The review of the current situation regarding measures of social rehabilitation for individuals who have committed crimes with extremist tendencies.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) serves as the leading agency in the fields of crime prevention and criminal justice reform on one hand, and counterterrorism and rehabilitation of extremist prisoners on the other hand (in addition to combating organized crime, illicit trafficking, drug prevention, healthcare, and anti-corruption efforts). The office is authorized to provide assistance to the Ministry of Justice in managing their penitentiary systems, as well as probation services, in accordance with the rules governing sanctions and measures unrelated to imprisonment, as per other United Nations standards and norms in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice.

In 2021, the UNODC Programme Office in Kyrgyzstan began implementing the project “Monitoring and Probation of Returning Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs) and Detained Combatant Extremists (DCEs)”, funded by the Bureau of Counterterrorism of the U.S. Department of State.
The main goal of this research is to identify the current situation regarding the social rehabilitation of offenders in Kyrgyzstan through:

• measuring public attitudes towards extremist offenders (whether they are former inmates, serving probation, or released on parole) and returnees;
• identifying barriers to the reintegration of former inmates, parolees, probationers, and returnees;
• mapping community stakeholders and identifying potential leaders.

The research methodology:

• To measure public attitudes towards offenders (former inmates, those on probation, or released on parole) and returnees, a nationwide survey was conducted among the population in seven regions of the country with a sample size of 1001 individuals.
• To identify barriers to reintegration, in-depth interviews were conducted with key informants (KI) – former inmates, those serving probation or released on parole, and returnees.
• Additionally, expert interviews were conducted with representatives of governmental and local authorities, NGOs, and probation officers.
• Focus group discussions (FGDs) were also conducted with community stakeholders, local authorities, and activists to develop community-based strategies for preventing recidivism among offenders.

The research identified the population’s attitudes and perceptions towards offenders, as well as the factors shaping these perceptions. The study also examined barriers to the reintegration of offenders, the reasons contributing to the emergence of these barriers, proposed ways to reduce them, and strategies to provide assistance in reintegration. The research findings have been a valuable resource for activating the project’s activities on social reintegration involving communities and building the capacity of the Probation Department.

You can review the research results at the following link.