AKIPRESS.COM - Internationally recognized human rights standards and best practices regarding the treatment of inmates in prisons were discussed at an OSCE-organized training course that concluded in Ashgabat on November 21.

Twenty-five law-enforcement officials, including penitentiary staff from across the country, officials from the Interior Ministry and the General Prosecutor’s Office as well as instructors of the Interior Ministry’s Institute participated in the training course.

The five-day training course provided an overview of major international documents addressing the prisoners’ rights and focused on fundamental human rights of inmates, including the right to healthcare and adequate life conditions, the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and the right to humane treatment.

“This training course is a follow-up to the joint activities implemented by the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat and the Government of Turkmenistan in the area of promoting international standards in the penitentiary system”, said Ambassador Ivo Petrov, Head of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat. “The course offered participants an opportunity to share their practical experiences of working with inmates and explore ways of further improving their work, and we expect the participants to further disseminate the newly acquired skills and knowledge among their colleagues in penitentiary institutions”.

Two international experts presented methods of work with special groups of inmates, such as minors, females and prisoners’ serving long-term sentences, as well as measures of ensuring the inmates’ safety, discipline and punishment procedures and inadmissibility of torture and cruel treatment in prisons. Discussions also addressed violation of inmates’ rights and procedures of filing complaints, investigation and monitoring.