Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan’s Criminal Code has an HIV-specific law, Article 118, which states that putting another person at risk of contracting HIV is punishable with up to 50 days in jail, community service, or a fine. The penalty is increased to up to five years’ imprisonment when HIV is transmitted. Disclosure prior to sex leading to informed consent is a defence to prosecution, however.

Article 117 of the Criminal Code criminalises knowing transmission of other sexual transmitted infections with a much lower penalty. Unlike with HIV, ‘exposure’ does not appear to be criminalised under this provision.

We are aware of multiple HIV-related criminal cases, many of which are recent. One highly concerning case from 2017 involved a man found criminally liable for transmitting HIV to his female partner and, indirectly, to her child as the woman was unaware of her HIV-positive status and had breastfed the child.

In 2019, a man was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment under part 3 of Article 118 for intentionally infecting four women with HIV. The defendant lodged an appeal the same year arguing that the sentence was excessively severe. The outcome of this appeal is not known.

In January 2020, media reported a criminal investigation into the case of 11 prisoners who had been found to be HIV-positive. Details are limited and it is unclear why the Karaganda AIDS Centre has precluded the possibility of transmission occurring inside prison, instead asserting transmission occurred while prisoners were on work release. The article notes that investigations are considering whether transmission may have been ‘intentional’.

More recently, in November 2022 a man was charged under section 2 of Article 118 for alleged knowing transmission of HIV to his partner, who was unaware of his status. A subsequent report in December of a man receiving a sentence of two and a half years’ imprisonment appears to refer to this case.

There have also been a number of reports concerning the forced testing of sex workers, and tracking of sex workers and clients, which raises concerns of prosecutions should they test positive.

In 2019, several groups of women living with HIV submitted a shadow report to CEDAW, recommending repeal of the HIV criminalisation provisions in the Kazakhstan Criminal Code.