Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

President Nursultan Nazarbayev has enacted changes to Kazakhstan's legislation on fighting terrorism, the presidential press-service said Saturday.

The law on amendments and supplements to some legislative acts of the country on counter-terrorism "is aimed at improving the legal foundation of the state counter-terrorism system", it said.

The president had submitted the document to the Kazakh parliament on November 1, 2012. It envisages amendments to the Criminal Code, the Penal Code, the Code of Administrative Offences and ten laws.

"Prevailing tension, radicalization of some part of the population, and as a consequence, the growth of terrorist activity in the country, necessiate the adopton of the law," the president said then.

The law envisages clear division of powers and authority of the state and local authorities in combating terrorism, regulation of an effective mechanism to coordinate their activities, and eliminating contradictions in the domestic legislation.

The law, which envisions review of the "terrorism" concept, is expected to increase public confidence in the authorities and increasingly involve civil society in the counter-terrorism efforts, its authors believe.

The law provides a fundamentally new definition of terrorism as an ideology of violence and practice of influencing decision-making by government bodies or international organizations by posing a threat of violence and other crimes that are aimed at inflicting damage to individuals, society and state as a whole.

Antiterrorist commissions headed by governors of regions, cities and districts are to be established in regions for the prevention of terrorism.

According to the law, the president will approve the terms of definining the level of terrorism threats in the country, regulations of use of military equipment and arms by military forces during counter-terrorism operations.

Earlier, on November 30, 2011, President Nazarbayev signed amendments to several legislative acts on countering organized criminal, terrorist and extremist activities. The new versions of these laws provide more stringent punishment for terrorism and violent extremism-related crimes.

Kazakhstan cooperates with international and regional organizations to combat terror and other global threats.

Kazakhstan, having chaired the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2010, continued to play an active role in the OSCE's activities to counter transnational threats.

Kazakhstan ratified an agreement to participate in counter-terrorism training programs for Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states on April 19, 2011.

Security Council Secretaries of the SCO countries and officials of the SCO's counter-terrorism body met in Astana on April 29 to discuss ways to ensure security and stability. A group of Central Asian states, including Kazakhstan, approved the regional implementation plan for the UN global counter-terrorism strategy on November 30.

According to the State Department, a number of violent incidents in Central Asia appeared to be the work of terrorists, including several in Kazakhstan in which law enforcement officers were killed. Concerns persisted about the potential threat to the region posed by terrorist elements based in Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan with ties to Central Asia. Governments faced the challenge of responding to such threats effectively while respecting human rights, including civil and political rights and freedom of religion, the State Department said.