On April 15, 2021, the Teams platform hosted an open lecture by Marat Aldangorovich Sarsembayev, Doctor of Law, Professor of the Department of International Law of the L.N. Gumilyov ENU on the topic "The legal status of the UN Commission on Human Rights" for students and teachers.
The lecture focused on the role of the UN human rights committees. In particular, the place of the UN Committees against Torture and on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women was widely discussed. The Committee against Torture (CPT) is a body of 10 independent experts that monitors the implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment by States parties. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is a body of independent experts that monitors the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women by States parties.
Marat Aldangorovich Sarsembayev cited statistics on the number of complaints filed with the UN committees. According to him, Kazakhstanis rarely file complaints to the committees. In terms of the number of complaints filed, our country ranks 4th in the post-Soviet space. But despite this, there are positive decisions regarding the citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan. As an example of positive decisions, he cited the cases of A. Gerasimov and A. Belousova.
The lecturer also drew attention to the problem of implementing positive decisions of the UN committees on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan. According to him, one of the solutions to this problem can be the creation of an interdepartmental commission with the participation of state bodies and international organizations in the field of human rights protection. It was suggested that the positive decisions of the UN committees should be considered as newly discovered circumstances in court cases. Marat Aldangorovich suggests considering the decisions of the UN committees not as recommendations, but as binding documents, since under the law of international treaties, our country must comply with all the obligations that were spelled out in international conventions.
A number of other measures are proposed in this direction. For example, the adoption of relevant laws concerning methods of protection against torture. It is also proposed to introduce the concept of "duty prosecutor" in the law "On the Prosecutor's Office". It is assumed that in this way, a "duty prosecutor" will act in each police department, which will serve to increase the transparency of court cases.
The right of citizens to peaceful assembly was much discussed at the meeting. In this area, the lecturer also proposes to adopt a new legal act that affects the guarantees regarding the rights of citizens to peaceful assembly.
At the end of the main report, the audience was able to ask questions and exchange thoughts. So, the 3rd-year doctoral student Kostyanaya Yulia and the 3rd-year student Abdurakhman Batukhan at the end of the lecture asked questions about freedom of speech, to which she received a comprehensive answer from the professor.
The audience of the open lecture was satisfied and thanked Marat Aldangorovich for an interesting lecture.
