The OSCE Centre in Astana

4.11 The OSCE Centre in Astana

Background

The Centre in Astana was established as the Centre in Almaty in 1998 before it was renamed in 2007. It promotes the implementation of OSCE principles and commitments, facilitates contacts and exchanges of information, and provides assistance to the Government of Kazakhstan.

In 2012, the Centre enjoyed a considerably more active co-operation with the MoIA of Kazakhstan and other law enforcement agencies, and continued to familiarize the Host country’s law enforcement agencies with best practices in democratic policing. The TNTD/SPMU and the Centre’s staff held a number of important meetings with MoIA representatives in the course of the year in order to develop a comprehensive plan of operation for 2013 and beyond. As a result of these meetings the parties agreed to co-operate on a number of issues and to bring together OSCE and MoIA experts to develop a joint action plan on police-related activities in the fields of VERLT, combating drug trafficking, public assembly management, and the fight against the criminal use of cyberspace.

The MoIA and other law enforcement agencies were also engaged in international and regional activities organized by the OSCE Chairmanship and the TNTD/SPMU. Participation in these events provided Kazakhstan’s representatives with valuable information and contacts both regionally and throughout the OSCE area. The education of police officers continued to be in the focus of the Centre’s activities in 2012.

The Centre, together with the TNTD/SPMU, facilitated the visit of international police experts to Astana to hold consultations with the MoIA as a follow-up to the TNTD/SPMU’s Senior Police Adviser’s visit in June. The parties discussed a comprehensive co-operation plan and identified priorities for 2013, which included public assembly management, and countering illicit drug trafficking.

Police Development

The Centre facilitated the preparation of a multi-stage project on Policing in Multi-ethnic Kazakhstan and organized its launch at a high-level meeting in Astana. During the event a quadripartite MoU between the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, the MoIA, the OSCE HCNM, and the OSCE Centre in Astana was signed. The MoU established the framework for the implementation of the project.

Within this framework the Centre supported two three-day seminars for a total of 50 administrative police officers in two regions of Southern Kazakhstan – Almaty and South Kazakhstan. The trainees acquired knowledge from leading national and international experts in the area of policing in multi-ethnic societies and community policing. Police officers were introduced to best operational policing practices for strengthening citizens’ trust and confidence in law enforcement.

Training Development

In parallel to the high-level meetings in Astana, the Centre organized a visit of the TNTD/ATU and TNTD/SPMU representatives to the Police Academy in Almaty. At the meeting an agreement was reached on organizing sub-regional training seminars on a number of topics at the Academy’s premises.

The Centre also continued its multi-year project on Human Rights Education for Police Officers/Police Schools Instructors from most of Kazakhstan’s regions. The Centre and its implementing partner, the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, organized a three-day ToT course and a master-class for more than 30 police schools instructors from several regions of Kazakhstan in Astana. The seminars built on the outcomes and recommendations of the Centre’s multi-year project started in 2010 with an aim to establish human rights education as an integral curriculum component at the police schools.

From 14-16 November, the Centre supported a ToT event on a “Migration Management Curriculum” for specialized educational institutions at the MoIA’s Karagandy Academy. 40 migration experts and lecturers participated in the event. It was co-organized jointly with the IOM and the United Nations Women Sub-Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The training was conducted according to the international legal framework for migration management and addressed issues related to migrants’ mobility, freedom of movement, the responsibilities of the state, and gender-related aspects of migration.

Criminal Investigations/Criminal Intelligence

The Centre facilitated the participation of representatives of the MoIA’s Drug Control Committee, Almaty’s Department of Internal Affairs, and the National Security Committee in a training seminar on “Intelligence Gathering” organized by the Centre in Almaty.

Financial Investigations/Money Laundering/Asset Seizure

On 22 November, the Centre co-organized with the US Embassy a distance learning video seminar on “Countering the Legalization of Unlawfully Acquired Assets” at Kazakhstan’s Institute of the Prosecutor General’s Office. High-level domestic and international experts from Canada and Belgium shared their experience with over 100 employees of central and regional prosecutors’ offices nationwide, focusing on courts and prosecutor offices’ criminal procedures and practices.

From 4-6 December, the Centre supported a training course in Astana for government officials from Kazakhstan on “International Mechanisms and Tools to Combat Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing”. The event brought together some 70 representatives of the Financial Police Agency and its Academy, the Committee on Financial Monitoring of the Finance Ministry of Kazakhstan and the Association of Experts on Countering the Laundering of Illegal Assets, as well as the Supreme Court, the Astana, Akmola and Karagandy regional courts, the specialized intra-district Criminal Court, the Office of the Prosecutor General, the National Bank and commercial banks. The course was delivered by experts from the UK, Ukraine, and the USA. The course was tailored to the specific needs of

Kazakhstan’s authorities, based on the latest achievements, tools and good practices in financial investigative techniques in the banking sector. It was organized jointly by the OSCE Centre in Astana, the Financial Police of Kazakhstan and the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Office of the US Embassy in Kazakhstan.

Trafficking in Human Beings

In 2012, the Centre contributed to strengthening the criminal justice sector in response to THB. Together with a local NGO the Centre implemented a project aimed to monitor police detention facilities in four regions of Kazakhstan, with the purpose of identifying possible victims of trafficking. This project helped the authorities to identify and provide support to trafficking victims.

Another project implemented in co-operation with several government counterparts and NGOs aimed to increase the awareness of specialized staff in orphanages and vocational schools about trafficking prevention strategies. In the framework of the project the Centre, with the assistance of local anti-trafficking NGOs, organized regional seminars for representatives of specialized staff in orphanages and vocational schools and a concluding round table.

Furthermore, the Centre, together with the Supreme Court and the Academy of Public Administration, conducted training seminars for judges from courts across Kazakhstan to discuss human trafficking from a judicial perspective.

Drug Trafficking

The Centre facilitated the participation of representatives of the MoIA’s Drug Control Committee, Almaty’s Department of Internal Affairs, and the National Security Committee in the workshop on preventing trafficking in chemical precursors, organized by the centre jointly with the EU/UNDP Border Management in Central Asia Program.

Counter-Terrorism

The Centre, with the support of the TNTD/ATU, organized a round table to discuss violent radicalization and the factors that may be conducive to terrorism. The event focused on how state authorities and civil society can work together to prevent and combat terrorism while ensuring respect for human rights and the rule of law. Seminar participants also examined the possible contribution of the police to the fight against violent extremism and radicalization.

Furthermore, the Centre helped raise awareness of the issue of violent extremism at the country’s Parliament and supported an international conference which focused on contemporary instruments of combating violent extremism and radicalization.

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