Minister of Interior for first time announces the number of prisoners in Uzbekistan’s penitentiaries

“According to information issued in 2019 by the International Center for Prison Studies (ICPS), in our republic, for every 100 thousand population, there are 150 persons undergoing punishment (43.9 thousand people in total). Uzbekistan ranks 105 among 222 states. In fact, as a result of the reforms being carried out in Uzbekistan, the liberalization of the penal legislation in the last decade, the number of persons serving a sentence has significantly decreased. The current number of convicts in the system is 22.9 thousand, 67 persons per 100 thousand people. This is the first time these numbers are being voiced,” the minister said.

According to him, official addresses and the number of persons held in penal institutions and pre-trial detention centers are not considered a secret.   

“This information shows an improvement in the indicators of Uzbekistan in this list by 70 lines. Today, there are 43 institutions for the execution of punishment and 11 pre-trial detention centers at the Main Directorate for the Execution of Punishment under the MIA. 18 of the institutions are closed-type colonies, 25 are resettlement colonies. Indicators of detainees in relation to the capacity of the penal colony - 56.4 percent,” Bobojonov said. 

Now, he added, the official websites will regularly publish information about the activities of penal institutions and manufactured products there. “In addition, now there will be no secret information about the facts of death among persons held in penitentiary institutions and pre-trial detention centers, as well as the number of persons to whom medical coercive measures are applied,” the minister stressed.