Kazakhstan's Experience in Penal Reform to Benefit Others, PRI Head Says

Hails Transfer of Prisons to Justice Ministry, Discusses Fighting the Spread of TB

WASHINGTON, February 7 - Kazakhstan's experience in reforming its penal system can be useful for other countries, Baroness Vivien Stern of Great Britain, Secretary General of the Penal Reform International (PRI), has said during a visit to Astana on February 3, Interfax and Kazakhstan Today reported.

PRI, a non-governmental organization, has been working in Kazakhstan for the past five years and has provided extensive assistance to its prison reform.

Speaking to the press on Monday after meeting Senate Speaker Oralbai Abdykarimov, Lady Stern said Kazakhstan's experience in reforming the penal system is of great interest and can be useful for others. The baroness has described the top officials in the penal system as great experts and professionals in their sphere, the Interfax quoted her as saying.

Kazakhstan has made a number of steps in liberalizing criminal legislation and humanizing correctional system since Baroness Stern's last visit to the republic in 2001, Mr. Abdykarimov said at the meeting.

He singled out the reduction of prison terms for first-time offenders in the crimes of light and medium seriousness, a significant reduction of the number of crimes punishable by death, and an improvement of conditions for inmates.

At their meeting, Abdykarimov and Stern also discussed the proposed moratorium on the death sentence and the transfer of pre-trial detention centers in Kazakhstan to the Justice Ministry from the Interior Ministry.

The British politician said international experience showed that the conditions in pre-trial facilities were always more humane when they were under the Justice Ministry.

In a move also welcomed by the OSCE experts, prisons and penal colonies in Kazakhstan have been transferred since the beginning of 2002 from the Interior Ministry to the Justice Ministry. For a country of 14.9 million, Kazakhstan has 70 correctional facilities with a combined population of about 70,000 convicts.

On February 4, Baroness Stern also met Minister of Health Zhaksylyk Doskaliev to discuss ways to combat spread of tuberculosis amongst inmates. They agreed to pursue further a special joint project, conducted since 1998, to provide medical equipment and medicines to prevent and stop the TB. A number of European organizations, such as the International Center for Penal Studies, Royal Netherlands Tuberculosis Association, and others also take part in the project.

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