CAT/OP/KAZ/1/Add.1 Paragraph 70 The Subcommittee recommends setting up a formal system to address the protection of, compensation for and rehabilitation of victims of torture. In accordance with international standards, victims of torture must have an enforceable right to fair and adequate compensation. Even where perpetrators of torture have not been identified, the State party must provide adequate compensation when a civil lawsuit is brought against it. In addition to affirming the formal status of a victim of torture, the State party must provide as full rehabilitation as possible. When an act of torture has been established to have been committed, compensation should automatically be paid. 153. The Ministry of Finance has drafted a bill on a compensation fund for victims and corresponding proposed legislation, which establish a legal basis for the payment of monetary compensation for unlawful criminal prosecution. 154. The aim of the bill is to create favourable legal conditions in which to develop a mechanism to protect the rights of victims, provide a fixed level of financial assistance for victims and their legal representatives and systematize the procedure for financing and disbursing resources by accumulating capital in the fund. 155. The bill proposes the creation of a fund in the form of a cash control account allowing the designated central authority for the execution of the budget to allocate and execute payments to victims. 156. In accordance with the bill, the State guarantees monetary compensation for victims or their successors, as follows: • Minors who are victims of sexual violence, trafficking in persons or torture (30 monthly notional units, or 63,630 tenge); • Persons who have suffered serious harm to their health or have become HIV-positive (40 monthly notional units, or 84,840 tenge); • The successors of victims who died as a result of a criminal offence (50 monthly notional units, or 212,100 tenge). 157. Citizens are entitled to receive this compensation as soon as they have been declared victims. 158. The fund is financed from non-tax revenues, including: • Fixed payments imposed by a court; • Financial penalties imposed by a court on a victim, witness, expert, interpreter or other person, excluding lawyers, procurators and defendants, for non-fulfilment of procedural obligations or violations of court procedure; • Sums withheld by court order from a person against whom a guilty verdict has acquired legal force and who has been sentenced to punitive work; • Sums collected under the recourse procedure. 159. In accordance with article 71 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, victims are made aware of their right to bring a civil claim during criminal proceedings, and compensation is awarded for damage to property caused by a criminal offence, as well as for any expenses incurred in connection with participation in criminal proceedings, including expenses for representation, according to the rules established in the Code. 160. Victims’ claims for moral damages are considered in criminal proceedings. Persons who have not brought claims in criminal proceedings or whose claims have not been considered are entitled to bring them under the civil procedure. 161. As part of the implementation of the plan of comprehensive measures to combat torture, consideration is being given to the possibility of amending article 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in order to establish the State’s exclusive responsibility for torture, which would give effect to its obligations under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, increase the responsibility of government bodies for the actions of their officials and provide guarantees for the non-repetition of torture GE.18-05420 19