Separate prison to be built in Tajikistan for prisoners convicted of terrorism-related crimes

Tajik authorities are developing a project to build a cell-type jail for prisoners convicted of terrorism-related crimes.      

Chief of the Main Directorate for the Execution of Criminal Penalties at the Ministry of Justice, Mansourjon Umarov, remarked this yesterday while addressing the Penitentiary Forum in Dushanbe.  

According to him, the cell-type jail will allow better controlling this category of prison inmates and preventing riot or breakout attempts.  

“There ought to solve all issues causing concern, provide security of convicts and prevent cases of mass disorders, murders and propagation of extremist ideas while constructing the penitentiary institution,” Umarov said.  

The design of the jail for prisoners convicted of terrorism-related crimes has been worked out by relevant agencies in collaboration with specialists of a design institute and all international standards have been taken into consideration, Umarov added.  

Organized at initiative of the Tajik Government and under the Memorandum on Cooperation with the Penal Reform International (PRI), the Penitentiary Forum was held in Dushanbe as a platform for discussion about penitentiary reform in Tajikistan.   

The Penitentiary System is responsible for managing the prison system in Tajikistan and has been part of the Ministry of Justice since 2002.  Its 19 penitentiary institutions reportedly include thirteen correctional colonies (including one colony for women, three regional units responsible for the execution of non-custodial sanctions, one educational institution for juveniles, and one medical facility) and six pre-trial detention centers.   

Under the law on amnesty signed by President Emomali Rahmon on October 25, the amnesty will extend to more than 20,000 people, including foreign nationals.  3,100 convicts will be released from prisons and 3,000 inmates of corrective labor colonies will be released.  Besides, 4,500 individuals whose sentences were not associated with imprisonment will be pardoned as well.  The amnesty is reportedly also applied to 600 defendants and suspects awaiting legal proceedings in pretrial detention facilities and probe against them will be stopped.

128 HIV-infected prisoners and 21 prisoners with TB were reportedly released on October 25, 2019.