DUSHANBE, May 27, Asia-Plus — A two-day OSCE-supported training seminar on international and domestic mechanisms for the protection and observation of the rights of persons deprived of liberty was held in Khujand, Sughd province on May 24-25.
According to the OSCE Office in Tajikistan, the event was held in cooperation with the Department of Constitutional Guarantees of Citizen Rights at President’s Executive Office, the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman, the Prosecutor-General’s Office and Tajik National University.
Thirty representatives of the Department of Corrections of Sughd province attended this first of three training courses for penitentiary officials to be held this summer.
“The willingness of the authorities to address difficult questions of attitudes to punishment, the financing of the system, and problems of extremism and treatment of persons convicted of extremism in an open forum is an important step toward increasing transparency of the system,” said Anna Crowley, the OSCE Office’s human rights officer.
“It is the goal of our government to move towards full implementation of international standards and our obligations with regard to conditions for prisoners. Many domestic mechanisms exist to protect the rights of persons deprived of liberty; we should take advantage of them, while at the same time reviewing domestic legislation to ensure it contains the most effective mechanisms for promoting and protecting rights,” said Muzaffar Ashourov, the Head of the Department of Constitutional Guarantees of Citizen Rights at President’s Executive Office.
Topics covered included domestic mechanisms for the protection of prisoner rights, prosecutorial control of places of detention, role of the Human Rights Ombudsman in protecting and promoting rights of detainees, and practical implementation of the international commitments of Tajikistan in the work of correctional facilities.
Participants were also trained in the practical application of international standards by Erik Svanizde, a member of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and a former Deputy Minister of Justice of Georgia, responsible for the Correction Department.
Subsequent training events will be conducted in Qurghon Teppa and in Dushanbe.
