The two-day event brings together parliamentarians and representatives from the Ministries of Interior and Justice, law enforcement agencies, prosecutor’s offices and civil society from Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.

"The aim of the roundtable discussion is to raise practitioners’ and policymakers’ awareness of the good law enforcement practices identified in the OSCE Guidebook on Democratic Policing, and to identify recommendations for incorporating these practices into daily work," said Manuel Marion, Deputy Head of the OSCE Strategic Police Matters Unit (SPMU).

The event was organized by the OSCE SPMU in co-operation with the Kazakh Interior Ministry and the OSCE Centre in Astana. It will focus on three essential aspects of democratic policing - police powers, police ethics and human rights in the context of arrest, detention, custody; public order management; and mechanisms and instruments for controlling and measuring police activities.

"A central feature of democratic policing is the notion of policing with the consent of the people," said Jeannette Kloetzer, Deputy Head of the OSCE Centre. "A prerequisite for gaining public support is providing for transparency of police operations and cultivating communication and mutual understanding between the public and the police."

"In recent times, the Parliament of Kazakhstan has actively worked on reforming legislation related to police activity," added Nikolai Turetskiy, a Member of the Kazakh Parliament. "One of the main focuses of this process has been to strengthen democratic policing practices and to enhance co-operation between the police and the public."

The Government of Sweden provided financial support for the roundtable discussion. The OSCE Guidebook on Democratic Policing, which was developed in 2006, serves as a reference for internationally adopted norms and standards and good policing principles.