TURKMENISTAN: PRISON ALLOWS INMATES TIME AWAY WITH

UNCLAS ASHGABAT 001040 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, DRL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM TX SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: PRISON ALLOWS INMATES TIME AWAY WITH FAMILY ¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet. ¶2. (SBU) A minimum-security prison in Mary province allows prisoners furloughs of up to one week in duration to spend time with their family in a nearby village. The Turkish A/DCM told us he had recently visited a Turkish citizen, who had been sentenced to three years in prison for being responsible for an industrial accident that resulted in several injuries. The man is incarcerated in a prison in the town of Osan in Mary province. Most of the other prisoners there have been convicted of involvement in traffic accidents and similar types of crimes. In this prison, inmates are allowed periodic furloughs of up to seven days in duration to spend time with their family in a nearby town. This Turkish prisoner spent one four-day period with his family. The prisoners have to rent villas in the town, and supposedly, no one has used this opportunity to run away. These furloughs have proven to be a benefit for the prisoners and an economic boon to the town where they rent the villas and buy provisions during the furlough. ¶3. (SBU) COMMENT: While Turkmenistan's maximum-security facilities reportedly can be brutal, this furlough idea seems to be very humane. Since it seems that most inmates were convicted of less serious crimes, they are also likely candidates for amnesty as well. END COMMENT. CURRAN