum ( 23 February 2017)
IV Prison Forum: Outcomes
Project "TOWARDS A SOCIETY WITHOUT TORTURE"
conference-hall
of the General Prosecutor Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Astana, Thursday 23 February 2017 – 09:30-13:00 pm
Address by Ambassador Traian Laurenṭiu Hristea,
Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Kazakhstan
Honourable Secretary of the Security Council, Mr Zhumakanov
Honourable Chair of the Constitutional Council, Mr Rogov
Honourable Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr Shakirov
Right Honourable Members of the Parliament
Honourable Prosecutor General, Mr Assanov
Your Excellencies,
Dear OSCE Ambassador, Mr Szabo
Dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,
I am very pleased to welcome you today at the "4th Prison Reform Forum" organized jointly by the General Prosecutor office and EU Project on Strengthening Criminal Justice in Kazakhstan.
Let me briefly recall that our three years EU Project “Enhancing Criminal Justice through support to the Reform of Penal Process and of the Procedure for Enforcing Judicial Acts", with the budget of EUR 5,5 million of the EU funding started one and a-half-years ago. Since that time the Project established strong relations with the General Prosecutor office, Prison Committee and has been engaged at organizing today’s Forum.
The European Union
Within the EU, the confidence of all citizens and national authorities in the legal systems is vital for the functioning of the whole EU as a common area of freedom, security and justice without internal frontiers. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. No exceptions are permitted under international law and all countries are obligated to comply with the unconditional prohibition of all forms of torture and other ill-treatment in all circumstances.
The prevention and the eradication of all forms of torture and other ill-treatment within the EU and world-wide is a strongly held policy view of all EU Member States. Therefore, the EU Member State countries ratified both, the Universal Declaration and the European Convention on Human Rights - two international treaties on fundamental rights and freedoms, which combat the scourge of torture. Similar provision is enshrined by Article 4 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which again upholds its commitment to ensure greater protection of fundamental rights.
The EU is guided not only by relevant international and regional norms, but also by human rights standards developed in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice which constitutes an important part of customary international law.
Criminal Justice in Kazakhstan
The European Union welcomes the commitment made by the Kazakh authorities to combat torture and other forms of ill-treatment. The launch of the Project “Towards a society without torture” is an important step. It further encourages the authorities to continue and expand its efforts by following a holistic and proactive approach that encompasses all essential elements to eradicate torture: prevention, protection and rehabilitation, focusing on the victims of torture and ill-treatment.
This year the Forum is devoted to the important issue of prevention of torture. Promotion and protection of the freedom from torture is a priority of the EU's human rights policy, therefore all EU Member States are strongly committed to work towards the prevention and the eradication of all forms of torture and ill-treatment within the EU and world-wide. In this regard, we appreciate the previous and current efforts done by the EU Member States, through their respective Embassies in supporting civil society initiatives in their work to combat torture in Kazakhstan.
The EU actively supports the work of the relevant actors: the UN Committee Against Torture, the Committee for Prevention of Torture of the Council of Europe and the OSCE / ODIHR (Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights). I am glad to see the representatives of the OSCE and Expert of the Council of Europe at this forum. The project also ensured the participation of the civil society organizations, such as the Coalition against torture, which I am also glad to see at this Forum.
His Excellency President Nazarbayev announced the aim to level down the prison population in Kazakhstan and go out of the list of 50 most populated countries. As we have heard today this important aim has been reached: Kazakhstan is on the 68th place in the world prison population list. Let me use this chance to congratulate Kazakhstan authorities and its citizens with this successful result.
Sustainable decrease of prison population combined with greater employment rate among the prisoners and fall of re-offending rate is not an easy reform. We understand how huge and persistent should be the work behind of this project. Enhancing probation services which is currently in process will help to sustain these achievements and establish a healthier environment for the implementation of criminal sanctions and build better criminal justice system. We are proud of the EU Project being intensively involved in the capacity building of probation services and development of probation officers’ skills.
The EU Project
I am delighted that the European Union through its projects has been supporting the Prison Forums tradition since its beginning and we can share this success as a result of our joint work. The European Union pays particular attention to sentencing policy and prison reform, therefore the EU Project has been implementing work on improving the penitentiary policy and protection of prisoners’ rights.
Furthermore, the EU Project has been engaged in the design of the anti-torture strategy at the invitation of the General Prosecutor’s office. In particular, the project’s contribution focused on supporting data analysis and evidence building, as well as international law consultations in order to present a comprehensive Action plan. As a result of such good cooperation, the proposed Action plan has all the ingredients, which also make up the EU policy against torture: the development of legal guarantees during criminal investigation, combatting impunity, providing reparation and rehabilitation for victims and, improving procedures for complaints and reports of torture and ill-treatment.
The Action Plan is a good start and the EU Project stands ready to work together on its implementation by supporting training, technical expertise and inclusive engagement of all stakeholders.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating: so we are confident that the General Prosecutor Office will stand fully behind the application of the policy of zero-tolerance to torture by ensuring effective investigation and compensation to victims of current torture cases.
Conclusion
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to express the gratitude to the General Prosecutor for the open invitation to cooperate, to have such important dialogue with all stakeholders and work together to combat one of the gravest crime in the international law.
I wish you all a productive and successful work.
Thank you for your attention.