What is a state of emergency? What international legal instruments contain standards for respecting human rights during a state of emergency?

All this and more was covered in lectures by professors of law and invited human rights activists during the Central Asian Summer School “Human Rights in the State of Emergency” that took place at KIMEP University from August 3 to 6.
More than 20 lecturers shared their experience and participated in open discussions with students on the following topics:

• Human rights and freedoms in emergency situations, their categorization;
• The concept of limits and restrictions on human rights and freedoms, its consolidation in the sources of law;
• The legal regime of the state of emergency, its limits, and the rule of law.

The best students of law schools and colleges were selected to participate in the Summer School. 18 out of 60 applications for participation were selected from amongst students from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. By working in groups participants presented their practical projects in various areas of emergency.

The main speaker of the Summer School – Commissioner for Human Rights in the Republic of Kazakhstan Elvira Abilkhasimovna Azimova, spoke on the topic: “Work of the Commissioner for Human Rights in the state of
emergency.”

“All student works are interesting. Many aspects of observance of human rights were reflected in students’ cases. Many scenarios and algorithms have been developed for government actions from the point of view of collective interests, including personal rights and human freedoms. During such events students learn and show their critical thinking. We listen to extraordinary opinions,” Elvira Azimova commented.

Elvira Abilkhasimovna stressed the importance of holding such events for all categories of citizens, including government officials and human rights activists.

“To date many countries have experienced emergency situations. State of emergency – a man-made situation, a situation of martial law and riots. Algorithms for ensuring public health, access to food and housing during an emergency are being developed by the state and human rights activists. We must be ready for it,” added Elvira Abilkhasimovna.

The following winners were selected after the defense of the projects: Daniil Litosh (3rd year student, KIMEP), Bakdaulet Abylkhanov (4th year student, Kazakh State Legal University) and Kylymay Sagyndykova (4th year student, Manas University).

Just to remind, the Summer School was initiated by the OSCE Program Office in Nur-Sultan, the US Agency for International Cooperation project “Safe Migration in Central Asia” implemented by Winrock International, and the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Republic of Kazakhstan – Elvira Abilkhasimovna Azimova.