National security. Solving the problems of extremism and terrorism in Kazakhstan

14 March, 2018 12:49

The project of the "State Program for Counteracting Religious Extremism and Terrorism in the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2018-2022" has been recently presented at the meeting of the Government of Kazakhstan, prepared by order of the Head of State. It specifies human, society and state security by preventing manifestations of religious extremism and preventing threats of terrorism. The development of such a program is urgent, as today the problem of terrorism and extremism expansion occupies one of the central places on the global agenda. How is this problem solved in our country? Read in the analytical material of the "Strategy2050.kz" Information Agency.

The problems of international terrorism and extremism in recent years have had a significant impact on the internal situation in Kazakhstan. The spread of destructive religious movements and involvement of the population of various social groups and countries in their activities became topical for Kazakhstan. According to the results of "Global terrorism index 2017", Kazakhstan ranked the 67th placement out of 163 countries in terms of terrorism and extremism prevalence.

According to the data on recorded offenses in the territory of Kazakhstan over the past 4 years (2014-2017), there is an increase in the number of crimes related to the terrorist and extremist activities. In 2016 there was a high jump in these indicators, which continued in 2017 (fig. 1). If you look at the types of offenses, it is clearly seen that the crimes related to the propaganda, creation and leadership of a terrorist organization are more common. On the one hand, it tells of the problem of increasing the scale of the spread of extremist ideology and radicalization of Kazakhstan's population, but, on the other hand, it can indicate an increase in the effectiveness of law enforcement bodies.

Figure 1. Dynamics of the number of crimes related to terrorist and extremist activities

According to the Committee on Legal Statistics and Special Accounts of the General Prosecutor's Office of Kazakhstan

Along with the growth of offenses, the number of people brought to the criminal responsibility under these articles also increases consistently. According to the Committee on Legal Statistics and Special Accounts of the General Prosecutor's Office of Kazakhstan, 55 persons were prosecuted for criminal offenses related to extremism and terrorism in 2014, 97 people – in 2015, 175 people - in 2016, 113 people - in 2017.

At the same time, it is worth noting that another information is presented in the Penal Reform International annual report. So, according to the report, in 2014 there were 154 convicts on articles related to extremism and terrorism, in 2015 – 317 people, in 2016 – 554 people. The growth was 3.5 times. The report also notes that the risk of further radicalization of convicts remains in places of deprivation of liberty. According to A. Shambilov, a Regional Director of PRI in Central Asia, a set of effective measures and financial resources, as well as the introduction of new services in the penitentiary system, are needed to address the issue of radicalization in places of deprivation of liberty.

In general, it can be identified that there is an increase in the prosecution of minors (from 1 in 2014 to 7 in 2017) and women (2014 -3, 2017 - 14). In the age range, it is necessary to note persons aged 21-29 years and 30-39 years (fig. 2).

Figure 2. Dynamics of the number of persons brought to the criminal responsibility for articles related to terrorist and extremist activities in the age category

According to the Committee on Legal Statistics and Special Accounts of the General Prosecutor's Office of Kazakhstan

Most people brought to the criminal responsibility are unemployed (more than 70%) and have secondary, secondary professional education, while there is an increase in the number of people with higher education (fig. 3).

Figure 3. Dynamics of the number of persons brought to the criminal responsibility for articles linked by terrorist and extremist activities in the context of education

According to the Committee on Legal Statistics and Special Accounts of the General Prosecutor's Office of Kazakhstan

On the basis of the foregoing, it is possible to identify certain characteristics of adherents of extremist, destructive ideas: they are mostly citizens of Kazakhstan, men aged 21-39, unemployed, with secondary and secondary professional education.

It should be noted that Kazakhstan is taking active measures to combat the spread of radical, destructive ideas. In particular, the Ministry of Religious and Civil Society Affairs has developed and implemented conceptual documents: the Concept of State Policy in the Religious Sphere for 2017-2020, the Strategic Plan for 2017-2021. So, the first strategic direction of the Ministry's activity is the regulation of relations in the sphere of religious activities, interaction with religious associations.

According to the Ministry’s report for 2017, it can be pointed out that the main direction of the Ministry's activity in the sphere of application of preventive measures is the organization of the work of information and explanatory groups (IEGs), as well as methodological support for the activities of government bodies in the religious sphere and support to the activities of NGOs in the field of rehabilitation. So, the work of the IEGs was optimized in 2017. If in 2015 there were 415 IEGs in the regions with the number of 2935 people, in 2017 there were 249 IEGs, consisting of 3496 people. During the reporting period, about 35 thousand events were held with the coverage of 2 million 500 thousand citizens.

Thus, the urgency of the threat in the field of religious relations related to the growth of followers of destructive religious movements is not lost for Kazakhstan, which sets the country's tasks to solve the problem of radicalization of the population and to work out ways of rehabilitation and de-radicalization of the victims of destructive movements.

Amina Urpekova

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