4.11 Programme Office in Astana Activities Related to General Police Development and Reform Police Development and Reform within Security Sector Reform From 12-13 March, the Office, in co-operation  with the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Constitutional Council, the Supreme  Court of Kazakhstan, the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission), and the German Foundation for International Legal Co-operation, organized a roundtable discussion in Ak-Bulak near Almaty. The discussion focused on the application of the new Criminal Procedure Code of Kazakhstan, which entered into force as of 1 January 2015 and major areas of criminal justice modernization.  It  brought together some 60 high-level officials from governmental institutions, the  Constitutional Council, the Supreme Court, and the Presidential Administration as well as parliamentarians and legal experts from Armenia, Germany, and Latvia, and representatives of NGOs, academia, and the Bar Association.  From 12-13 October, the Office, in partnership with the MoIA and the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, co-organized a train-the-trainers course in Almaty on human rights for 11 instructors from the Interior Ministry’s higher educational institutions across the country.  The Bureau’s experts delivered courses with  interactive elements sharing best practices and international experience. The participants  received the handbook “The Protection of Human Rights as a Function and the Responsibility of Police”, which was developed with the support of the Office and is tailored to teach and train  police officers on the legal and practical aspects of human rights protection. Community Policing and PolicePublic Relations From 5-7 October, the Office, the OSCE High Commissioner  on National Minorities (HCNM) and the MoIA co-organized, with support from the  Swiss Embassy in Kazakhstan, a three-day training seminar in Aktobe on best practices and international  standards in policing in multi-ethnic societies. Experts from the Convivenza International Centre for  Minorities in Switzerland as well as representatives of the TNTD/SPMU and the HCNM presented best international practices in implementing multi-ethnic  policing concepts and principles, and their applications in line with the HCNM  Recommendations on Policing in Multi-Ethnic Societies. Approximately 20 senior-level administrative police  officers from across the country and representatives of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan and the Prosecutor General’s Office addressed various issues of police sensitivity  regarding inter-ethnic relations. Experts from the Russian Federation and Ukraine shared  their experience of working in Kyrgyzstan in the framework of the OSCE Community Security Initiative. OSCE Office in Astana trained over 40 police officers on managing public assemblies Ř The Office, the MoIA, and the Ř Experts from Germany, extra-budgetary support of Lithuania, and the UK explained football clubs, and Public the Federal Foreign Office of international standards, safe Councils under the Internal Germany co-organized two tactics, and the legal basis for Affairs Departments explained training seminars in Astana and managing public assemblies and the benefits of partnerships with Almaty for police officers on best maintaining public order and civil society, the importance of practices in managing public security; protecting the rights of journalists assemblies; Ř Approx. 40 high- and mid-level administrative police officers attended; 106 Ř Representatives of NGOs, in managing public assemblies, and the use of stewarding at sporting events.