PDF《Kazakhstan》

the trial had not begun at year'

s end. On August 27, a court convicted four border guards from the Darkhan border guard detachment and sentenced them to terms ranging from

18 months to eight years as a result of the November

2006 beating of

18 newly arrived conscripts and Page

1 of

18 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Kazakhstan 3/26/2008 http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100615.htm the death of one in the Saryagash district of South Kazakhstan. b. Disappearance On September 10, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) concluded after an investigation into the March

30 disappearance of journalist Oralgaisha Zhabaktai-kyzy that it was unrelated to her professional activities. Earlier, media watchdog groups had asserted that her disappearance was connected to her professional activities, specifically her ongoing reporting for the Zakon e Pravosudiye newspaper regarding official corruption, sensitive inter-ethnic clashes, and criminal activity in the Almaty region. There were no other developments in her case at year'

s end. c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment The constitution and law prohibit such practices, but police and prison officials at times beat and abused detainees, often to obtain confessions. The procurator general'

s office (PGO) and the human rights ombudsman acknowledged that torture and other illegal methods of investigation were still used by some law enforcement officers. Human rights and international legal observers noted investigative and prosecutorial practices that overemphasized a defendant'

s confession of guilt over collecting other types of evidence in building a criminal case against a defendant. Courts generally ignored allegations by defendants that their confessions were obtained by torture or duress. The ombudsman'

s office reported 1,684 citizen complaints during the first

11 months of the year, approximately

300 of which were allegations of abuse or misconduct by law enforcement. In March Kostanay police detained Alexandr Gerasimov and two of his sons for questioning in connection with the killing of their elderly neighbor, according to press reports. The police held Gerasimov overnight, severely beat him, and later hospitalized him for two weeks with serious head injuries. On June 21, the hea........