OSCE holds professional training course for national security officers in Kyrgyzstan

An OSCE-supported professional training course for ten officers of the Bishkek and Osh Remand Prisons under the State Committee on National Security of Kyrgyzstan (SCNS) concluded on 22 February 2014 in Bishkek.

The course, organised by the OSCE for officers from the SCNS, is the first of its kind within a wider OSCE initiative on assisting the penitentiary reform process in Kyrgyzstan. Under the initiative, more than 900 Kyrgyz officers of the State Penitentiary Service have already attended basic and specialised training courses, seminars and conferences.

The course participants learned about penal legislation, due criminal process, internal regulations and instructions. They also attended practical and theoretical seminars on military security and first aid.

One of the major components of the course focused on human rights issues, ethics and anti-corruption. A Penitentiary Reform Adviser of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek, Miroslaw Nowak, delivered a lecture on UN minimum standards on the treatment of prisoners and the full prohibition of torture.