Kazakhstan bans face coverings that impede facial recognition in public

The President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, has signed a legislation that prevents the wearing of face coverings in public places which prevent easy facial identification.

The legislation is an amendment of the country’s prevention of offenses law, according to several media reports, and the government says it is to ensure public safety and promote the country’s unique traditional style of dressing.

The move is also intended to improve the ability of law enforcement officers to easily identify individuals in public spaces, with one Senator Nauryzbay Baikadamov, saying during a process to examine the law that “this measure increases the effectiveness of crime prevention in public places by improving the ability to recognise faces.”

Kazakhstan has been facing rising radicalisation and threats of extremism, and sees this law as a major reform in enhancing its security surveillance capabilities.

According to Reuters, the law which doesn’t expressly mention specific religious face coverings such as the niqab, burqa or hijab, prohibits the wearing of face cloths or masks that “interfere with facial recognition.”

A portion of the law, as quoted by EuroNews states that “it is prohibited to wear clothing items in public places that impede facial recognition.”

There’s an exception to the rule, however, for people wearing those facial coverings for reasons related to medical, professional, civil defense, weather or other specific functions.

Reuters quotes the Kazakh leader as having spoken in the past about the legislation, saying it was better to dress in the country’s national style than to wear clothes that block one’s face and which are foreign to the country’s tradition.

The legislation has been greeted by mixed reactions as Kazakhstan becomes one of the countries in Central Asia to enact a ban on facial covering in public places.

Early this year, for example, Kyrgyzstan banned facial coverings in public places, saying it was part of a national effort to check public insecurity and terrorism.

Uzbekistan had done same two years earlier, preventing women form wearing the burqa which covers their faces and entire bodies, also citing national security reasons. Tajikistan also has a similar legislation in force. These moves have been sharply criticised by rights advocates.

Kazakhstan’s digital transformation efforts are on the march with a recent move to pilot the digitization of national ID card and passport applications.

Article Topics

biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  facial recognition  |  Kazakhstan  |  video surveillance