Kazakhstan presents report in Elimination of Racial Discrimination Committee

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GENEVA. KAZINFORM – Deep democratic reforms are being carried out in Kazakhstan to build a just and «listening state» focused on people, as well as to improve national legislation and law enforcement practice in the field of human rights in accordance with international standards. This was highlighted in the combined 8-10 periodic report on the implementation by Kazakhstan of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), presented in Geneva by the Kazakh delegation headed by the Chairman of the Committee for the Development of Interethnic Relations of the Ministry of Information and Social Development Galym Shoikin, Kazinform cites the Kazakh MFA.

Since 1998, Kazakhstan has been a party to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, according to which our country has undertaken to prohibit and eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and manifestations, to ensure the equality of every person before the law, without distinction of race, colour or national origin.

Committee members were informed about the measures taken by Kazakhstan to promote equal opportunities and strengthen strategies to combat inequality and discrimination. Particular attention during the discussion was paid to the situation of ethnic minorities, migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and stateless persons.

The Kazakh delegation provided information on the steps taken by the Government to ensure guaranteed equal access of women and youth, persons with special needs to the electoral process, encourage tolerance, intercultural dialogue and respect for diversity, ensure effective investigation of any acts of racial discrimination and remedies against them, strengthen the mandate of the Commissioner for Human Rights to effectively promote human rights, optimize the migration regulation in the country, etc.

Members of the Committee were interested to hear about the key elements of the national human rights protection system – the Commissioner for Human Rights, the Commission on Human Rights and the National Commission for Women Affairs, Family and Demographic Policy under the President of Kazakhstan.

International experts commended the level of cooperation between Kazakhstan and the UN human rights mechanisms. At the same time, the country was recommended to carry out further work on the adoption of comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation, improving the system for investigating allegations of incitement to violence and inciting hatred, ensuring a fair trial, and increasing the representation of ethnic minorities in political life.

ICERD is the oldest of the nine core international human rights treaties and is the main treaty that aims to eliminate racial discrimination worldwide. Unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1965, it entered into force on 4 January 1969. By ratifying the ICERD, states condemn racial discrimination, segregation and apartheid and agree to pursue policies to eradicate racism and promote racial understanding.


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