Osh, April 20, 2021 - The United Nations Development Programme in Kyrgyzstan assists the Kyrgyz Republic Ministry of Justice in building the capacity of local probation officers to work with probationers convicted of extremist and terrorist crimes.

The Law of the Kyrgyz Republic "On Probation" enacted in 2019 introduced a legal basis for "probation" - a new concept for Kyrgyzstan. The goals of probation are to create conditions for the correction and resocialization of probationers, and prevent them from committing new offenses (Article 1).

To date, there are 138 citizens on probation throughout Kyrgyzstan who have been convicted of less serious extremist cases.

Pursuant to the Probation Act, on April 19^th to 21^st, the Probation Department under the Ministry of Justice of the Kyrgyz Republic together with the State Commission on Religious Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic, with the support of the UNDP in the Kyrgyz Republic project "Strengthening Resilience to Violent Extremism in Asia” (STRIVE Asia, EU-UN Joint Partnership), will conduct a training on "Preventing extremism, terrorism and family violence among probation clients" for employees of territorial probation offices and probationers convicted of extremist crimes and domestic violence.

At the training, employees of territorial probation authorities will study types and mechanisms of recruitment to extremist and terrorist groups, specifics of work with probation clients convicted of extremist crimes and the social and psychological portrait of clients, possible behavior patterns, indicators of radicalization degree, as well as methods of psychological research and much more.

The three-day training is attended by 30 staff members from Osh, Jalal-Abad and Batken provinces who work with probation clients convicted of extremism. Unfortunately, the number of such probationers is increasing every year, in 2019 - 104, in 2020 – 160 and today - 138. People get into difficult situations and can't get out on their own. We first research and identify their needs, find out the reasons why they have stumbled. We try to guide them, create opportunities and help them. Based on the results of this training, we will develop a special training module and train about 200 employees of the probation department." said Daniyar Kalmatov, deputy head of the Probation Department under the Ministry of Justice of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Anara Aitibaeva, chief specialist of the Osh probation body, the inter-regional department for Osh, Jalal-Abad, Batken regions of the Department of Probation under the Ministry of Justice of the Kyrgyz Republic reported that in the city of Osh, 251 probationers are registered, including 63 women, 6 minors and 182 men. "When citizens are prosecuted for the first time, they are psychologically unstable and frightened. We provide them with appropriate psychological help in such situations, explain that the judicial system gave them a chance to serve their sentence without isolation from society. In these trainings we fill the gaps in our knowledge on extremist trends in the country, and in the practical part of the training, we try out new knowledge and skills of preventive work with probation clients," she added.

A similar training is also planned for May in Karakol, Issyk-Kul Province.

The initiative is supported by the UNDP project "Strengthening Resilience to Violent Extremism in Asia” (STRIVE Asia), funded by the European Union through the EU-UN Joint Partnership.

Link to photo album: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmUS2AQe

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Media Contacts:

Nurzhan Alymkanova

Communication specialist,

nurzhan.alymkanova@undp.org

0555068833