One employee of the pre-trial detention center No.1 (in Bishkek) is infected with COVID-19. This was announced at the briefing on May 8 by the Deputy Minister of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic, Nurbolot Usenbaev. Earlier, this was stated by human rights activists, but the State Committee for National Security denied this information.
“The analyzes were confirmed. An epidemiological investigation is underway,” said Nurbolot Usenbaev.
The current situation for ACCA was commented by human rights activist Tolekan Ismailova.
“We warned the administration of the State Penitentiary Service of the Republic; and the early days of the state of emergency, we handed personal protective equipment and antiseptics to prisoners and employees of the penitentiary system. At the same time, we warned the State Penitentiary Service that they should not block the monitoring from the side of the National Center for the Prevention of Torture and the Ombudsman. However, the headquarters imposed a ban. In this connection, our human rights organization wrote the letter to the President concerning the importance of facilitating the prison population and release of prisoners with special needs,” said Tolekan Ismailova, head of the human rights movement “One World”.
According to Ismailova, unfortunately, so far the Kyrgyz authorities have not shown political will and unloaded the prisons, as human rights activists recommended them.
“The spread of the virus in places of detention will be inevitable if urgent measures are not taken to reduce risks. Otherwise, imprisonment could be a death sentence for many prisoners who become infected with the COVID-19 virus,” was reported on the website of the HRM “One World”.
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