OSCE Centre organizes seminars on alternatives to pre-trial detention in Turkmenistan

ASHGABAT, 3 August 2009 - The final in a series of five seminars on international human rights standards and best practices in the OSCE area related to alternatives to detention at the pre-trial stage of criminal proceedings started today in Ashgabat.

The series of two-day events was organized by the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat in co-operation with Turkmenistan's Foreign Ministry and the National Institute for Democracy and Human Rights under the President of Turkmenistan, and held in four regions and the capital. More than 120 judges, prosecutors, investigators and defence lawyers took part.

"The seminars supported by the OSCE Centre are designed to spur discussion on available alternatives to pre-trial detention in light of the recent adoption of the new Criminal Procedure Code of Turkmenistan," said Ambassador Arsim Zekolli, the Head of the OSCE Centre. "Apprehension, arrest and pre-trial detention are legitimate procedural actions, but all of them entail limiting the liberty of a person who may be suspected but is still presumed innocent. Therefore, such actions should be used as a means of last resort."

As part of the seminars, two international experts from the Russian Federation and the United States spoke about the principles and basics of human rights concepts as covered by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the UN Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures and by other international law instruments. There was a particular focus on provisions relating to criminal justice processes. The seminars have featured case studies as well as a moot exercise to enable participants to apply the international standards discussed.

The Centre has organized these seminars every year since 2006 with the aim of further promoting the rule of law in Turkmenistan. The Centre plans to expand training courses on human rights standards to address other topics related to the administration of justice.