In Kyrgyzstan's prisons the prisoners are being forced
to shave beards.
Recently, in a penal colony №3 of the State Penitentiary Service under
the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic (SPS) (located in the village of
Novo-Pokrovka of the Chui region) the prisoners began to face demands to shave
beards. Soon after, the same information began to come out of the detention
facility №5 located in the city of Osh. Now this practice has spread into the
remaining institutions the SPS.
Anyone who refuses to comply with the new requirement forcibly shaved
off his facial hair and hair on his head. Many are placed in solitary
confinement as a punishment and deprived of family visits and food parcels.
Such disciplinary measures apply to all prisoners regardless of religion and
beard length. According to official figures, 182 out of 100 thousand people in
Kyrgyzstan are imprisoned.
Back in October 2015, at prison №50 located in the village of Nizhniy Nooruz
of the Chui region, prisoners voluntarily shaved off their beards, in order not
to attract the attention of employees of operational services. It started
immediately after the escape of nine prisoners, including seven sentenced to
life imprisonment. When escaping, the prisoners killed three employees of the pre-trial
detention facility, who tried to stop them. By shaving their beards, the prisoners
hoped to avoid the suspicion of having links with those who escaped. Now, this
has led to an unofficial ban on beards in all prisons.
Clerical Office of Muslims of Kyrgyzstan has not commented on the
practice of the ban on beards.
Association for Human Rights in Central Asia calls on
Kyrgyzstan to respect the fundamental human rights and freedoms, including the
basic principles of the treatment of prisoners:
— Respect for them;
— Observance of the principle of presumption of
innocence;
— Ensuring freedom of religion and worship and
ceremonies, etc.
