OSCE Programme Office in Astana supports publication of Ombudsman’s Annual Report
ASTANA, 27 May 2016 – An OSCE-supported presentation of the report on the activities of Kazakhstan’s National Human Rights Commissioner (Ombudsman) in 2015 took place today in Astana bringing together some 60 parliamentarians, government officials, legal scholars, representatives of non-governmental organizations and media.
The event was co-organized by the Ombudsman’s Office in co-operation with the OSCE Programme Office in Astana and Regional Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The participants discussed the observations on the human rights situation and policy recommendations made to governmental bodies in the Annual Report. The discussion focused on the analysis of main activities conducted by institution in the respective reporting year, including key figures, statistics and background material concerning complaints received by Ombudsman in 2015 from citizens, civil society institutions and human rights organizations.
“The Ombudsman's Office continues its work to protect the rights of different groups of the population, including children, people with disabilities, prisoners and other socially vulnerable groups,” said Kazakhstan’s Ombudsman Askar Shakirov. He noted that the issues of implementation of social, economic, cultural, labour, housing rights, the right to freedom of information, as well as prevention of torture and others remain under careful attention of the Ombudsman institution.
“The Ombudsman’s annual report is a key tool for summarizing the work, evaluation of the human rights situation in country in general and the development of recommendations for further improvement in this area,” said György Szabó, Head of the OSCE Programme Office in Astana.
The translation and publication of the report in English, Kazakh and Russian languages was supported by the OSCE Programme Office in Astana.
The event was conducted as part of the Programme Office’s long-standing activities on enhancing capacity-building of the National Human Rights Institutions in Kazakhstan.