Doubts about human rights ombudsman

A leading Kazakh human rights activist told IRIN on Thursday that a recent announcement by the government to establish a human rights ombudsman was just window dressing to enhance the image of the country at a time when it has come under criticism for ignoring human rights issues. Yevgeny Zhovtis, director of the independent Kazakh Human Rights Bureau, speaking from the southern Kazakh city of Almaty, said the proposed office of ombudsman was not going to be independent and would therefore be ineffective. "It will not be an independent institution. Its an eye-wash. There is no political will or no real feeling to set up an independent institution," Zhovtis said. Kazakhstan's foreign minister, Kasymzhomart Tokayev, said in Almaty on Tuesday that the country would appoint its first human rights ombudsman by the end of this year.According to the American news agency AP, quoting government officials, Kazakhstan has had a presidential human rights commission since 1994, but the new ombudsman would meant to be more independent and have proper powers. Zhovtis said the ombudsman would be appointed by the president and would not therefore be independent. "The role of the ombudsman is absolutely in contradiction to what the original idea was in 1997," he added, explaining that he left the working groups drafting the proposed law because of this reason in 1999. "His [ombudsman] independence and competence was in question," noted Zhovtis. Kazakhstan has faced mounting international accusations of human rights violations. The US government accuses the Kazakh government of cracking down on dissent and citizen's rights. But foreign minister Tokayev said the government was committed to upholding human rights. "Our highest values are a human being, his/her rights and freedoms," he said at the 58th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva on 19 March. Zhovtis said his bureau alone received on average 4,000 human rights-related complaints each year, ranging from police brutality, detention and state corruption. While Kazakhstan has at least promised to set up an ombudsman's office by the end of the year, there was still no progress on a similar initiative in neighbouring Kyrgyzsatan, a United Nations official told IRIN from the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek. "There is no change, no progress at all on the issue," the official said, explaining that an enabling law had not yet been passed even though the idea of creating a human rights ombudsman was first proposed in 1995. Kyrgyz media reported that even if the authorities and assembly pass such a law, the ombudsman would have to report to the president and the job would be just advisory, without powers to enforce recommendations or punish violators of human rights. Activists in Kyrgyzstan and abroad have called for an independent inquiry into clashes on 17 March between police and protestors in the southwest province of Jalal-abad. The shootings, which left seven dead and scores injured, have been viewed by many as yet another example of deteriorating human rights conditions in the mountainous Central Asian country.