Penal legislation reform focus of OSCE-supported regional conference in Astana

ASTANA. KAZINFORM Trends and challenges in reforming penal legislation in Central Asia were the focus of a regional conference, supported by the OSCE Centre in Astana, held in the capital of Kazakhstan on Friday.

Some 150 participants, including high-level government officials, parliamentarians, representatives of international, non-governmental organizations and academia, defence lawyers as well as local and international legal experts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan took part in the event, the OSCE Centre in Astana said. The conference focused on the ongoing process of modernizing penitentiary systems and reforming penal legislation in Central Asian countries. The participants discussed the humanization and demilitarization of penitentiary systems, re-socialisation of ex-convicts and their re-integration into society, progressive abolition of the death penalty and the application of alternatives to capital punishment. Probation service issues and the status of those in life confinement were also highlighted. Specific attention was paid to Kazakhstan's draft Criminal Executive Code, currently under consideration by the Mazhilis, the lower chamber of the Parliament. "Prison conditions and criminal punishment policies are a litmus test for a government's attitude towards its citizens and their human rights," said Ambassador Natalia Zarudna, Head of the Centre in Astana. "I hope today's event will help Kazakhstan and other Central Asian states build up transparent, well-administered, rehabilitation-oriented penitentiary systems and legislation." "The humanization of policies, liberalization of legislation and re-socialization of ex-convicts are at the core of Kazakhstan's effort to reform its penitentiary system," said Rakhmet Mukashev, Chairman of the Mazhilis' Committee on Legislation and Judicial Reform. The conference was co-organized by the Centre, the Legislative and Judicial Reform Committee of the Mazhilis and the Penal Reform International Office in Central Asia with support of the British Embassy in Astana and the Regional Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The event is part of the Centre's long-term efforts to assist authorities and civil society in penal legislation reform.