AKIPRESS.COM - A train-the-trainers seminar and master class aimed at enhancing knowledge and skills of police academy instructors on human rights began today in Astana, the press service of the Centre said October 22.

The three-day event is co-organized by the OSCE Centre Astana in partnership with the Interior Ministry and the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law for some 30 police instructors from across the country. The master class is the continuation of a series of similar training events in the framework of the Centre’s multiyear efforts to promote democratic policing in Kazakhstan. Its agenda reflects new developments in Kazakhstan’s legal and criminal justice reform as well as changes in the human rights course as an integral part of the curriculum at police academies.

“Respect for human rights is not only one of the tools to ensure stability, security and prosperity, and an important factor in reducing crime and enhancing public trust in the authorities, but also one of the most effective weapons to counter transnational threats, challenges and security risks,” said Ambassador Natalia Zarudna, Head of the OSCE Centre in Astana. “In light of ongoing legislative reform in Kazakhstan, related to law enforcement activities, as well as growing regional security threats, this issue has a special relevance,” she added.

Daulen Akhmetov, Senior Inspector for Special Assignments at the Department of Personnel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said: “Since this project began in 2010, it has shown clear and tangible results. Instructors from all over Kazakhstan value this training, especially as an opportunity to meet their colleagues and exchange their ideas, methods and instruments for teaching the human rights course, with the support of Kazakhstan’s leading human rights defenders as trainers.”.

During the three-day training seminar, the Bureau’s experts will conduct courses with interactive elements sharing best practices and international experience. The participants will receive a handbook in Kazakh and Russian languages tailored to teach and train police officers on legal and practical aspects of human rights protection.

The previous train-the-trainer and master class events in the framework of this project on democratic policing were held in 2010, 2012 and 2013.