A complaint was filed to the UN by Andrei Grishin, from the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights. The complaint concerns the forced eviction of Irina and Timofey Simonenko, a mother and son both living with disabilities, from a plot of land in Almaty that they have been living on for over 20 years.
The plot in question has also been claimed by the Department of Correctional Services of Almaty. A court decision has ruled that the Simonenko family vacate the premises in order for the Correctional Services to build a juvenile detention centre.
The KIBHR filed the complaint on the basis that several human rights violations have been committed for this ruling to be made. Namely, the state, which is represented by officials, violated at least two articles of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. These articles. 22 and 28, refer to the violation of privacy and a refusal to provide an adequate level of housing. Moreover, as the Simonenko’s have claimed disability, the state is obliged to provide them with housing or a land plot.
Though the outcome of the filed complaint is still uncertain, as revealed by Grishin, the very fact that it has been adopted indicates that the UN sees that violations have been committed by the state. Additionally, in March of this year, in another pioneering occurrence, the UN presented Kazakhstan with 75 comments and recommendations on the compliance with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Given these developments, a glimmer of optimism emerges.
