Individuals who met with the Special Rapporteur
Cases- Location of case in SG report
- 2015-028-001
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2015
- From Country
- Country Geolocation
Latitude: 48.019573
Longitude: 66.923684
- Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
- Kazakhstan
- From Region
- UN body that raised the case prior to the SG report
- UN Special Procedures: Thematic
- Dates of prior UN action
- 27 January 2015; 16 June 2015
- Type of record
- Unnamed individual/group/organization
- Was the victim a foreign national?
- No
- Was the victim a minor?
- No
- Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
- No
- Reported trigger of reprisal
meeting with SR on FoAA during country visit
- Engagement with UN body
- UN Special Procedures: thematic
- Dates of engagement
- 23 January 2015
- Type of attempted engagement
- Meeting with UN officials during country visit / with locally present UN officials
- Dates of mentioned reprisals
- 23 January 2015
- Reprisal information
unidentified men took photographs of individuals leaving the building, in a manner commonly associated with secret police surveillance, where he had just held a meeting (A/HRC/29/25/Add.2, paras. 13-17).
- Types of reprisals suffered
- Surveillance
- Threats/Intimidations (incl. "fear of reprisal")
- Alleged/likely perpetrators
- State actors
- Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
- No
- Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
- No
- Further case development
The Special Rapporteur subsequently affirmed that the incident had been calculated to instil fear and intimidation, and reiterated that the authorities had to guarantee that no one with whom he met would be subjected to reprisals. The Government responded that the allegations were groundless and based on a misunderstanding (A/HRC/29/25/Add.5, para. 6);
In his oral statement to the Human Rights Council at its twenty-ninth session, the Special Rapporteur reiterated his dissatisfaction with the incident, stated that the Government’s explanation was unconvincing, and urged it to ensure that there would be no reprisals in relation to his visit.
- Government response dates
- 16 June 2015
- Government response content
The Special Rapporteur submitted a formal complaint to the authorities and received reassurances that a full investigation would be conducted. The next day, the authorities informed the Special Rapporteur that they had apprehended an individual who confessed to have taken the photographs; the Special Rapporteur did not, however, identify the man as one of those he had seen;
The Government responded that the allegations were groundless and based on a misunderstanding (A/HRC/29/25/Add.5, para. 6);
Kazakhstan, in its oral reply to the Special Rapporteur’s statement, did not address the allegations of reprisals.
- Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?
- No
- Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?
- No
- Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?
- No
- How many times has the case been followed up in subsequent SG reports?
- 0