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DE RUEHTA #1042/01 1700907
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 190907Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASTANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5642
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE 1685
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
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RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 001042 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, G/TIP, INL/AAE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV SOCI KCRM KTIP KZ
SUBJECT:  KAZAKHSTAN TIP REPORT -- ONLY FRIENDS CAN TELL EACH OTHER 
THE TRUTH 
 
REF: STATE 60633 
 
¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2. (U) Per reftel, on June 16, Post delivered the 2009 Trafficking 
in Persons (TIP) Report for Kazakhstan to the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs, Director of the Department of International Law of the 
Ministry of Justice (MOJ) Elvira Azimova, and Deputy Chairman of the 
Criminal Police Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) 
Beket Aimagambetov.  We provided copies of the Kazakhstan narrative 
and the non-paper on the overall report.  INL Officer complimented 
the Ministries of Justice and Internal Affairs for their efforts to 
improve victim assistance, trafficking prevention, and 
investigations and convictions of traffickers.  He also underlined 
the recommendations made in the TIP Report. 
 
¶3. (SBU) At the MVD, Deputy Chairman Aimagambetov thanked the 
Embassy for its continued cooperation with the Criminal Police 
Committee.  He expressed appreciation for the Embassy's positive 
assessment of police efforts to investigate human trafficking cases. 
Referring to the TIP Report, Aimagambetov acknowledged that only 
friends can tell each other the truth.  He said that the MVD and INL 
have been friends for many years and are working together to achieve 
common goals. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Aimagambetov also proposed further cooperation.  A career 
police officer, Aimagambetov stressed the importance of victim 
cooperation during investigations.  He said that he knows from his 
own experience that victims cooperate only when they feel safe and 
protected.  Therefore, he suggested implementing a victim advocacy 
program to train advocates who would be assigned to victims from the 
very beginning of the process. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The MVD would also like to establish an anti-trafficking 
interagency working group in South Kazakhstan oblast.  Armabek 
Khakimbekovich Baimurzin, Chief of the Organized Crime Division, 
proposed this idea after attending an IVLP in Houston and seeing a 
similar group.  During the IVLP, he had the opportunity to meet with 
the Harris County Sherriff's Office and the Human Trafficking Rescue 
Alliance (HTRA), which is made up of local, state, and federal law 
enforcement agencies working together with social service 
organizations to identify and assist victims of human trafficking 
and to arrest and prosecute traffickers.  Baimurzin found the 
alliance to be an extremely effective structure and expressed 
interest in implementing such a program in Kazakhstan. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Director Azimova of the MOJ thanked the Embassy for its 
patience and accuracy in submitting statistical and other data for 
the TIP report.  She recognized that it is not easy to convert 
statistical data into a unified report because of the differences in 
criminal codes.  She reported that the MOJ has done much to improve 
victim assistance in the past year. In particular, the new social 
services law was adopted and the law on the protection of 
participants in the criminal process was amended to allow government 
funding prior to the initiation of a criminal case.  The 
government's 2009-2011 plan has been adopted and includes funding 
for shelters.  Under this plan, the MOJ will be allocated 8 million 
tenge (approximately $50,000) a year for the next three years for 
shelter assistance.  Most likely, the MOJ will fund the 
newly-established TIP NGO Korgai Fund, which is chaired by a former 
police officer with experience in establishing a drug treatment 
facility.  The MOJ also plans to develop recommendations for victim 
identification by police and victim assistance recommendations for 
shelter personnel. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The government intends to continue to work to improve its 
TIP ranking by enhancing the victim assistance and protection 
components of the national anti-TIP action plan.  Azimova expressed 
thanks for the assistance that INL has provided in the past year and 
looks forward to future cooperation.  INL informed Azimova that 
improving Kazakhstan's assistance to TIP victims would remain a 
 
ASTANA 00001042  002 OF 002 
 
 
priority.  Realizing the importance of trafficking prevention, 
Azimova assured INL that Kazakhstan will continue to conduct 
wide-spread information campaigns next year. 
 
HOAGLAND