More than 3,000 Uzbeks imprisoned in Russia could be returned home

Russia is ready to transfer more than 3,000 Uzbek citizens currently serving prison sentences on its territory back to Uzbekistan, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said at a meeting of the CIS Human Rights Commission.

According to Moskalkova, Russia is prepared to carry out such transfers, but Uzbekistan is not yet able to receive the prisoners. The reason, she said, is that the country has not yet ratified the international convention adopted in 1998 on the transfer of persons sentenced to imprisonment to another state.

Moskalkova explained that joining this convention would create a legal mechanism allowing citizens to be transferred from a foreign country to their homeland to serve their sentence there.

The convention has already been ratified by Russia and is also in force in Belarus, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan. Under the agreement, a citizen convicted in one state may be transferred to the country of their citizenship to serve their sentence there.

The main purpose of this system is to make prisoners’ social reintegration easier and to help ensure they serve their sentences in more humane conditions.

Earlier, it was reported that the number of Uzbek citizens currently working temporarily in Russia stands at nearly 1.3 million.