New head of Astana OSCE center appointed

Nataliya Zarudna has been appointed head of OSCE center in Astana, Tengrinews.kz reports citing the organization’s official website. She replaced Aleksandr Kelchevskiy as headed of the center. According to Zarudna, the center will further promote observance of human rights in Kazakhstan. She stated this at the meeting in Astana on February 7 that covered implementation of the National Human Rights Activities Plan for 2009-2012 called to improve convicts’ rights. Representatives of the civil society took part in the event and discussed the progress and made several recommendations to continue performance on Kazakhstan’s obligations on protection of democracy and human rights. “Proper observance of right to life and rights of convicts are always among the important direction of OSCE center’s activities,” Zarudna noted.