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DE RUEHTA #1977/01 3100934
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P 060934Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASTANA
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INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE 2120
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
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RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHAST/USOFFICE ALMATY 1988
RUEAWJL/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RHMCSUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC 0036

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ASTANA 001977 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR INL/AAE, G/TIP, SCA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ELAB SMIG SOCI KCRM KTIP UZ KZ
SUBJECT:  KAZAKHSTAN:  MEDIA REPORTS ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING CASES 
 
REF: A) Astana 0368; 
 B) Astana 0165; 
 C) Astana 1206 
 
ASTANA 00001977  001.3 OF 004 
 
 
¶1.  The following is a summary of local media reports of human 
trafficking cases in Kazakhstan February-April 2009.  Septel will 
summarize media May-July 2009. 
 
TRAFFICKING IN CHILDREN 
 
¶2.  February 2, Interfax; February 3, "Liter," February 5 Novosti, 
February 6 "Kazpravda":  A 28-year-old Russian man was arrested in 
Akmola Oblast for attempting to sell a baby.  Alexei Krukovskyi, who 
had come to Szhuchinsk looking for work in March 2007, met a single 
mother and attempted to sell her one-and-a-half-year-old daughter to 
fund his return to Russia.  He took the child to the Baiterek Hotel, 
where he was arrested for trying to sell the child to undercover 
police officers for $1,300. 
 
¶3.  February 16, "Megapolis":  An additional case may be opened 
against Zhanibek Kushaliyev, former Chief of Medicine at the Atyrau 
Oblast Hospital, who was arrested in January for attempting to sell 
a newborn infant for $1,900 (REF A).  On January 23, a woman 
reported to police that Kushkaliyev sold her a baby girl for $2,000 
in May 2007.  The Prosecutor General has ordered the creation of an 
investigation group headed by the Atyrau prosecutor and including 
the Atyrau Department of Interior and Financial Police. 
 
¶4.  March 5, Interfax:  Two women in Zhanaozen, Mangystau Oblast, 
were convicted of trafficking in infants and sentenced to five years 
in prison.  In February 2008, a 26-year-old Uzbek woman sold her 
newborn baby to one of the women for $300 and signed a letter giving 
up her parental rights. 
 
PROSECUTOR SEEKS DISMISSAL OF JUDGE IN TIP CASE 
 
¶5.  February 2, Interfax:  A disciplinary commission on judicial 
ethics in Karaganda initiated a disciplinary case against a judge in 
the Abai Region.  The oblast prosecutor has sought the dismissal of 
the judge who, in July 2008, handed down a three-year suspended 
sentence to the owner of a farm convicted of exploiting a 
42-year-old.  In November 2008, the oblast-level court sentenced the 
trafficker to 10 years in prison (Ref B). 
 
POLICE ANTI-TRAFFICKING OPERATION 
 
¶6.  During Operation "Stop Trafficking" March 10-20, police checked 
night clubs, saunas, hotels, and tourist and employment agencies for 
evidence of human trafficking, rescuing victims and arresting 
traffickers and pimps.  The following newspaper articles reported 
the results of the operation.  (NOTE:  INL sponsored an 
NGO-implemented information campaign in conjunction with the 
operation, during which information brochures were disseminated, and 
high-risk groups, including train passengers, were informed about 
the dangers of trafficking.  Ref C reports on this campaign.  END 
NOTE.) 
 
¶7.  March 21, "Kazinfor":  During Operation "Stop Trafficking," 
officers from the Pavlodar Department of Interior (DVD) checked 
saunas, hotels, and restaurants in Pavlodar, Ekibastus, and Aksu for 
evidence of prostitution, pimping, and human trafficking.  The 
Pavlodar DVD arrested seven pimps and registered 89 prostitutes 
during last year's operation.  Arrests have been made in two pimping 
cases investigated this year in the Pavlodar Oblast.  In one case, a 
woman provided an under-aged girl for sexual exploitation in hotels. 
 
 
¶8.  March 20, "Izvestiya Kazakhstan":  One case of labor 
exploitation and four cases of pimping were uncovered in Kostanai 
during Operation "Stop Trafficking."  A businessman forced a 
42-year-old man to work in his marble workshop for three months 
without pay and under threat of violence. 
 
¶9.  March 17, "Kazinfor"; March 20, "Izvestiya Kazakhstan": 
 
ASTANA 00001977  002.3 OF 004 
 
 
Nurbahyt Nabiyev, the Deputy Chief of the Organized Crime Division 
of the Almaty DVD, reported that police uncovered two cases of 
forced prostitution during a one-week operation (see paragraphs 
15-16).   Nabiyev stated that such operations are important not only 
for the investigation of cases of forced labor and forced 
prostitution, but also allow police to register prostitutes working 
voluntarily.  Though prostitution is not illegal in Kazakhstan, all 
prostitutes discovered during police raids are registered and 
checked in police databases.  Prostitutes are also required to have 
regular medical screening and HIV tests.  Nabiyev also declared that 
increased sentences for those found guilty of pimping is beginning 
to scare people out of the business. 
 
¶10.  March 13, Transport police in the Western DVD uncovered one 
case during Operation "Stop Trafficking."  A 48-year-old from 
Uzbekistan trafficked was trafficked to Kazakhstan with the promise 
of a high-paying job.  Traffickers moved him and his two children 
via rail to Mangystau Oblast and on to a village in the Atyrau 
Oblast, where a woman sold them for $100.  A criminal case was 
opened. 
 
NGO REPORTING 
 
¶11.  April 10, Zakon.kz:  The following stories were reported by a 
local NGO. 
 
--A resident of an apartment building in Almaty reported to police 
that small children were in the public areas of the building.  The 
police found that the owner had hired a woman to clean the building, 
but all cleaning services were being performed by 10-13 year old 
children, who were not attending school.  The children refused to 
tell police who hired them and if they were being paid.  The woman 
originally hired could not be located. 
 
--After a woman in the Almaty Oblast contacted police about her 
missing daughter, the police found the girl in a brothel with five 
other girls, ranging in age from 13 to 17 years old.  All girls had 
signs of physical abuse and said that they had been kept in the 
brothel against their will for more than six months. 
 
--The NGO's call center received a call from a teenage girl who 
reported that she had been raped by a man who "bought" her for $100. 
 When the man was arrested, he claimed that he thought the girl was 
a prostitute and did not know that she was a teenager. 
 
SEXUAL EXPLOTATION 
 
¶12.  February 10, "Liter":  A 55-year-old in Atyrau, who advertised 
himself as a clairvoyant bio-therapist and locally renowned for his 
abilities to counteract the evil eye, cure alcoholism, and set 
broken bones, was arrested for pimping following an undercover 
police operation.  The man reportedly maintained a brothel and had 
been pimping since January. 
 
¶13.  February 16, "Megapolis":  Two 20-year-old former prostitutes 
were arrested in a Kyzylorda train station for attempting to traffic 
to two undercover police officers to Astana.  The women were 
reported to police by another woman who was offered $800 for each 
young attractive woman she could bring to the two.  The recruiters 
allegedly had an agreement with pimps in Astana to supply them with 
new prostitutes from the regions. 
 
¶14.  March 10, Interfax:  Police found four Uzbek women working as 
prostitutes in a sauna and arrested the pimp as he received $100. 
Police reported that last year they arrested 24 pimps and filed 
charges against 20 pimps. 
 
¶15.  March 17, Interfax:  Police arrested a 29-year-old madam and 
held 24 young women, including three Uzbek nationals, who were 
working as prostitutes.  The prostitutes lived in a three-room 
apartment in Almaty that operated as a brothel for approximately 
three months.  During the investigation, police found that some of 
the girls were trafficked to Almaty with promises of good jobs. 
When they arrived in Almaty, their passports were taken, and they 
 
ASTANA 00001977  003.3 OF 004 
 
 
were forced to work for very little pay.  The women were living in 
squalid conditions and received only enough money for food.  Police 
said that 15 of the women did not have documentation and were held. 
The detained Uzbek citizens were deported. 
 
¶16.  March 17, Interfax:  Almaty police rescued a 19-year-old Kyrgyz 
women who was sexually exploited for more than two months.  After 
being promised a good job, she was trafficked to Almaty, her 
passport was taken away, and she was forced to prostitute herself. 
The woman had been beaten and received medical aid after her rescue. 
 A 40-year-old female citizen of the Turksib Rayon of Almaty was 
arrested. 
 
¶17.  March 27, Azattyk Radio:  Police officers in Taldykorgan began 
investigating trafficking to China for purposes of sexual 
exploitation after receiving reports from parents.  A local 
businesswoman, Saule Zhaksygeldinova, had allegedly been recruiting 
local students to study at Chinese universities, but was reportedly 
selling them to work as prostitutes.   The police repatriated 16 
students back to Kazakhstan for questioning.  No information has 
been confirmed. 
 
¶18.  April 28, Interfax, April 29, Zakon.kz:  A 49-year old woman 
was arrested in Turkestan (South Kazakhstan Oblast) during a special 
police operation.  Police found a 19-year-old woman from Shymkent 
and a 16-year-old orphan from the Sozakskyi Rayon of the South 
Kazakhstan Oblast in the woman's apartment.  Police determined that 
the women were kidnapped from Shymkent and sold in Turkestan for 
$350 and $700.  The women were kept locked in the apartment and 
could only leave when forced to prostitute themselves in local 
saunas until one was able to escape.  The 19-year-old told police 
that she met a young man in Shymkent who invited her to the caf and 
then to the park for a walk.  When she got into his car, the young 
man took her to Turkestan and sold her.  The other girl came to 
Shymkent for work.  When she arrived, a young man used the same 
scheme to kidnap her.  The woman operating the ring explained that 
she, a mother of five children and two grandchildren, was only in 
the business because she needed to feed her family. 
 
LABOR EXPLOTATION 
 
¶19.  February 5, "Vremya":  Three Uzbek citizens, a father and his 
two sons, were sold for $200 and forced to work on a farm for more 
than 18 months in Atyrau.  The father and his eldest son escaped 
from the farm and asked transport police officers at Kulsary train 
station for help.  The police rescued the youngest son and initiated 
a criminal case against the owner of the farm. 
 
¶20.  February 23, Interfax, Aikyn:  A 35-year-old man was arrested 
in Aktobe for selling a homeless man and woman for approximately $50 
each.  Both victims worked under threat of physical violence.  The 
trafficker was arrested after a local woman reported the 
exploitation to police.  The Aktubinskaya DVD has received other 
reports of homeless people being sold and are investigating whether 
the same man was involved in other cases. 
¶21.  April 8 Interfax, April 20 Zakon.kz:  Police officers have 
freed 25 Afghans who were forced to live and work in a mill in 
Karaganda.  The Afghans reported to the police that they were lured 
to Kazakhstan with the promise of well-paid jobs.  However, they had 
not been paid and police found a sack of dead pigeons, which the 
workers had been eating.  Because the Afghans refused to file a 
complaint, the owner will not likely be charged with trafficking, 
but merely fined for using illegal laborers. 
 
DEPORTATION OF ILLEGAL MIGRANTS 
 
¶22.  February 18 Interfax:  Migration police officers and the city 
prosecutor's office conducted a four-day operation at markets 
throughout Astana.  Of the 1,715 foreign citizens found in the 
markets, police found that 173 were in the country illegally. 
According to the migration police, the construction crisis has 
forced many illegal workers to the markets.  Local employers are 
also bearing responsibility -- two citizens of Kazakhstan were fined 
for hiring illegal workers. 
 
ASTANA 00001977  004.3 OF 004 
 
 
 
¶23.  February 18 "Express-K":  Seven foreigner workers from Agip 
were detained in Atyrau.  The workers, two from Great Britain, two 
from India, one from the Philippines, one from Algeria, and one from 
Uzbekistan, were working on a construction project in Karabatan. 
Police found that all seven were in the country on visitor visas and 
were deported. 
 
¶24. February 12, Interfax:  In Aktobe, 32 Chinese citizens working 
"for Sinoil" were detained.  25 had come to Kazakhstan with business 
visas and did not have permission to work.  Administrative cases 
were filed against the 25 without proper visas and against the seven 
others for violations of registration requirements.  Since the 
beginning of the year, 939 foreign citizens, mostly from Central 
Asia, have been charged with violations of registration and/or 
residency requirements. 
 
HOAGLAND