ID :
177891
Tue, 04/26/2011 - 09:57
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/177891
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HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/
(continuation)
Academic Freedom and Cultural Events--There were no government restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.
Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association--The law provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the government generally respected these rights in practice.
Freedom of Religion--For a complete description of religious freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov.
Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of Refugees, and Stateless Persons
The law provides for freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation, and the government generally respected these rights in practice. The government generally cooperated with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations in providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, and other persons of concern.
Foreign residents must obtain exit visas to leave the country. Public and private entities increasingly used the visa requirement to pressure foreign investors to settle commercial disputes, effectively detaining them until they settled or underwent a full investigatory process, which could be lengthy. However, even after a dispute is settled, a claim can be refiled in the same venue, if local police and prosecutors are willing, or in a different venue. The law prohibits forced exile, and the government did not use it.
Protection of Refugees
The country is not a party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees. However, the constitution provides for the right to asylum, and in practice the government provided protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
Citizenship is inherited from parents. Refugees are considered illegal migrants and as such do not have access to basic services such as health care and education, nor are they allowed to work. The UNHCR reported that "stateless persons are unable to enjoy their most fundamental rights such as the right education, health care, and an adequate standard of living." According to statistics provided by the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs and the Immigration Agency, in December there were 29 individuals who were stateless and under consideration for naturalization. Most had renounced their original citizenship in the process of applying for Mongolian citizenship. By law the procedure to acquire and/or reacquire Mongolian nationality should take no more than six months, but in reality it often took considerably longer.
The Immigration Agency does not consider ethnic Kazakhs to be stateless without verification with Kazakh authorities that they are not Kazakh citizens. The UNHCR reported that many thousands of ethnic Kazakh Mongolians renounced their Mongolian nationality upon moving to Kazakhstan in the early 1990s, but many who were unable to gain Kazakh citizenship returned to Mongolia, where they became stateless. The UNHCR reported that the process of reacquiring Mongolian nationality was long and complicated and recommended improving the implementation of relevant laws. In addition observers cited the lack of awareness regarding the relevant legal framework as a reason for statelessness. Furthermore, the process of verification with the Kazakh government was protracted.
Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government
The law provides citizens the right to change their government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice through periodic elections based on universal suffrage. The law limits the president to two four-year terms. Parliamentary and local elections are held separately, also for four-year terms.
The law provides that the majority party in the parliament, in consultation with the president, shall appoint the prime minister. Members of the parliament may serve as cabinet ministers. There is no requirement that the prime minister or other ministers be a member of the parliament.
Elections and Political Participation
In the most recent presidential election, held in May 2009, the former prime minister and candidate of the opposition Democratic Party, Tsakhia Elbegdorj, defeated MPP incumbent Nambar Enkhbayar. Independent observers described the election as largely free and fair.
The potential for bias within the General Election Commission was a concern, particularly for smaller political parties. Four of the nine commissioners belonged to the MPRP and three to the Democratic Party prior to becoming commissioners and cancelling their memberships, as required by law.
Political parties could operate without restriction or outside interference. There were 17 political parties registered with the Supreme Court. There were no legal impediments to the participation of women or minorities in government and politics, but their numbers remained small. There were three women in the 76-member parliament. One of the 15 cabinet ministers was a woman, as were seven of the 17 Supreme Court justices. Women and women's organizations were vocal in local and national politics and actively sought greater female representation in government policymaking. There were three ethnic Kazakhs serving in the parliament. There were two members of minority groups serving in the cabinet or Supreme Court.
Official Corruption and Government Transparency
The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; however, the government did not always implement the law effectively, and officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. Corruption was perceived to be a serious and continuing problem at all levels of government, particularly within the judiciary and customs service. Varying degrees of corruption at most levels of government resulted in a blurring of the lines between the public and private sectors. Conflicts of interest were frequent. The problem was compounded by ineffective governmental oversight bodies and media that frequently failed to expose corruption.
Corruption in law enforcement agencies was endemic. The government's Independent Agency Against Corruption investigated some police officers but did not make public the results of any such investigations.
The criminal code proscribes the acceptance of bribes by officials and provides for fines or imprisonment of up to five years. It also outlaws offering bribes to government officials. Members of the parliament are immune from prosecution during their tenure, preventing a number of allegations of corruption from going to trial. Corruption-related arrests and convictions were rare but increasing.
The anticorruption agency, which is responsible for investigating corruption cases, declared that nearly all of the most senior officials complied with the requirement to declare their assets and income (and those of relatives, including spouses, parents, children, and live-in siblings). The agency also is required to review the asset declarations of public servants, including police officers and members of the military, and this was carried out in practice. The agency received 427 reports of improprieties during the year, of which it referred more than 46 for criminal investigation.
Government and parliamentary decision making was not transparent, and public legislative hearings were rare. Meetings of the parliament's standing committees were not open to the press or the public. Nevertheless, in May the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Legal Affairs held a hearing in which parliamentarians questioned officials who allegedly violated anticorruption statutes. General sessions of the parliament were largely open to the public, although not in all cases.
There was no law providing for public access to government information. The far-reaching State Secrets Law inhibited freedom of information and government transparency while at the same time undermining accountability. The law also hindered citizen participation in policy discussions and government oversight.
(to be continued)
(continuation)
Academic Freedom and Cultural Events--There were no government restrictions on academic freedom or cultural events.
Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association--The law provides for freedom of assembly and association, and the government generally respected these rights in practice.
Freedom of Religion--For a complete description of religious freedom, please see the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report at www.state.gov.
Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of Refugees, and Stateless Persons
The law provides for freedom of movement within the country, foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation, and the government generally respected these rights in practice. The government generally cooperated with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations in providing protection and assistance to refugees, asylum seekers, and other persons of concern.
Foreign residents must obtain exit visas to leave the country. Public and private entities increasingly used the visa requirement to pressure foreign investors to settle commercial disputes, effectively detaining them until they settled or underwent a full investigatory process, which could be lengthy. However, even after a dispute is settled, a claim can be refiled in the same venue, if local police and prosecutors are willing, or in a different venue. The law prohibits forced exile, and the government did not use it.
Protection of Refugees
The country is not a party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees. However, the constitution provides for the right to asylum, and in practice the government provided protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
Citizenship is inherited from parents. Refugees are considered illegal migrants and as such do not have access to basic services such as health care and education, nor are they allowed to work. The UNHCR reported that "stateless persons are unable to enjoy their most fundamental rights such as the right education, health care, and an adequate standard of living." According to statistics provided by the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs and the Immigration Agency, in December there were 29 individuals who were stateless and under consideration for naturalization. Most had renounced their original citizenship in the process of applying for Mongolian citizenship. By law the procedure to acquire and/or reacquire Mongolian nationality should take no more than six months, but in reality it often took considerably longer.
The Immigration Agency does not consider ethnic Kazakhs to be stateless without verification with Kazakh authorities that they are not Kazakh citizens. The UNHCR reported that many thousands of ethnic Kazakh Mongolians renounced their Mongolian nationality upon moving to Kazakhstan in the early 1990s, but many who were unable to gain Kazakh citizenship returned to Mongolia, where they became stateless. The UNHCR reported that the process of reacquiring Mongolian nationality was long and complicated and recommended improving the implementation of relevant laws. In addition observers cited the lack of awareness regarding the relevant legal framework as a reason for statelessness. Furthermore, the process of verification with the Kazakh government was protracted.
Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government
The law provides citizens the right to change their government peacefully, and citizens exercised this right in practice through periodic elections based on universal suffrage. The law limits the president to two four-year terms. Parliamentary and local elections are held separately, also for four-year terms.
The law provides that the majority party in the parliament, in consultation with the president, shall appoint the prime minister. Members of the parliament may serve as cabinet ministers. There is no requirement that the prime minister or other ministers be a member of the parliament.
Elections and Political Participation
In the most recent presidential election, held in May 2009, the former prime minister and candidate of the opposition Democratic Party, Tsakhia Elbegdorj, defeated MPP incumbent Nambar Enkhbayar. Independent observers described the election as largely free and fair.
The potential for bias within the General Election Commission was a concern, particularly for smaller political parties. Four of the nine commissioners belonged to the MPRP and three to the Democratic Party prior to becoming commissioners and cancelling their memberships, as required by law.
Political parties could operate without restriction or outside interference. There were 17 political parties registered with the Supreme Court. There were no legal impediments to the participation of women or minorities in government and politics, but their numbers remained small. There were three women in the 76-member parliament. One of the 15 cabinet ministers was a woman, as were seven of the 17 Supreme Court justices. Women and women's organizations were vocal in local and national politics and actively sought greater female representation in government policymaking. There were three ethnic Kazakhs serving in the parliament. There were two members of minority groups serving in the cabinet or Supreme Court.
Official Corruption and Government Transparency
The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; however, the government did not always implement the law effectively, and officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. Corruption was perceived to be a serious and continuing problem at all levels of government, particularly within the judiciary and customs service. Varying degrees of corruption at most levels of government resulted in a blurring of the lines between the public and private sectors. Conflicts of interest were frequent. The problem was compounded by ineffective governmental oversight bodies and media that frequently failed to expose corruption.
Corruption in law enforcement agencies was endemic. The government's Independent Agency Against Corruption investigated some police officers but did not make public the results of any such investigations.
The criminal code proscribes the acceptance of bribes by officials and provides for fines or imprisonment of up to five years. It also outlaws offering bribes to government officials. Members of the parliament are immune from prosecution during their tenure, preventing a number of allegations of corruption from going to trial. Corruption-related arrests and convictions were rare but increasing.
The anticorruption agency, which is responsible for investigating corruption cases, declared that nearly all of the most senior officials complied with the requirement to declare their assets and income (and those of relatives, including spouses, parents, children, and live-in siblings). The agency also is required to review the asset declarations of public servants, including police officers and members of the military, and this was carried out in practice. The agency received 427 reports of improprieties during the year, of which it referred more than 46 for criminal investigation.
Government and parliamentary decision making was not transparent, and public legislative hearings were rare. Meetings of the parliament's standing committees were not open to the press or the public. Nevertheless, in May the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Legal Affairs held a hearing in which parliamentarians questioned officials who allegedly violated anticorruption statutes. General sessions of the parliament were largely open to the public, although not in all cases.
There was no law providing for public access to government information. The far-reaching State Secrets Law inhibited freedom of information and government transparency while at the same time undermining accountability. The law also hindered citizen participation in policy discussions and government oversight.
(to be continued)
