Improving human rights in Kyrgyzstan’s prison system

Training on human rights and related issues for prison officers in Kyrgyzstan concluded successfully on 26 January 2011 in Bishkek. The series of lectures for prison personnel from the National Penitentiary Service (GSIN) focussed on developing the officers’ understanding of the importance of enforcing basic human rights standards in the penitentiary system.

The lectures were held in a new Training Centre established with the support of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek and formally opened by Ambassador Andrew Tesoriere, the Head of the OSCE Centre, in November 2010.

"Professionalism shapes the relationship between the prison staff and the prisoners. The participants learned more about international human rights standards, codes of conduct for prison personnel and the fight against corruption,” said Miroslaw Nowak, Penitentiary Reform Adviser of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek.

The instructors from universities, the GSIN and the OSCE Centre in Bishkek, gave a total of 126 90-minute lectures to 26 officers over the past year. The training sessions were part of a project to promote the rule of law in Kyrgyzstan’s penitentiary system, funded by the Permanent Mission of Finland to the OSCE.