In prisons of Kazakhstan, there is an abuse of convicts

There is no prison in Kazakhstan that is in conformity with international standards. It was stated by the Deputy Prosecutor General of the country, Marat Akhmetzhanov, at the meeting devoted to the reform of the penitentiary system.

The meeting was held with the participation of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan Erlan Turgumbaev, representatives of the National Council of Public Confidence under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, government agencies, civil society, diplomatic missions, as well as foreign and local non-governmental organizations.

As Akhmetzhanov recalled, the President of Kazakhstan, Kasym-Zhomart Tokaev, after a scandal with torture of prisoners, instructed to conduct an inspection in correctional institutions of the Republic. The inspections revealed more than 2.5 thousand violations – from unsanitary conditions of detention to abuse of convicts.

“Inspections also showed that no prison is in conformity with international standards,” Akhmetzhanov emphasized. “Since their structure is barracks, from 40 to 80 convicts are kept, therefore, so-called activists (from among the prisoners) are recruited and used for their control. According to our plan, until 2023, it is planned to build 12 cells’ blocks for 1200 people. But, this is only five percent of the need. In this regard, the government made recommendations to continue the full modernization of prisons throughout the country.”

According to Akhmetzhanov, cruel treatment exists in the prisons, because of their poor equipment with video surveillance, and also because the administration of the prisons has full access to these systems.

“There is no effect on video surveillance systems,” the Deputy Prosecutor General admitted “because the removal and viewing is available to the employees of the institutions themselves. Therefore, there is no effect. Video observation depends on the administration.”

As regards the insufficient equipment with video cameras, according to Akhmetzhanov, this problem could be solved at the expense of the regional authorities, but the current legislation does not allow this.

“The Committee on the Penitentiary System (CPS) is funded from the republican budget,” he explained. “But, we have regions and their leaders who are ready to equip our institutions with video recorders and security cameras at 100% even today, but the law puts a ban. Therefore, amendments were made to the Law on the Budget Code, which will partially finance CPS from the local budget in order to maintain law and order.”

Following the meeting of the Coordinating Council of law enforcement agencies, several of the most urgent problems were selected, the solution of which law enforcement agencies will deal primarily with the transition from barracks to cells, the introduction of access control and management systems in prisons, as well as the full equipping of the colonies with cameras connected to a single national video monitoring system.

However, this is not the whole list of innovations that are aimed to improve the holding of Kazakh prisoners in correctional institutions.

In particular, it became known that in the near future the total weight of the parcels will be increased for convicts from 14 to 20 kilograms, and the work schedule of payphones located in the prisons will be extended from 18.00 to 21.00 hours. Another planned innovation is the introduction of bank cards for prisoners. With their help, by plan of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, convicts will be able to pay for goods purchased in stores. In addition, relatives of prisoners who come to the prison for a long meeting will be exempted from providing certificates from the AIDS center. Another know-how: prisoners with disabilities (wheelchair users, blind people, etc.) will be provided with other prisoners who will receive orderlies’ position in the staff of correctional institutions.

By the end of the year, all institutions of the penitentiary system will be inspected by the administration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In general, the roundtable participants considered more than 200 proposals aimed at improving the legal status and conditions of convicts’ holding. 54 of them were accepted for implementation.