Kyrgyzstan Abolishes Death Penalty
Kyrgyzstan Abolishes Death Penalty
As Kyrgyzstan abolishes the death penalty as part of steps towards a more humane legal system, NBCentralAsia observers say better conditions must be created for convicts who live in squalid and overcrowded prisons.
On June 27, President Kurmanbek Bakiev signed a law abolishing the death penalty and replacing it with life imprisonment.
Other liberalising provisions in the law reduced prison terms or alternative forms of punishment for minor offences to keep people out of jail.
Kyrgyzstan has observed a moratorium on capital punishment since December 1998, but that did not stop judges handing down death sentences. There are currently 174 people on death row.
The constitution that parliament passed in December dropped the clause referring to the death penalty, clearly indicating that abolition was on the cards.
Justice Minister Marat Kayipov told NBCentralAsia that the new law is designed to make state policy more humane.
“The adoption of this law signifies that Kyrgyzstan is not a punitive state,” he said.
The minister also noted that the new law will make it possible to fine people who have committed minor offences rather than send them to prison.
NBCentralAsia observers argue that the improvements to the law should be accompanied by more humane conditions for prisoners.
“Kyrgyz prisons are overcrowded. Where are we to put those who will now serve life sentences? The courts may review their cases so that they serve 20 to 25 years,” said member of parliament Rashid Tagaev.
According to a 2006 report by the International Crisis Group, the situation in the Kyrgyz penal system is “dire”. Both convicts and people held prior to trial are often subject to physical abuse and are kept in squalid conditions. The government agency in charge of the prisons does not have the funds to repair prisons or even provide inmates with adequate food, the report says.
Aziza Abdirasulova, director of the Kylym Shamy centre for human rights, believes it is impossible to call this new law “humane” unless inmates are better protected, those currently on death row have their sentences properly reviewed, and the judicial system is totally overhauled.
“The procedure for making this work in practice hasn’t been reviewed,” she said. “Automatically transforming death sentences into life terms does not amount to a more humane policy.”
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
On June 27, President Kurmanbek Bakiev signed a law abolishing the death penalty and replacing it with life imprisonment.
Other liberalising provisions in the law reduced prison terms or alternative forms of punishment for minor offences to keep people out of jail.
Kyrgyzstan has observed a moratorium on capital punishment since December 1998, but that did not stop judges handing down death sentences. There are currently 174 people on death row.
The constitution that parliament passed in December dropped the clause referring to the death penalty, clearly indicating that abolition was on the cards.
Justice Minister Marat Kayipov told NBCentralAsia that the new law is designed to make state policy more humane.
“The adoption of this law signifies that Kyrgyzstan is not a punitive state,” he said.
The minister also noted that the new law will make it possible to fine people who have committed minor offences rather than send them to prison.
NBCentralAsia observers argue that the improvements to the law should be accompanied by more humane conditions for prisoners.
“Kyrgyz prisons are overcrowded. Where are we to put those who will now serve life sentences? The courts may review their cases so that they serve 20 to 25 years,” said member of parliament Rashid Tagaev.
According to a 2006 report by the International Crisis Group, the situation in the Kyrgyz penal system is “dire”. Both convicts and people held prior to trial are often subject to physical abuse and are kept in squalid conditions. The government agency in charge of the prisons does not have the funds to repair prisons or even provide inmates with adequate food, the report says.
Aziza Abdirasulova, director of the Kylym Shamy centre for human rights, believes it is impossible to call this new law “humane” unless inmates are better protected, those currently on death row have their sentences properly reviewed, and the judicial system is totally overhauled.
“The procedure for making this work in practice hasn’t been reviewed,” she said. “Automatically transforming death sentences into life terms does not amount to a more humane policy.”
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
