The Human Rights Ombudsman met with female prisoners

Artur Lastaev, Commissioner for Human Rights in the Republic of Kazakhstan, visited institution No. 10 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Children's Ombudsman Dinara Zakieva took part in the visit together with him.

This facility belongs to the category of medium security, women, including mothers with young children, serve their sentences here. A total of 600 inmates are held in the colony, including three underage girls. At the same time, 42 children - 24 girls and 18 boys under the age of three - are held together with the women.

The purpose of the visit was to monitor the conditions of detention of prisoners and observance of their rights.

It should be noted that the stay of convicted women with their children is allowed until the children reach the age of three. There is a Children's Home on the territory of the institution, where mothers can see their children without restrictions in their free time.

Artur Lastayev and Dinara Zakieva personally interviewed the women prisoners and asked whether they were satisfied with the conditions of detention, whether they were given the opportunity to spend time with their children, as well as whether there were any cases of cruel treatment against them.

During the conversation, the Ombudsman said that he made a proposal to the Government to provide convicts with the opportunity to receive higher education. This year, a pilot project is planned to be launched in 2 facilities in Almaty and Almaty region.

In addition, the Ombudsman said that in Kazakhstan from 2025 is expected to start a pilot, providing for the introduction of jurors in the processes of consideration of applications from prisoners for parole and replacement of punishment for a milder type, as well as in criminal proceedings on torture and other ill-treatment in detention centres.

At the same time, Artur Lastaev noted that this year a law was adopted to ensure the protection of women's rights and children's safety.

"Today we visited facility No. 10, where women, including mothers with children, are serving their sentences. Young innocent children are actually forced to serve their sentences together with their mothers. Such children are therefore in a comparatively even more vulnerable position. Given this, it is difficult to overemphasise the importance of strictly observing the basic conditions of their detention. Fortunately, there is a children's home here, and mothers can see their children without restriction in their free time. At the same time, we, as a human rights institution, are doing our utmost to ensure that the rights of women and children are respected. In April this year, our country adopted a progressive law, which is aimed at protecting the rights of women and children," said Human Rights Commissioner Artur Lastaev.

Also during the visit, the Ombudsman made a tour of the territory, inspected the main premises, including the canteen, medical clinic, visiting rooms, workplaces, and visited the Children's Home, where children are kept.

By the way, more than 60 % of the prisoners are employed in this institution. Several enterprises operate here, including a bakery, sewing and dairy shops, as well as mushroom compost production and others.

In addition, the Commissioner received a number of inmates, to whom their rights were explained and legal assistance was provided. Recommendations were given to the administration of the institution to improve the conditions of the women's detention.

We would like to remind you that the protection of the rights of convicts is one of the activities of the Office of the Ombudsman.