One of the most serious problems in Kyrgyz prisons is overcrowding. The organization “Penal reform International” put Kyrgyzstan among the 20 countries, which have the highest ratio of prison population. At present in Kyrgyzstan, a country with a total population of 5 million people, the number of prisoners constitutes 22,000 people. This, according to the head of the medical department of the central penitentiary administration Akylbek Muratov, twice exceeds the norm. Meanwhile, as the Human Rights Bureau in Bishkek reports, the number of convicts in Kyrgyzstan is growing by 2,500-3,500 people each year. Prisons, penal colonies, and pre-trial detention places are full of people to such an extent that the convicts have to sleep in turns.

As a solution to the problem of overcrowding, some have been proposing to build new prisons. However, given the difficult economic and social situation in the country, the idea of spending taxpayers’ money on building new prisons is unlikely to be supported. At the same time, others have been explaining the cause of overcrowding in prisons by the unfairness of the judicial system, and have been suggesting, first of all, to humanize the judicial system and to reform the penitentiary system as a whole.

Another painful problem that the prisons in Kyrgyzstan are facing is the spread of infectious diseases and the poor medical treatment of the convicts. According to Akylbek Muratov, around 4,500 prisoners are infected with tuberculosis. This is half of all tuberculosis-infected people throughout the country. About 200 convicts are infected with HIV. As the Ministry of Justice reports, each year about 20 percent of the convicts die from illnesses such as tuberculosis, HIV, cholera, and dysentery. Poor sanitary and hygienic conditions in prisons, insufficient nutrition, and poor medical treatment only exacerbate the situation. Every day 15 soms (ca. 30 cents) are spent for food of a prisoner and 5 som (ca. 10 cents) for medical treatment while according to standards, this amount should be four and nine times larger, respectively. According to the representative of the Kyrgyz Justice Ministry Anvarbek Kadyrov, one prisoner, after being released, can infect 80-100 people. Therefore, the Justice Ministry and the Ministry of Health have been trying to cure infected prisoners before releasing them. However, their attempts have been seriously impeded by such problems as the lack of resources and the lack of specialists in the prisons.

There is a desperate need for qualified medical specialists in Kyrgyz prisons. In order to address this issue, a bill on the “Penitentiary system bodies and institutions” has been worked out in the country, but it has not been adopted yet. As Deputy Minister of Justice Tashtemir Aitbaev says, the adoption of this law could facilitate the improvement of the situation, as it contains concrete mechanisms for providing proper working conditions for medical specialists in the penitentiary system. If the law passes, medical specialists of the penitentiary system would have stable salaries, would be entitled to fringe benefits and would be paid more than colleagues working in other subdivisions of the law enforcement bodies.

Meanwhile, the Kyrgyz Ministry of Justice with the assistance of the Soros Foundation in Kyrgyzstan has started the realization of a project on “Reforming the penitentiary system in the Kyrgyz Republic”, in the framework of which a working group was formed. The group includes representatives of a number of governmental institutions, international and non-governmental organizations. The newly-formed structure is responsible for developing concrete suggestions on improving the healthcare system in prisons. The first results of its work will be presented this year in mid-December.

In Kyrgyzstan, conditions in prisons have been deteriorating year by year. Prison population has become a threatening source of infectious diseases in the country, which is due to a number of problems such as malnutrition, overcrowding and poor medical treatment. Unless a series of serious measures is taken, the situation may easily exacerbate. Although this threatening situation has been realized and the Kyrgyz government has been trying to address it, even in the presence of a strong desire, it is unlikely to get down to reforms alone. Involvement of international organizations and outside support is vital for the attempts to succeed.