Kyrgyzstan: convicts in Toktogul live without meat, time in the open air and medical assistance

The Jalal-Abad office of the National Center for the Prevention of Torture of the Kyrgyz Republic appealed to the regional prosecutor’s office with a request to conduct a prosecutor’s check on the fact of unacceptable conditions of detention in the colony-settlement No. 52, located in the Toktogul region.

The staff of the regional branch of the National Center for the Prevention of Torture made a sudden visit to the correctional facility on September 2.

One of the convicts who was in the punishment cell complained to the group of experts that he had burned his leg, which caused a festering wound to form on his thigh. No medical assistance was provided to him. The experts asked the guard to call a doctor. The wound was treated and the casualty was injected.

“On August 22, three more people were imprisoned in a punishment cell without a medical certificate and were not allowed to go out for a walk for almost two weeks – this is a manifestation of cruel treatment of those serving sentences,” the office of the national center for the Jalal-Abad region emphasized.

The review team found other violations as well. There is no sugar and eggs in the food warehouse, and there is no “disinfection corner” and a first-aid kit in the food block. The dishes are dirty, the cutting boards are broken. The cook did not have a health certificate (the same violation was also noted during the previous visit to the colony-settlement).

There was no meat in the main course for lunch. According to the cook, he has been preparing lenten food for the convicts for about a week. However, there was raw meat in the refrigerator. Probably, the administration of the institution managed to put it in the refrigerator during the check, ”the regional office noted, stressing that they had saved on meat before.

Employees of the national center have repeatedly written complaints to the prosecutor’s office, but the appeals were ignored.

Representatives of the regional office of the National Center for the Prevention of Torture of the Kyrgyz Republic drew up an act and sent another appeal to the prosecutor’s office with a request to take measures to eliminate violations in the colony-settlement No. 52 and to punish, according to the law, those who committed such facts.