经济、社会和文化权利委员会审议吉尔吉斯斯坦的报告（部分翻译）

经济、社会和文化权利委员会

2015年6月2日

经济、社会和文化权利委员会今天结束审议吉尔吉斯斯坦关于其落实《经济、社会及文化权利国际公约》条款情况的第二和第三次合并定期报告。

吉尔吉斯斯坦社会发展部公务秘书巴克图别克•扎克舍诺夫（Baktybek Zhekshenov）在介绍报告时表示，政策和法律的基本宗旨是在国内营造一个公平的社会环境。2013-2017年可持续发展国家战略和一个向可持续发展过渡的方案包含了在国内全面减贫的一套措施，减贫是最严峻的社会问题之一。减贫将与经济增长、环境保护、医疗领域改革以及解决领取抚恤金人员的贫困问题的措施相结合。劳动法纳入了性别平等原则，这给予了父亲母亲们获得福利和保障的权利，禁止基于性别、种族、国籍或政治信仰的歧视。吉尔吉斯斯坦在新设立的人权协调理事会的指导下正处于法律协调化、执法和司法体系改革的进程中。

委员会专家承认吉尔吉斯斯坦在设立人权保护框架和机构方面的努力，并询问了向监察员机构提供的资源和独立性保障的情况。国内的各种资源都十分稀少，这也是存在大量腐败的原因，腐败对公共预算的影响是一个问题；专家询问了受腐败影响最严重的领域的情况以及在打击腐败方面取得的进展。专家注意到，非歧视原则被纳入了宪法，他们询问了通过一个禁止歧视的全面法律体系的计划。经济发展水平落后地区采取了哪些针对性的措施，正如何使用资源来解决区域差异问题？贫困正在增多，目前的儿童贫困率为40%，只有少量家庭享有每月的津贴，因为父母贫穷，进入机构的儿童越来越多。关于男女权利平等问题，专家问到了为改变教育和医疗这两个重要领域收入水平低的问题而采取的措施，教育和医疗领域的主要雇员为女性，专家还询问了确保妇女在劳动市场的权利、土地所有权和住房权的情况。专家在互动讨论中提到的其他问题包括家庭暴力受害者获得司法救助的途径不足；缺乏对家庭暴力的禁止；非正式经济中工人的劳工保护和社会保障；残疾人、外部移徙者、流离失所者的状况；迫迁和母婴死亡问题。

在回应委员会专家提出的问题和意见时，代表团表示，当前的监察员法与《巴黎原则》不一致，新的法律草案目前正经议会讨论。关于法律协调化的专家工作组正在考虑将歧视的定义纳入该法，以落实消除种族歧视委员会提出的建议。执法措施的增多使得国有企业的腐败和贿赂率降低。已通过了适当的法律和政策，包括打击腐败法和国家行动计划，可持续发展国家战略也有一节专门讨论打击腐败问题。2020年性别平等国家战略和国家行动计划旨在通过适当的教育不加区分地确保权利的平等，消除性别歧视、让妇女可以走上法庭并在与妇女的政治和公共参与相关决策中推动性别主流化。

作为吉尔吉斯斯坦报告的国家发言人，委员会专家阿斯兰• 阿巴希泽（Aslan Abashidze）在总结发言中强调，专家在对话中提出的所有问题都旨在了解状况以及如何遵循公约做出改善，他促请代表团在国内开放和参与性社会中讨论这些问题。

扎克舍诺夫先生在总结发言时表示，委员会的结论性意见将为该国继续工作提供新的动力，本次对话将是吉尔吉斯斯坦改善其人权体系之路的重要里程碑。

委员会主席瓦利德•萨迪（Waleed SADI）在总结发言时促请吉尔吉斯斯坦在各个层面仔细审议委员会的结论性意见，提升对它们的意识并让它们产生影响。

委员会主席瓦利德•萨迪（Waleed SADI）在总结发言时促请吉尔吉斯斯坦在各个层面仔细审议委员会的结论性意见，提升对它们的意识并让它们产生影响。

委员会将在为期三周的届会结束之际发表其关于吉尔吉斯斯坦报告的正式书面结论性意见和建议，届会将于2015年6月19日结束。

委员会下一次公开会议将于今日下午3点召开，届时开始审议委内瑞拉的第三次定期报告（E/C.12/VEN/3）。

报告

吉尔吉斯斯坦的第二和第三次合并定期报告可在此查看：E/C.12/KGZ/2-3。

Presentation of the Report

BAKTYBEK ZHEKSHENOV, Official Secretary of the Ministry of Social Development of Kyrgyzstan, reaffirmed the will of Kyrgyzstan to further improve legislation and bring it in line with international standards, which was the purpose of the 2010 legislative reform. Kyrgyzstan was the first country in Central Asia which had adopted parliamentary democracy. The October 2012 open and democratic elections had marked the beginning of a new era of peaceful transfer of power. In 2015, the population of Kyrgyzstan numbered 5.7 million and was relatively young, with a growing birth rate, and 66 per cent living in rural areas. Developing a fair social situation in the country was the fundamental purpose of policy and legislation, including the National Strategy for Sustainable Development 2013-2017. A programme for the transition to sustainable development contained a set of measures to comprehensively reduce poverty in the country, which represented one of the most difficult social problems. Human development and reduction of poverty would remain key priorities for the Government, and would be coupled with measures for economic growth and conservation of the environment. The reduction of poverty was also assisted with the programme for the reform of the health sector, which aimed to ensure protection of the health of the population as a whole and each individual regardless of their socio-economic status. Reducing the level of poverty among pensioners was another important issue and the main problem was to increase pensions to the level of minimum wage.

Labour relations were regulated by the Constitution and the Labour Code and other laws and decrees. The existing Labour Code had been developed with consideration for International Labour Organization conventions and aimed to provide for proper working conditions and protect the rights of employers and employees. The labour legislation incorporated the principle of gender equality giving mothers and fathers the right to benefits and guarantees, and it prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex, race, nationality, or political beliefs. One tenth of the population worked abroad, mainly in Russia and Kazakhstan. The National Strategy for Gender Equality 2020 included priority actions in the area of economic empowerment of women, creation of functional education, eliminating gender discrimination and increasing women’s access to justice, and political equality, while the new law on statistics included gender indicators for all collected statistics. The Penal Code contained a separate article on kidnapping women for purposes of marriage, and if a victim was a minor this was an aggravating circumstance. A conceptual framework had been developed to guide the process of legal harmonization and the reform of the law enforcement and judicial system; this process was guided by the newly established Coordinating Council which was also in charge of coordinating action in the area of human rights and international protection law.

Questions from Experts

ASLAN ABASHIDZE, Committee Expert acting as Country Rapporteur, recognized the efforts of Kyrgyzstan in submitting reports to various treaty bodies and noted the five-year delay in submitting the report to this Committee. The report, which covered the period 1999-2012 lacked sufficient data and statistics, which made it difficult for the Committee to assess whether progress had been achieved. The new Constitution had been adopted in 2010 and legislative reform was on the way, noted the Country Rapporteur, asking about what was being done to bring older laws in line with the Constitution, particularly in relation to socio-economic and cultural rights. Resources were scarce in the country and that was why it was important to address corruption: what steps were being taken to stamp it out and what progress had been achieved? What was the position of the Covenant in the judicial practice and with regard to the ratification of the Optional Protocol? Mr. Abashidze also asked about intentions concerning the ratification of the Optional Protocol and the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and whether Kyrgyzstan intended to pass the umbrella law prohibiting discrimination. What was the State doing to address women’s rights in the labour market, in the possession of land titles, and in housing?

Concerning the issue of corruption, a Committee Expert asked about the significance of the statistics provided by Kyrgyzstan and which period it covered, areas most affected by corruption, the estimated cost of corruption, and the impact on the public budget of the wide-spread corruption. On equal rights of men and women, what was being done to address the low level of salaries in the important sectors of education and health, where women represented the majority of employees?

Another Committee Expert recognized the efforts to create a framework for the protection of human rights institutions and asked about coordination between various initiatives. The delegation was asked about resources provided to the Institution of Ombudsman and how much of the needs it covered, how the independence of the Ombudsman was guaranteed and which steps were undertaken to bring it up to status A. What was the purpose of the Law on Foreign Agents, which was important because it kept the non-governmental organization community as alive and active as possible?

With regard to gender equality, the delegation was asked about the priority areas contained in the National Strategy for Gender Equality and whether combatting violence against women was therein included, the Inter-Agency Working Group for the implementation of the National Action Plan for Gender Equality 2012-2014, and if the prohibition of discrimination included grounds of sexual orientation.

Although Kyrgyzstan did not have a comprehensive law prohibiting discrimination, the principle of non-discrimination was included in the Constitution, noted another Expert and asked about the new bill in discussion in the Parliament concerning same sex unions. What targeted measures were being taken in regions which were falling behind in terms of economic development and how were resources being used to address regional disparity?

WALEED SADI, Committee Chairperson, asked about the extent of awareness about the Covenant among law and policy makers.

About 90 per cent of workers did not have work contracts which meant that they did not enjoy labour protection and social security. There were also concerns about the situation of external migrants who might not be adequately protected. People did not contribute to social funds because of mistrust, which meant that funding for the benefits was not available; what were the reasons for this mistrust? The budget for monthly allowance for low income families with children was being reduced and it seemed that funds were being allocated to the construction of boarding schools – was this the correct setting of priorities?

The delegation was asked how more informal workers could be brought into the formal employment system, and about the pension system and how pensions were set, unemployment rates in the country, social protection of families of external migrants, trade unions, the 2014 amendments to the Criminal Code which allowed the imprisonment of directors of important companies for failure or stoppage of production, and the system of quotas for the employment of persons with disabilities.

ASLAN ABASHIDZE, Committee Expert acting as Country Rapporteur, took up the issue of the right to work and noted that refugees and foreigners with permanent residence permits were allowed to work. What was being done to help former prisoners adapt to labour market and find work, and what compensation was provided for occupational diseases?

Response by the Delegation

There were eight Expert Working Groups in the country which were in charge of analyzing the situation in various areas of the law in the process of legislative harmonization. Those Working Groups were also considering the inclusion of the definition of discrimination in the law in order to implement the recommendation made by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The provisions of the Covenant were part and parcel of the legal system and judges reached decisions on the basis of laws and international treaties ratified by Kyrgyzstan; the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was being considered.

There were three human rights institutions in the country, namely the Institute of Ombudsmen, the Coordinating Council and the National Centre for the Prevention of Torture. The current law on Ombudsmen was not in line with the Paris Principles; the draft law had been prepared by the Ombudsmen and was now before the Parliament. Ratification of the Optional Protocol did involve financial implications and the State needed more time to consider their ratification.

Law enforcement had been increased and had led to the decrease of corruption in State enterprises, and there was less incidence of bribe offering. Appropriate legislation and policies had been adopted, including the Law on Combatting Corruption and the National Action Plan, while the whole section of the National Strategy for Sustainable Development was dedicated to fighting corruption. In 2014, a total of 1,803 verifications had been undertaken: 800 complaints, 361 warnings and 200 criminal and disciplinary cases, and 540 other judicial cases. Disciplinary action had been taken against more than 300 persons; 192 verifications had been carried out on the Law on State Procurement, leading to administrative and disciplinary actions against more than 60 persons. Most of the corruption cases were found among local authorities, and involved a number of very diverse sectors.

The draft Law on Foreign Agents provided for the registration of foreign entities and aimed to provide for transparency of non-governmental organizations. During the first reading it had been assessed that this law could have negative implications on non-commercial organizations, including on humanitarian non-governmental organizations. The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons draft law had been tabled in March 2014, aimed to put an end to propaganda among minors who had not yet formed an opinion about this issue; the draft law did not aim to discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons.

The Labour Law dealt with employment and was implemented through regional divisions of the Ministry of Labour. Programmes were in place to promote the employment of the population and to address external migration. The economically active population was over two million, while the unemployment rate was eight per cent. A State-funded programme was in place, supporting a great number of people to access vocational training or temporary jobs, while others created their own jobs. The increase of minimum wage was based on the principle of the incremental increase to allow it to reach minimum living wage. Kyrgyzstan had ratified 53 International Labour Organization conventions, including those relating to migrants who had the same rights as nationals with the exception of the right to vote. There were programmes to support the integration of refugees in local communities, and one of the measures was to offer an opportunity to take Kyrgyz citizenship.

Questions from Experts

A Committee Expert expressed concern about the lack of access to justice for victims of domestic violence, who were also discouraged from reporting the violence to the police, and asked about the law on domestic violence.

Only 28 per cent of registered patients with HIV/AIDS received anti-retroviral drugs, noted another Expert, asking why this rate was so low and whether there were intentions to switch to generic drugs which were much cheaper.

The delegation was asked about the intention with regard to the adoption of an adequate housing policy which would take into consideration the specific needs of vulnerable groups, rural communities and internal migrants, and if it planned to set up a national programme to address the increasing phenomenon of homelessness; the mechanism of redress for medical malpractice; measures to address forced evictions and bring them to the standard advocated by the Committee, and in particular when minority groups were involved; actions to reduce maternal mortality; and to comment on the rising poverty rates and the reasons behind this.

Child poverty had been increasing since 2010 and was now at more than 40 per cent; the monthly allowance covered only a small number of families and did not allow adequate addressing of the problem. Children were increasingly institutionalized because their parents were poor. How did Kyrgyzstan ensure that placement and institutional care were used as measures of last resort and how were these institutions monitored? About 14 per cent of the population were food insecure and 43 per cent of the children below the age of five suffered from anaemia: what would the State Food Security and Nutrition programme change in this regard and how would funds be ensured for this?

Bride kidnapping was a widely spread practice in rural and urban areas, noted an Expert, welcoming the harsher sentence for the act: how many persons had been arrested and convicted for the crime in 2013 and 2014 and how was the law enforced? The Code of Administrative Liability was applied for light bodily harm, while the Criminal Code was applied in cases of grave bodily harm – would domestic violence, physical and psychological be criminalized, and would it cover also unmarried couples?

Response by the Delegation

Gender-based discrimination, including in salaries, was prohibited in the Labour Law and in other pieces of legislation. Most women tended to work in social sectors, where salaries were lower than in the mining sector for example, where most men worked. Since 2010, salaries in the social sectors had seen a three-fold increase. There was also no discrimination between men and women in ownership of land and land titles. As for the informal economy, Kyrgyzstan aimed to ensure that employees received regular wages and minimum social standards, for which they needed to sign a contract. A number of measures were being undertaken to increase health and safety at work, particularly in preventing work place accidents. The International Labour Organization supported Kyrgyzstan in providing safe and decent work. The activities of the trade unions were set in the International Labour Organization Convention 98 which dealt with the question of collective bargaining, which was applied in Kyrgyzstan. In additions, citizens could establish political parties, trade unions and other associations to fulfil their economic, social, cultural and political interests.

A law on the rights of people with limited capabilities was in place and provided for medical, educational, social and labour assistance. All companies with more than 20 employees had an obligation to fulfil a quota for employment of persons with disabilities; more than 700 jobs were available through this scheme, which were occupied by over 150 persons with disabilities.

In 2006, 63 per cent of workers were employed in the informal economy, generating more than half of the gross domestic product; in 2013, 59 per cent were in the informal economy. Measures to reduce the size of the informal economy included reducing barriers to entrepreneurship, assessing the impact and size of the informal economy and raising awareness. A programme was in place to increase accessibility to long-term mortgage loans and so create a favourable environment in which people could acquire adequate housing; some persons would be allocated free housing. Land was being made available for construction of multi-storey buildings, often in public-private partnership.

Measures to combat corruption were coordinated by a secretariat in charge of local government executives and the prevention of corruption. The drafting of a policy for the prevention of corruption started in 2014, and relevant articles of the United Nations Convention against Corruption were being applied. Public prosecutors and the Ministry of Internal Affairs were working on implementing the 2013 Law on the Protection of Family, and 53 cases of domestic violence had been filed in courts. Kyrgyzstan had opted for humanization of the criminal legislation in keeping with international recommendations: if domestic violence was not excessive, administrative penalties were handed down; if certain thresholds were exceeded, then criminal sanctions were put in place. In June, the work would start on establishing a help line for victims of violence, led by the Ombudsmen. Violence was considered domestic violence even if couple was not officially married.

A law had been adopted on the protection of breastfeeding and the reduction of the marketing of infant food. All children from grade one to grade four received food from school cafeterias; $10 million had been earmarked for this activity. A United Nations World Food Programme project started to support the transition of 250 schools to the provision of hot meals; currently, 134 schools provided hot meals.

The 2012-2016 State programme to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS provided methodological support to health centres, social workers and people living with HIV/AIDS and their families. The Law on HIV/AIDS stipulated the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS and aimed to remove stigma against them; the violation of medical secrets was sanctioned by the Criminal Code. Children with HIV/AIDS received monthly allowances. The 2014 Law guaranteed confidentiality to children with HIV/AIDS by considering them in the same group with children suffering from other diseases, such as cerebral palsy, and considered them all as children with restricted abilities. The law also changed the procedure for requesting the monthly allowance. Maternal mortality was due to poverty, migration and non-qualified medical assistance. The Ministry of Health was carrying out initiatives to reduce anaemia amongst women and children, but those programmes were underfunded. A programme 2013-2017 planned improvements in 11 boarding institutions; it was also planned to reduce by 3 per cent per year the number of children in those institutions and to ensure that they went back to their families.

Kyrgyzstan was not in a position to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at the moment, but the commitment was there and it would be done eventually. Kyrgyzstan had developed the National Strategy for Gender Parity 2020 and the National Action Plan which aimed to ensure the equality of rights for all without distinction, through appropriate education, eliminating gender discrimination, access of women to courts and promoting gender mainstreaming in decisions concerning political and public participation of women. The Ministry of Social Development was the body in charge of gender equality.

Questions from Experts

In a further series of questions and comments, a Committee Expert asked about the situation of unregistered marriages, in particular with regard to the dissolution of the union and access to social services for the children if the father emigrated. Were there any intentions to establish social protection floors and were there contacts with the International Labour Organization in this regard?

The delegation was asked about education and access to school for foreign children, the pollution, definition of family, poverty and regional disparities in development, and why only 40 per cent of the population with disability received general social benefits but not disability benefits.

Response from the Delegation

Measures were in place to improve inter-ethnic relations based on the principle of the commitment to democratic values and the sense of statehood and territorial unity, recognizing diversity in unity, and cultural diversity and heritage of all. The Constitution said that the State language was Kirgiz, and Russian could be used alongside it; all ethnic minorities had the right to use and be educated in their mother tongues. Kirgiz, Russian, Uzbek and Tajik were the languages used in schools.

Women had the same rights in registered and unregistered marriages. It was at the discretion of the court to decide whether to allow divorce proceedings for the dissolution of unregistered marriages. With regard to the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, the delegation stressed that discrimination on the basis of gender or sexual orientation was prohibited.

Concluding Remarks

ASLAN ABASHIDZE, Committee Expert acting as a Country Rapporteur, emphasized that all the questions aimed to understand the situation and how improvements could be made in compliance with the Covenant. Those questions should be discussed in Kyrgyzstan, which had an open and engaged society.

BAKTYBEK ZHEKSHENOV, Official Secretary of the Ministry of Social Development of Kyrgyzstan, thanked the Committee Experts for their understanding and support and said that the Committee’s concluding observations would provide new impetus in pursuing the work in the country. The dialogue would be an important landmark on its path to improve the human rights system and Kyrgyzstan would continue to provide a follow up: this was a long and complex process which required involvement of all levels and groups in the society. Unfortunately, the time available for replies was not sufficient and this should be taken into consideration by the Committee for future reference. Kyrgyzstan was ensuring to bring its legislation and practices in conformity with the letter and the spirit of the International Covenant.

WALEED SADI, Committee Chairperson, also thanked the delegation for their efforts in explaining Kyrgyzstan’s commitment under the Covenant. The majority-women delegation was a signal about the situation of women in the country, which was an important aspect for the Committee. The concluding observations should be carefully considered by the Government at all levels and made relevant because they would point out the lingering omissions in the system.

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