During Soviet times, the prison system had a retaliatory character and was based on ideas of profit-making and accomplishing the Communist party production plan from convicts’ work as a compensation for crimes committed. Therefore, huge \"training schools\" were built in remote areas with severe climate that were planned to transform into manufacturing centers. Convicts were not perceived as humans with equal rights, thus their human rights were violated by the penitentiary system supervision.

“The disintegration of the Soviet Union led to the ceasing of the centralized management of the uniform prison system. Penal systems in Central Asia faced similar problems: lack of financing, absence of a precise control system, and legislation not concordant to realities of time,” Penal Reform International Central Asian Representative reported an Almaty office.

The Soros Foundation-Kyrgyzstan was one of the first organizations that welcomed the Kyrgyz Government’s willingness to reform the prison system and its readiness to cooperate with civil society. “From 2002 we are working on the penitentiary system reform in the framework of the legislative program”, said the coordinator of Legal programs and “mass media support” program Ruslan Khakimov. The Soros Foundation-Kyrgyzstan provides grant support for nongovernmental organizations enabling prison reforming and development of the penitentiary system legislation. “We propose specific offers to the legislation on reduction of prison terms and prison population. The point is that Criminal Code of Kyrgyz Republic is one of the most severe in the post Soviet area. Thus, our actions are directed to decriminalize legislation in the Kyrgyz Republic”, Khakimov explained.

The Public Fund “Center for legal assistance of convicts” is one of the first NGOs in grant assistance of Soros Foundation rendering legal aid to prisoners and their affected community. The Its Deputy Director Nizamova Dilarom, who directly works with target groups (prison institution management, convicts and their relatives) and knows the system inside out, both welcomes governmental actions on providing long-term access to public and constructively criticizes the system to take further actions on reforming the system. “At the moment, the situation in the prison system itself remains pitiful. Citizens are imprisoned for practically 98% of criminal offences; only 2% get non-custodial sentences. Therefore, colonies are overpopulated with prisoners. Moreover, conditions of maintenance and food in prisons are terrible”, she stated.

There is a vicious circle. At first, colonies cannot accept new prisoners due to overpopulation. But court verdicts need to be exercised. The system becomes heavy in management. To resolve the problem, Kyrgyzstan chose to amnesty imprisoned people. Dilarom Nizamova argues it is not the best way the penitentiary system should operate. “After release on amnesty, convicts, not knowing what to do, cross the law and again come back in prison. Thus, the penitentiary population still grows. Instead of healthy persons, we return qualified criminals to society. Therefore it is necessary to think over mechanisms of alternatives to custody”.

A team of PRI Representative Office experts Anvar Uzakbaev, Gulnara Kalakbarova and Director of the Almaty based office Vera Tkachenko also provided their viewpoints on the penitentiary system. “Kyrgyzstan as many countries of the post-Soviet area are forced to conduct reforms of the Prison System under difficult conditions. Kyrgyzstan’s prison system is in critical state. Penal facilities of most institutions have not been maintained for long, and are currently worn out”, they argued. Vera Tkachenko added that the “situation worsened with insufficient financing (according to information from the Central Prison Service Department, it receives only 30% of the financing that is required). An extremely severe criminal policy leads to mass imprisonment. As a result, institutions turned out to be overpopulated with convicts that do not receive necessary foodstuff, clothing, medicine, etc. In prisons, different infectious diseases, including TB and HIV, are spreading”.

Nevertheless, all interviewed experts share the view that the Kyrgyz government, in comparison with other Central Asian countries, is actively and openly cooperating with civil society in reforming the penitentiary system. A “concept on reforming the penitentiary system of Kyrgyz Republic by 2010” was developed in participation with experts from state institutions, international organizations and NGOs. Presently, an educational center under the Central Prison Service Department (CPSD) has been organized to train specialists in international norms of human rights observation of convicts, and the application of information technologies.

“A transformation from a closed to an open system starts when people begin to change. The goal of the educational center is to teach each employee to observe human rights, be familiar with international conventions on treatment of the imprisoned. We have to show how to observe standards, how it works and why it is better than the former way”, said the head of the educational center, Larisa Sdelnekova. She also told The Analyst that the educational center conducts workshops and trainings to the CPSD management about penitentiary reform. “We want to inform each employee on the essence of reform, and open their eyes. The success of the reform depends on each employee and their attitudes to reform. We want to break old Soviet stereotypes and train them to work anew so that it would be easier for them to work”, she added.

Overall, the process of reforming the penitentiary system is not a one-day event, but a complex and long term program. The prison system that was gradually escalating to a crisis required changes. The Kyrgyz Government assessed its financial state, decided to open the penitentiary system to the public (including mass media) and involve civil society to change it. NGOs and international organizations contribute, starting from proposals to the change of legislation and finishing with changing the attitude of employees of the penitentiary system. Thus, the Kyrgyz government is resolving the problem and raising public confidence.