Kazakhstan ranks 33rd in the world in terms of prison inmates. The prison population of the country is still twice the international average. Through the penal justice reform policy started last year, Kazakhstan, together with the international organization Penal Reform International (PRI), has launched a new project in Central Asia on re-socialization of ex-convicts.
Most of ex-prisoners in Kazakhstan continue to be isolated from society and eventually fall back into the prison system. To change the situation and reduce the number of prisoners, a full scale reform of the prison system has been launched, in which one of the important amendments is namely the re-socialisation and reintegration of ex-convicts back to society.
PRI is working for reform in criminal proceedings throughout the world. The organization's main goals are reducing the prison population, promoting alternative sentencing, reducing of sentences, changing of punishment, and the reintegration of ex-convicts.
Monday 29 April a big report on the Norwegian funded PRI-project on re-socialization of ex-prisoners was published in one of the well-read online journals VOXPOPULI. The report has been underway since November and has already received huge interest from the public. The article tells the story of several ex-inmates and their road to returning to society. It is the first report of this scope to ever focus on this topic in Kazakhstan.