The OSCE Secretariat’s Transnational Threats Department (TNTD) and the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat held a course on digital forensics at the Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkmenistan from 19 to 22 September 2023.

Delivered by international experts, the course introduced over twenty representatives – from the Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Office of the Prosecutor General and the Cybersecurity Services of the “Turkmenaragatnashyk” Agency – to digital forensics, computer data, as well as open-source data analysis tools.

“Today, electronic evidence is crucial. Digital devices are involved in the majority of investigations and can contain critical evidence, regardless of whether the crime took place online or offline,” said Ion Gaina, Head of the IT forensic department at the Forensic and Judicial Expertise Centre of the General Inspectorate of Moldovan Police.

“With the widespread use of digital technologies, digital forensics has become an increasingly important field, and digital forensic capacities are essential to secure electronic evidence that can be used in criminal proceedings,” underlined Giorgi Pirveli, Head of the National Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) under the Ministry of Justice of Georgia.

The course was delivered as part of the extra-budgetary project “Capacity Building on Combating Cybercrime in Central Asia”, funded by the United States, Germany and the Republic of Korea.

This was the second national training event in Turkmenistan that took place as part of this project. The first training course on cybercrime and digital evidence was delivered in May for the same group of participants, with a third course envisaged for November 2023.

Source: Mirage News

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The universal and absolute prohibition of torture has been enshrined in several universal and regional treaties, and all fifty-seven OSCE participating States have ratified the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT). All States parties regularly submit reports to the UN Committee against Torture on measures being taken to implement the rights undertaken under the Convention, and receive recommendations from the Committee.

Against this backdrop, from 18 to 21 July 2023, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan (PCUz), in close collaboration with the National Center for Human Rights of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights – Regional Office for Central Asia (UN OHCHR ROCA) held a specialized training course titled “Professional Development of State Agencies for the Preparation of the Sixth Periodic Report Of Uzbekistan on the Implementation of the [United Nations] Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment” in the Tashkent region.

Thirty senior and mid-level government officials from the Senate and the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis (National Parliament), as well as ministries and agencies gained a deeper understanding of the international practices for the preparation of the periodic state report to the UN Committee against Torture, and examined the importance of ratifying the Optional Protocol to the UNCAT.

In his opening remarks, the Acting OSCE Project Co-ordinator, Ambassador Clemens Koja, underlined that “with the OSCE Ministerial Council Decision 7/20 adopted in 2020, the OSCE participating States have explicitly and unequivocally pledged to uphold the absolute prohibition of torture. In 2017-2023, we have witnessed the serious efforts undertaken by Uzbekistan to identify and eliminate shortcomings in torture prevention, affecting the level of protection of human rights and freedoms.”

Professor Akmal Saidov, First Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, Director of the National Center for Human Rights of the Republic of Uzbekistan noted that “a fundamental right that is recognized in both national laws and international human rights treaties is the prohibition of inhumane treatment and torture. No one may be subjected to torture, violence, or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, declares the new Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan.”

Overall, participants deepened their knowledge of the UNCAT, the substantive state obligations and areas of interest for national reporting process, strengthening national capacity to improve the mechanism for monitoring and implementing the concluding observations of the UN Committee against Torture.

Mr. Jakhongir Azizkhodjaev, Acting Head of the UN OHCHR ROCA stressed that “amnesties for torture are incompatible with the obligations of State parties on absolute prohibition of torture; thus, they shall abstain from granting amnesties to perpetrators of torture and issuing pardons to persons found guilty of committing acts of torture.”

This specialized course was supported in the framework of the PCUz UB project “Promoting Rule of Law, Human Rights and Media Development”.

Source: Mirage News

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ASTANA – Vice President of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), Askar Shakirov, outlined Kazakhstan’s position on key issues on the international agenda at the 30th annual session of the OSCE PA on June 30 – July 4 in Vancouver, Canada, reported the press service of the Kazakh Senate on July 3.  

Hundreds of parliamentarians from North America, Europe and Central Asia are addressing security and cooperation challenges, focusing on cybersecurity issues, prevention of terrorism and violent extremism, including searching for optimal ways to improve the OSCE’s functionality during a period of crisis in international relations.

Shakirov co-authored a resolution on future generations, calling for the promotion of active participation of youth in governance and important decision-making within the Sustainable Development Goals.

The session will continue until July 4, when it will culminate with the adoption of the Vancouver Declaration and the election of assembly officers, including a new president.

Source: Astana Times

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Kazakhstan’s reform efforts after the recent presidential elections could position the country as a key partner for the EU, with the region increasingly slipping out from Russia’s thumb.

In response to the deadly January protests, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev promised comprehensive political and social change, pushing amendments to the country’s laws, including the constitution, approved by the nationwide referendum, which transferred some powers from the executive branch to the legislature.

The early presidential election in November, moved up from the scheduled date in 2024, with Tokayev’s five opponents virtually unknown and none of them scoring double digits faced complaints by the international community about their fairness. An Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) election monitoring report stated that November’s snap election lacked “competitiveness” and showed the need for reforms.

Despite this, the EU had welcomed the “wider political and socio-economic reforms” in the country but urged to “increase political pluralism and citizens’ participation in political life” and to “implement fully” the recommendations of the OSCE.

“We do see that there is a certain debate on certain issues, even if there is no active opposition to the incumbent, but we see an active dialogue taking place, which was unthinkable five or 10 years ago in Kazakhstan,” Alberto Turkstra, Project Manager at Diplomatic World, a quarterly international magazine told a recent EURACTIV event, commenting on the election outcome.

According to him, the new Kazakh administration is likely to be made up of younger reform-minded technocrats, which is part of his wider push to rejuvenate the country’s public service.

“On the economic front, the oligarch casing and the monopolizing the Kazakh economy will require very bold action, ambitious market reform program and confronting powerful and vested economic interest in the economy and rent-seeking behaviours,” Turkstra added.

One significant change following the constitutional referendum in June was that Kazakhstan’s first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, was stripped of powers granted to him when he abruptly stepped down in 2019, after 29 years in power.

Tokayev had also proposed limiting the presidential mandate to a single term of seven years without the right of re-election, a practice in use for popularly elected heads of state in a handful of states in Asia and Latin America, but so far unknown in Central Asia.

“The upcoming parliamentary elections in the first half of 2023 will be a very important opportunity for Kazakhstan to really demonstrate its clear will to embark on a new model of governance,” Dietmar Krissler, Head of Division on Central Asia at the EU’s diplomatic service (EEAS), told the same audience.

This would not only make it possible to develop further its economic relationship with the EU but raise the interest of the bloc to “cooperate closely with Kazakhstan on improving connectivity options”, Krissler added.

Strengthening Eurasian connectivity, experts believe, would also work to balance Russian, Chinese, and Iranian influence in Central Asia.

Ukraine a key turning point

Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, Central Asia’s five former Soviet republics find themselves in a difficult position trying to balance their economic dependency on Russia and their strong support of territorial integrity.

Central Asian countries have increasingly been standing up to Moscow, aware of their new-found leverage as Russia looks to their markets and trade routes in a bid to circumvent Western sanctions.

For Kazakhstan, its neutrality pledge had triggered Russia’s response on several occasions last year, with Moscow cutting off Kazakhstan’s access to a Russia-controlled oil pipeline that Astana relies on to export crude to the EU.

Meanwhile, Russia’s war disrupted overland connectivity via the New Eurasian Land Bridge, also known as Northern Corridor, which passes through currently heavily sanctioned Russian and Belarusian territory.

According to Krissler, the Middle Corridor will not be able to fully replace it as an alternative trade corridor at the expense of Russia in the long-term, an option the EU is currently compiling an assessment on.

Russia’s war on Ukraine has presented a key vantage point for Kazakhstan, with Astana making it clear it does not share the Kremlin’s position on the war and not being willing to provide support.

However, Kazakh leadership is not ready to confront Putin directly, also bearing in mind the country’s 6,000 kilometres-long border with Russia.

Institutionally, the country is bound to Moscow through the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) and the Eurasian Economic Union, and analysts do not expect significant changes without risking an open conflict.

Meanwhile, geopolitical pressure and domestic changes and reforms have been driving Central Asian countries to look for more cooperation among themselves.

“Four out of five presidents of the countries in Central Asia are replaced with a younger generation – we hope that Central Asia will become a very important item in the agenda towards international agenda,” Mukhit Ardager Sydyknazarov, researcher at the Eurasian National University, said.

Source : Eura CTIV

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