Mr Dzhakishev, a former head of a state-owned company, was sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment during two trials in 2010 and 2012. UN Human Rights Committee in 2015 acknowledged him as a victim of violations of articles 10 (1), 14 (1), 14 (3) (b) and (d), 9 (1-2), 10 (1) and 14 (1) and (3) (b) and (d) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, that guarantee, respectively, the right to be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, right to fair trial, right to communicate with counsel of his own choosing, and right to be tried in his presence. The Committee recommended Kazakhstan to take steps to “quash [Mr Dzhakishev’s] conviction and release him, and, if deemed necessary, conduct a new trial, subject to the principles of fair and public hearings, access to counsel and other procedural safeguards; pending release, provide the author with continuous and effective access to health care in the place of imprisonment; and […] provide the author with appropriate reparation, including adequate compensation.”
CCPR-Centre takes note of the considerable time period between the Committee’s decision in Mr Dzhakishev’s favour and his, still subject to potential judicial revision, release. CCPR Centre hopes that this case will feed the continuing discussion between Kazakh government, human rights community and other actors on implementation of UN human rights mechanisms’ decisions. CCPR Centre actively supports Kazakhstan in this process.
CCPR-Centre in partnership with the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law conducted a mission in Kazakhstan during 27 to 29 November 2019. The delegation composed of Vasilka Sancin, Member of the UN Human Rights Committee, and Patrick Mutzenberg, CCPR-Centre Director, met with various stakeholders with a view to ensuring that the Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee be understood by domestic authorities, and to engage in a dialogue on the implementation of Views adopted by the UN treaty bodies on Individual Communications. The next visit is planned for June 2020.
SOURCE:
CCPR-Centre
