Human Rights Watch Calls on New Management of Penitentiary Service to Arrange Reforms

The appointment of a new chief of the Penitentiary Service causes the Political Prisoners Monitoring Center to hope for the implementation of reforms in the pre-trial detention and imprisonment system.

The Center prepares to publish proposals to improve the conditions in detention centers and penitentiaries, for the protection of prisoners' rights, fighting corruption and strengthening the rule of law in the prison system.

"One of the main points of our proposals is the participation of NGOs and other civil society organizations in monitoring the compliance with law in penal institutions," the Center’s head Elshan Hasanov told Turan.

According to him, the Center will first present its proposals to the Committee to Protect Civil Society for discussion. Then the proposals will be sent to the Penitentiary Service management and presented to the public.

"We hope that the new leadership of the Penitentiary Service will respect our suggestions and the cooperation will yield positive results," Hasanov said.

It should be noted that the former head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Transport Department Jeyhun Hasanov was appointed the new chief of the Penitentiary Service last week.

The Political Prisoners Monitoring Center was established in the autumn of 2014 by a group of former prisoners of conscience. -06d--