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FM AMEMBASSY ASTANA
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INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE 2370
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1732
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RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFAAA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC 1928
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RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHAST/AMCONSUL ALMATY 2201
RUEAWJL/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RHMCSUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC 0069

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ASTANA 000051 
 
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 
 
ASTANA 00000051  001.3 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  The following is a summary of local media reports of human 
trafficking cases in Kazakhstan September-December 2009. 
 
ANTI-TRAFFICKING OPERATIONS 
 
¶2. December 14, "Interfax":  During a nationwide anti-trafficking 
operation, December 7-11, police arrested 55 pimps and two 
traffickers and registered 371 prostitutes. 
 
-December 9, Police from the Department of Interior of Kyzylorda 
Oblast arrested a 39-year-old from Zhanakorgan for trafficking in 
minors for purposes of sexual exploitation in saunas and hotels in 
Taraz.  The criminal case is ongoing. 
 
-December 10, Police from the Department of Interior of Zhambyl 
Oblast arrested a 35-year-old from Taraz, who forced Kyrgyz woman to 
work as a prostitute.  The criminal case is ongoing. 
 
¶3.  September 14, "Interfax", "Kazakhstan Today":  During a 
nationwide anti-trafficking operation, September 7-11, police 
arrested 67 pimps and 14 traffickers and registered 409 prostitutes. 
 
 
-Police from the Department of Interior of West-Kazakhstan Oblast 
arrested three people for attempting to sell an under-aged girl for 
purposes of sexual exploitation for $200.  Police also arrested four 
members of a criminal group for kidnapping minors and forcing them 
to work in hotel saunas in Uralsk. 
 
-Police from the Department of Interior of Zhambyl Oblast arrested a 
25-year-old woman for trafficking a 15-year-old girl from Taraz to 
Almaty, where she was forced to work as a prostitute. 
 
-Police from the Department of Interior of Kyzylorda Oblast arrested 
five teenaged members of a criminal group who forced a 14-year-old 
girl to work as a prostitute. 
 
-An Astana resident was arrested in Kokshetau city for trafficking a 
20-year-old woman for purposes of sexual exploitation. 
 
TWO SEXUAL EXPLOITATION CONVICTIONS IN PETROPAVLOVSK 
 
¶4.  November 23, "Zakon.kz" from "Kazakhstan Today":  Two women in 
Petropavlovsk were sentenced to five years in prison and their 
property was confiscated for trafficking in persons for purposes of 
sexual exploitation.  The court suspended the sentence of one 
trafficker until her son reaches the age of 14.  According to 
prosecutors, the women came to Petropavlovsk in May 2009 to find 
girls to traffic to Kokshetau. 
 
TAJIKS, UZBEKS, AND KYRGYZ FREED FROM HOTEL BASEMENT 
 
¶5.  November 16, "Kazakhstan Today," November 18, "KTK":  Police in 
the Almaty Oblast freed 17 young, female trafficking victims who 
were kept in the basement of a hotel for almost two years and forced 
to work as prostitutes.  The women were from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, 
and Kyrgyzstan and had been promised jobs as waitresses and 
secretaries by an "employment agency."   Three Almaty residents aged 
38, 39, and 19 and their 22-year-old female accomplice were 
arrested. 
 
SEXUAL EXPLOTATION 
 
¶6.  November 21, "Liter":  Police in the Almaty Oblast arrested a 
group of people who were kidnapping young women for purposes of 
sexual exploitation.  On November 8, the mother of one kidnapped 
woman gave the police the address at which her daughter was being 
held.  The young woman had been kidnapped from the Chemolgan train 
station in the Karasai Rayon.  The investigation is ongoing. 
 
¶7.  September 18, "Zakon.kz" from "Kazakhstan Today": Police in the 
South Kazakhstan Oblast arrested a 37-year-old-woman named Riza, who 
admitted that she was  involved in trafficking young women from 
Shymkent.  She revealed that she met potential victims on the street 
 
ASTANA 00000051  002.3 OF 003 
 
 
and in cafes and, by means of deceit or threat, trafficked them to 
Turkestan, where she sold them to clients.  She was charged with 
trafficking in persons, kidnapping, illegal deprivation of freedom, 
forcing one into prostitution, and pimping.  In its press release on 
this case, the police also detailed the April arrest in Turkestan of 
a 49-year-old woman for exploiting 14- and 16-year-olds in local 
saunas. The woman was sentenced to five and a half years in prison. 
 
 
ORPHANED TEENAGERS SOLD INTO PROSTITUTION 
 
¶8.  November 5, "Kazakhstan Today":  North Kazakhstani police 
investigated a trafficking-in-persons case involving four teenagers 
from the local vocational school for orphans, who were allegedly 
sold by a teacher several months earlier for $1000 and were working 
in the Akmolinskaya Oblast as prostitutes.  This case was uncovered 
when the Department of Education in Petropavlovsk found 20 students 
missing during a routine check.  Of the missing students, all but 
one were 15- and 16-years-old.  Teachers and five accomplices were 
charged with kidnapping and trafficking in minors.  Later media 
reports indicate that one suspect fled to Russia, but was later 
extradited to Kazakhstan. 
 
¶9.  October 19, "Interfax":  A 27-year-old Kazakhstani woman 
previously charged with trafficking in minors was arrested in 
Russia's Krasnodarskyi Krai during a joint North-Kazakhstan 
Department of Interior-Russian Ministry of Interior organized-crime 
operation. 
 
¶10.  November 9, "Interfax":  The 27-year-old Kazakhstani arrested 
in Russia was involved in selling orphans in North-Kazakhstan Oblast 
and was extradited to Kazakhstan for further investigation. 
 
KIDNAPPING 
 
¶11.  December 23, "Express-K":  Police in Astana arrested a 
17-year-old woman for kidnapping a five-month-old baby from a 
married couple from whom she rented a room.  After the parents went 
to bed, the girl abducted the child and stole a cell phone and 
money.  When arrested, she could not explain why she kidnapped the 
child, saying only that she loved children very much.  A 
psychiatrist will examine the woman to determine whether charges 
should be filed. 
 
¶12.  November 18, "Interfax":  Almaty police officers, working with 
colleagues in Kyrgyzstan, found a five-year-old girl who disappeared 
in September and returned her to her mother.  She was discovered in 
the home of a 20-year-old Kyrgyz woman who had worked as a 
prostitute in Almaty.  The reason for the kidnapping is unknown, and 
the investigation is ongoing. 
 
CHILD LABOR IN COTTON FIELDS 
 
¶13.  December 4, "Interfax":  The Ministry of Education reports that 
25% of all children in the South-Kazakhstan Oblast were absent from 
the first quarter of the school year because of their work in the 
cotton fields.  Cotton harvesting was classified as a worst form of 
child-labor exploitation under the UN Convention on the Rights of 
the Child.  However, about 900 children aged 7-17 reportedly 
harvested cotton in the South-Kazakhstan Oblast in 2008-2009. 
 
¶14.  Akim (governor) of South-Kazakhstan Oblast Ali Bektayev called 
cotton harvesting educational and a tradition in his oblast, and 
said he began to harvest cotton at the age of seven.  However, he 
added his opposition to the harvest of cotton during school hours 
despite weather conditions which made it necessary this year.  The 
Minister of Education said that the use of child labor has a 
negative impact on the image of Kazakhstan and recommended 
modernization of the cotton harvest. 
 
LABOR EXPLOTATION 
 
¶15.  December 23, "Vremya":  A young woman from Shymkent escaped 
captivity in Moscow, where she worked for a family also from 
 
ASTANA 00000051  003.3 OF 003 
 
 
Shymkent.  Unable to find work in Shymkent, her cousin, who had been 
working in Moscow for a year, invited her there with the promise of 
a job in a Kazakhstani-run shop.  Upon arrival, her documents were 
taken, and she was forced to work loading fruits and vegetables 
daily 5:00 AM until midnight.  In addition to the long hours, she 
was poorly fed and regularly beaten.  After her escape, IOM Moscow 
helped her return to Shymkent where the local NGO Sana Sezim 
provided her with medical treatment.  A criminal case was not 
initiated due to a lack of evidence. 
 
¶16.  September 17, "Vremya":  Police in Pavlodar Oblast investigated 
a criminal case of illegal deprivation of freedom for purposes of 
exploitation.  Nine residents of Sherbakty and an Uzbek citizen were 
forced to work clearing the Chaldai forest.  The Uzbek citizen 
stated that he worked without pay in the forest for two years.  The 
nephew of the local Akim (mayor) owns the company overseeing the 
forest work. 
 
RUSSIA CHECKS BUSES FROM CENTRAL ASIA FOR ILLEGAL MIGRANTS 
 
¶17.  October 15, "Interfax":  Police in the Moskovskaya Oblast of 
Russia stopped a 45-passenger bus with 116 illegal migrants from 
Central Asia.  The courts likely will deport the illegal migrants to 
their home countries.  During Operations "Illegal Migrant" and 
"Bus," the Russian police stopped 14 buses with illegal migrants 
during one month. 
 
ILLEGAL MIGRANTS 
 
¶18.  September 4, "Interfax":  During a joint Committee for National 
Security-Prosecutor General's Office in Kostanai operation, 
migration police found 48 Chinese citizens illegally working in a 
local brick plant.  The workers arrived in Kazakhstan on visitor's 
visas two months earlier. 
 
¶19.  November 4, "Interfax":  Police in Taraz arrested 37 illegal 
migrants from Uzbekistan working on a construction site.  The 
workers arrived on visitor's visas and registered with Kazakhstani 
authorities in the summer, which allowed them to stay in the country 
for up to three months.  Eight workers without documents were placed 
in a detention center pending confirmation of their identities and 
status.  The others are awaiting a court decision on administrative 
fines and deportation.  The construction companies that employed the 
workers will have to pay administrative fines. 
 
KAZAKHSTAN'S MIGRATION CONCEPT AND CIS CONVENTION ON LABOR MIGRANTS 
 
¶20.  December 21, "Interfax":  Kazakhstan is attempting to prevent 
internal migration problems through the development of a national 
internal migration concept.  Administratively, procedures for 
single-family housing construction permits and residency 
registration would be simplified.  This initiative would also 
eliminate the job application requirement of residency certificates, 
which would make available employment to everyone regardless of 
residence or registration.  Socio-economic measures would develop 
poorer regions through the modernization of the transportation and 
energy infrastructure, education, and medical services.  The 
government would establish temporary housing for homeless internal 
migrants. 
 
¶21.  December 11, "Interfax":  The Kazakhstani Parliament agreed to 
ratify the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Convention on 
Labor Migrants.  Kazakhstan signed the convention with every CIS 
state, except Turkmenistan and Moldova, in Chisinau on November 14, 
¶2008.  The convention is expected to reduce the risk of forced labor 
and increase social protections for labor migrants and their 
families. 
 
HOAGLAND