Kazakh Ombudsman Says Citizens Complain Mostly About Rights Violations

Kazakh ombudsman Askar Shakirov says the country's citizens complained to him the most in 2015 about their rights being violated by law enforcement officials.

Shakirov announced his conclusions about 2015 during a meeting with President Nursultan Nazarbaev late on February 24.

He said that Kazakh citizens also complained to him about their rights being violated by courts and jails as well as other state bodies.

The majority of some 1,340 complaints received in 2015 were filed by residents of the capital, Astana, the city of Almaty, the Almaty region, and in central and eastern Kazakhstan.

Shakirov said human rights violations were confirmed in 19 percent of the cases in which the ombudsman received a complaint.

He said that in those cases, measures were taken to compensate or improve the plight of those whose rights were violated.

Based on reporting by KazTAG and Kazinform