Newsroom
OSCE undertakes efforts to improve prison conditions in Belarus
MINSK 25 July 2000
MINSK, 25 July 2000 - A four-stage programme to assist the penitentiary system in Belarus is receiving support through a co-operative program involving international organizations and NGOs', announced Ambassador Hans-Georg Wieck, Head of the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group in Belarus.
The programme, being co-ordinated with the Punishment Execution Committee of Belarus, will see experts visiting facilities and assessing the sanitary and health conditions in prisons. Representatives of the OSCE and European Union will conduct training seminars for prison managers and explain prison management guidelines. Further assistance will be provided to prisons in the most difficult situations. In addition, Belarusian prison managers will participate in a study tour to Poland to become familiar with prison management guidelines and how they are applied in that country.
In co-operation with the Belarusian NGO Helping Hand, the OSCE is distributing books to the 37 prisons and pre-trial detention facilities. About 3,000 books cover topics ranging from law and psychology to fiction.
"We hope that our contribution will help the inmates widen their knowledge and spend their time in prison with some benefit," Ambassador Wieck said. "We hope to attract the attention of the general public and the authorities, and promote co-operation where possible."
The OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group in Belarus was established in 1997 to assist the Belarusian authorities in promoting democratic institutions and comply with other OSCE commitments. The Group began work in Minsk in February 1998. Seven projects are under way at present in the fields of democratization and human rights. Funding is provided by the European Commission and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in Warsaw.
The programme, being co-ordinated with the Punishment Execution Committee of Belarus, will see experts visiting facilities and assessing the sanitary and health conditions in prisons. Representatives of the OSCE and European Union will conduct training seminars for prison managers and explain prison management guidelines. Further assistance will be provided to prisons in the most difficult situations. In addition, Belarusian prison managers will participate in a study tour to Poland to become familiar with prison management guidelines and how they are applied in that country.
In co-operation with the Belarusian NGO Helping Hand, the OSCE is distributing books to the 37 prisons and pre-trial detention facilities. About 3,000 books cover topics ranging from law and psychology to fiction.
"We hope that our contribution will help the inmates widen their knowledge and spend their time in prison with some benefit," Ambassador Wieck said. "We hope to attract the attention of the general public and the authorities, and promote co-operation where possible."
The OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group in Belarus was established in 1997 to assist the Belarusian authorities in promoting democratic institutions and comply with other OSCE commitments. The Group began work in Minsk in February 1998. Seven projects are under way at present in the fields of democratization and human rights. Funding is provided by the European Commission and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in Warsaw.