VZCZCXRO4323
PP RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHTA #1246/01 1930334
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 110334Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY ASTANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2739
INFO RUCNCLS/SCA COLLECTIVE
RUEHAST/USOFFICE ALMATY 0549

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASTANA 001246 
 
STATE FOR INL/AAE, G/TIP, SCA/CEN (O'MARA) 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SOCI KCRM PREL UZ KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: MEDIA REPORTS ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING CASES FROM 
FEBRUARY TO JUNE 
 
ASTANA 00001246  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  The following is a summary of human trafficking cases reported 
in local newspapers from February to June 2008. 
 
--------------------------- 
UZBEKISTANIS IN KAZAKHSTAN 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2. March 14, Interfax: Uzbekistani and Kazakhstani police jointly 
dismantled an organized smuggling ring illegally bringing Uzbeks to 
Kazakhstan. A group of 15 to 20 workers were transported from 
Karakalpakistan in northwest Uzbekistan to Kazakhstan to work in 
construction and agriculture.  Traffickers arranged illegal border 
crossings for the workers, took their passports, and paid them no 
salary. Interfax reported that, in the last three years, police in 
Uzbekistan received over 1,000 reports of human trafficking and 
conducted 700 investigations. 
 
¶3. May 23, Express-K: Police detained an Uzbekistani from Mangystau 
who organized a brothel in Aktau. The 26-year-old madam recruited 
her girls from Uzbekistan to work in Aktau as waitresses. Upon 
arrival in Aktau, the girls' passports were taken and they were 
forced to prostitute themselves. The investigation is continuing and 
a criminal case will be initiated. 
 
¶4. June 4, Vremya: Fifteen citizens of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan 
from 16 to 45 years old were rescued by police from a 
meat-processing plant in Aman-Karagai near Kostanai, where they were 
held by a businessman from Atyrau. The workers were not paid and 
those who wanted to leave were charged $300.  A relative of four of 
the workers was asked to pay $600 for their release and went to the 
police, which set up a sting operation and arrested the businessmen. 
There was evidence that the victims were regularly beaten. The 
investigation is ongoing. 
 
¶5. June 10, Argumenti & Facti (AiF): After the death of her husband, 
a pregnant woman came from Uzbekistan with two children to find 
employment. At the border she was offered assistance in crossing and 
in finding a job. She was forced to work as a prostitute for four 
months until her mother reported her missing to a local NGO. Police 
found and released the woman, who reported that other women were 
being held against their will in Shymkent. The women lived in small 
rooms with no heat, separated from each other by bars. Many of the 
women were reportedly sick. During interviews with the police, the 
women were fearful and unwilling to testify against the traffickers. 
Many claimed they were voluntarily working as prostitutes. 
 
¶6. June 10, AiF: The parents of an Uzbekistani boy arranged an 
excursion for their son to travel to Shymkent, Kazakhstan. When the 
boy did not return after a week, his mother called the police. The 
boy was found working in a construction crew in Shymkent with dozens 
of men. None of the workers had passports and all were working in 
Kazakhstan illegally. The father of the boy refused to make a 
written statement to Kazakhstani police and said he would do so in 
Uzbekistan. 
 
--------------------- 
INTERNAL CHILD LABOR 
--------------------- 
 
¶7. April 2, Liter: A 17-year-old from the Ushtobe orphanage in the 
Almaty Oblast was forced to work long hours on a farm owned by a 
relative of the orphanage's director. The director promised to pay 
the boy for his work but never did. The boy fled the farm several 
times but was returned by the director and forced to work. The 
prosecutors initiated a criminal case against the director who said 
he did not know the boy was working for his relatives. As a result, 
the director was fired and was ordered to pay nine months' salary of 
$700 to the boy. 
 
¶8. May 22, Akmolinskaya Pravda. A student at the Kokshetau lyceum 
was beaten and found with several injuries including a broken nose 
in the railway station in Lobanovo. The boy said that in September 
2007 he met a retiree from Lobanovo who invited him to his home to 
help around the house. The retiree held him in the home for two 
weeks forcing him to do different types of work including unloading 
six tons of coal. The lyceum did not take any action to identify the 
location of missing student. Prosecutors stated that this was not 
the only case and several other students were released from the 
school to unknown persons based on written requests. 
 
--------------------------- 
INTERNAL LABOR TRAFFICKING 
--------------------------- 
 
¶9. February 14, Interfax: Police in Karaganda detained the owner of 
a farm suspected in kidnapping and exploiting a local villager. A 
42-year-old resident of Volnyi escaped the farm, where he was 
detained and forced to work for three years, and went to the police. 
He said that he was also regularly beaten by his captor. The farm 
 
ASTANA 00001246  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
owner was arrested and the investigation is ongoing. 
 
¶10. February 21, AiF: A 31-year-old man was kidnapped from the Badam 
train station near Shymkent.  Two men attempted to rob him and, 
after finding he had no valuables, beat him. An apparent uniformed 
police officer arrived shortly after the attack and offered to 
assist the victim and help him find a job. The man was taken to a 
farm where he worked with a young man from Uzbekistan who did not 
speak Russian. After the Uzbekistani fled the farm, he was replaced 
by another young man. Three months later, the two escaped the farm 
together, but refused to report the incident to the police. 
 
¶11. April 11, Kazpravda: Three defendants are standing trial in the 
"Chagan case," accused of forcing homeless people to work in the 
village of Chagan. Men were put to work demolishing abandoned 
buildings and women were preparing salvaged blocks and bricks for 
sale. The traffickers recruited the homeless by asking them to help 
unload furniture for money. They were taken to Chagan and held by 
means of force. An unknown number of the workers died.  The rescued 
workers made statements to the police. 
 
------------------ 
SEXUAL TRAFFICKING 
------------------ 
 
¶12. February 22, Interfax: Four girls were trafficked from Temirtau 
to China through fraudulent means by a 26-year-old man who forced 
them into prostitution and the production of pornography in Urumchi. 
After being held several days, the girls were able to call their 
mothers in Temirtau who reported the situation to the police. When 
the police detained the trafficker, he attempted to bribe them. The 
trafficker was charged with several crimes, including trafficking in 
persons and bribing an official. Police foresee finding more victims 
in the course of their investigation. Various newspapers have 
reported as many as 12 victims discovered so far, however media 
estimates vary. 
 
¶13. March 19, Interfax: Police in Almaty rescued a 22-year-old girl, 
who was sexually exploited for several months. The girl was 
discovered during a police operation when a madam attempted to sell 
her for $500 at a hotel. A few days earlier, during the 
"Stop-Trafficking" operation in Ust-Kamenogorsk, the police was 
discovered the sexual exploitation of a 17-year-old girl by a 
31-year-old trafficker who offered her services to his friends. 
 
¶14. March 19, Izvestia-K: Three female traffickers were convicted in 
March by a Shymkent court for forcing a 17-year-old girl from the 
South-Kazakhstan Oblast into prostitution.  In 2007, the girl was 
held against her will for several months and often physically abused 
by her captors. During the trial, evidence of extensive physical 
injuries was presented. One trafficker was sentenced to seven years 
in prison; the others were sentenced to 5 years with postponement 
until their children reach the age of 14. 
 
¶15. March 28, Liter: The regional court of Zhambyl Oblast 
reevaluated the sentencing of 5 defendants sentenced to 1 to 3 
years' imprisonment in December 2007 by the Shu court.  Not 
satisfied with court's decision, a Taraz-based NGO, with the support 
of the MVD and Presidential Administration, appealed for longer 
sentences. As a result, the traffickers received 10 to 12 years in 
prison and are currently serving time. The traffickers were found 
guilty of transporting under-aged girls from Shu Village to Almaty 
where they forced them to work as prostitutes. 
 
¶16. April 11, Express-K: Traffic police stopped a car after seeing a 
young girl jump out of it. She told police that she had been 
persuaded to go to Astana to work as a waitress. The girl said she 
only later understood, after hearing the conversation between the 
driver and other passenger in the car, that she would be forced to 
work as a prostitute. When the car slowed down to pass through a 
police checkpoint, she jumped from the car. As part of the 
investigation, police have discovered that several other girls from 
rural areas were transported to Astana with offers to work as 
waitresses, maids, and shop assistants, but the girls were actually 
sold to pimps for prices ranging from $50 to $100 each. Girls as 
young as 16 years old were trafficked. The investigation is 
ongoing. 
 
¶17. May 6, Interfax: Police in Shymkent are investigating the owner 
of a cafe, her assistant and two policemen after receiving a report 
from a young woman. She s4ated thaTshe gocdn o asapoRUARY TO JUNE 
 
attend college, was released from a brothel by police. She was sold 
to a pimp by her landlady and was regularly beaten for two weeks 
before she began working as a prostitute. Her first client called 
her parents and the police. A criminal case was initiated against 
the owner of the brothel. 
 
¶19. June 10, Interfax: A 14-year-old Kyrgyzstani girl was rescued 
from a brothel in Almaty after working as a prostitute for several 
months. The girl was trafficked into Kazakhstan and sold to a 
brothel for $250 by a 33-year-old Kyrgyz woman and the woman's 
friend. The traffickers were arrested and the criminal case is 
ongoing. 
 
ORDWAY 
 
ASTANA 00001246  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
attend college, was released from a brothel by police. She was sold 
to a pimp by her landlady and was regularly beaten for two weeks 
before she began working as a prostitute. Her first client called 
her parents and the police. A criminal case was initiated against 
the owner of the brothel. 
 
¶19. June 10, Interfax: A 14-year-old Kyrgyzstani girl was rescued 
from a brothel in Almaty after working as a prostitute for several 
months. The girl was trafficked into Kazakhstan and sold to a 
brothel for $250 by a 33-year-old Kyrgyz woman and the woman's 
friend. The traffickers were arrested and the criminal case is 
ongoing. 
 
ORDWAY