New restrictions in Tajikistan’s prisons

The Main Department for the Execution of Criminal Sentences of the Ministry of Justice of the country has introduced new rules in the country’s colonies, according to which prisoners will henceforth have the right to call their relatives by phone only once every 10 days.

Photo: Internet

Human rights defenders believe that the new rules of the Main Department for the Execution of Criminal Sentences are illegal and infringe on the rights of prisoners.

An employee of the administration of one of the colonies, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Azda TV that in one of the colonies in Tajikistan, the prison administration gathered the inmates and informed them that henceforth they would have the right to a phone call with their closest relatives only once every 10 days.

According to the source of Azda TV, the new rules were introduced by the Main Department for the Execution of Criminal Sentences after reports of illegal actions and crimes by prison guards appeared in the media.

Previously, prisoners could contact their closest relatives by phone several times a week.

Human rights defenders argue that, according to the rules of the colonies, prisoners have the right to communicate with their closest relatives, and the new rules of the Main Department for the Execution of Criminal Sentences of the Republic of Tajikistan violate the rights of prisoners. Therefore, the prosecutor’s office overseeing compliance with the law in correctional institutions should initiate a case against the employees of the Main Department for the Execution of Criminal Sentences of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Tajikistan for violating the rights of prisoners and hold them accountable.

The new rules in the country’s colonies were introduced after reports emerged in the media about the placement of prisoners, members of the Supreme Presidium of the PIVT, Zubaidullo Rozik and Rahmatullo Rajab, in a punishment cell for addressing an open letter to President Emomali Rahmon.

According to experts, these actions by the Main Department for the Execution of Criminal Sentences of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Tajikistan prove that the reports that had previously reached the media from the colonies were true, and that now the authorities are trying to prevent information leaks.

Previously, the media had repeatedly reported on the dire conditions of prisoners in Tajikistan’s prisons; however, the authorities constantly denied these claims and asserted that the allegations of violations were unfounded.