Amirkhan Amanbaev with the Kazakhstan prosecutor general’s office said [RFE/RL report] Monday that the newly adopted Kazakhstan Criminal Procedural code will require police to read suspects their rights when making arrests. The suspects’ rights are based on the Miranda warnings [Miranda v. Arizona] used in America and will require the police to warn the suspect that anything they say will be used against them, that they have the right to a lawyer and that they have the right to remain silent. Media outlets in Kazakhstan said it is the first nation to have Miranda Warnings “on the books.” Amanbaev also reported that the new criminal code will include provisions for potential plea bargaining [text].

Kazakhstan’s [JURIST news archive] new criminal procedural code is a vast change the bill passed [JURIST report] in May 2010 by the Kazakhstan parliament, which gave the president vast powers making the president almost completely untouchable. Since then Kazakhstan has drawn criticism for its human rights abuses. In April the UN urged [JURIST report] Kazakhstan to end mandatory registration of religious communities. In November of 2012 a Kazakhstan court upheld [JURIST report] the conviction of an outspoken opposition leader accused of inciting dissent in an attempt to overthrow the country’s government.