Astana, February 27, 2025 – A meeting of the subgroup of the consultative and advisory body of the “Dialogue Platform on the Human Dimension” was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan under the chairmanship of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Alua Nadirkulova.
The agenda considered the main issues on improving preventive measures to protect against torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
The meeting opened with a report by Vladimir Malakhov, Deputy Head of the Pre-Trial Investigation Service of the Prosecutor General's Office. In his speech, he informed about the important reforms being carried out in the country in the field of criminal proceedings in order to bring criminal legislation into line with Kazakhstan's international obligations. Special attention was paid to the need for full rehabilitation and compensation for victims of torture. Today, the issue of introducing amendments to increase the amount of compensation for damage and improving its mechanism is being considered.
On the second issue of the meeting, the head of the department of the National Center for Human Rights, Zhanar Bigalieva, presented a report on the role of the National Preventive Mechanism (hereinafter referred to as the NPM) in preventing torture. Today, the work of the office is focused on improving the functionality of the information system of the Human Rights Ombudsman and completing its integration with the terminals for filing complaints of convicts, completing the transition to a digital format for the work of NPM participants on preparing reports, as well as increasing NPM funding.
During the consideration of the third issue, Gulnara Sarsenbayeva, Director of the Department for the Organization of Medical Care of the Ministry of Health, reported on the work being carried out on medical support for persons detained in institutions of the penal system. He shared his plans to introduce 24-hour beds in regulatory acts this year, change the list of examinations during a medical examination, revise equipment, staffing standards and the list of screening tests, as well as introduce medical and social services and digitalization.
As part of the discussion of the fourth item on the agenda, Bakytzhan Sadibekov, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on the Criminal Enforcement System of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, noted that in order to prevent torture, continuous video surveillance has been introduced in all institutions, with more than 39,000 cameras operating in them, with online access for prosecutors. He also drew attention to the fact that, by adopting the Social Code, convicts with disabilities of the first group held in the Committee on the Penal System can be provided with social payments in the form of care allowances, while people from among the convicts in those institutions can provide care.
On the fifth issue of the meeting, Yulia Ovechkina, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on the Protection of Children's Rights of the Ministry of Education, noted that citizens serving sentences in correctional institutions have the right to receive secondary education and are offered to receive a working profession free of charge. Today, 2,522 students study in colleges under the Committee on the Penal System.
In general, the issues on the agenda were discussed in a constructive and open format. Representatives of state bodies and non-governmental organizations had the opportunity to directly exchange views and share the developed recommendations.
The consultative and advisory body "Dialogue Platform on the Human Dimension" was established in 2013 at the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Platform serves as an effective tool for promoting dialogue between the Government and the civil sector. The forum will discuss various topical issues of human rights protection with the participation of international organizations (UNDP, OHCHR, OSCE, etc.) as observers.

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/mfa/press/news/details/949526