A two-day online seminar on the protection of human rights in prisons and the exchange of information on the legal rights of prisoners was hosted by the OSCE Center in Ashgabat in conjunction with the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE / BDIHR).

The seminar was organized for representatives of the Mejlis (lower chamber) of the Milli Gengesh (parliament) of Turkmenistan, the Ministry of Justice, the General Prosecutor's Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of National Security, the State Migration and Border Services, the Supreme Court, the Office of the Ombudsman, the Bar Association and the Institute of State, Law and Democracy ...

During the discussions, the issues of the importance of protecting the health of prisoners and countering the spread of COVID-19 in the institutions of the penal system were discussed.

The treatment of women prisoners was the topic of a presentation by experts Laura Jaffrey of the OSCE / BDIHR Office in Warsaw and Olivia Rope of Penal Reform International.

Experts Zhanna Nazarova and Maya Tulendieva from Kazahstan, Victor Zaharia from Moldova and Ruslan Romanov from Kyrgyzstan spoke about the national experience of developing the probation system and discussed a wide range of issues related to the implementation of legal rights and freedoms of prisoners, security in penitentiary institutions and staff training.

"Penitentiary staff must have the necessary knowledge to carry out their duties and receive appropriate training to ensure that their knowledge and skills are up-to-date. This is especially important for staff working with special groups of prisoners such as minors and youth, women and disorders, as well as prisoners of high security colonies. "

Since 2009, the OSCE Center in Ashgabat, in cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Turkmenistan, has organized a number of seminars and training courses on prisoners' rights and other aspects related to the work of the penitentiary system, the OSCE press release noted.