On 25 July, Commissioner for Human Rights in Saratov Region Tatiana Zhurik spoke at the meeting with the social ministries and agencies. In her report, she focused on the social integration of persons released from facilities of the penal system.

Most of former convicts have problems with rehabilitation and housing; some of them have no documents and lost family ties. According to Tatiana Zhurik, these are the main reasons for recidivism. The Commissioner proposed to introduce the legal regulation of the rehabilitation of convicts, and establish a specialised centre for social integration.

According to the General Department of the MIA of Russia in Saratov Region, 4,609 persons, who had already been convicted, committed crimes in 2015, 730 of them within a year after release. Almost half of them had already suffered conviction for two or more times (2,319 people), more than 70% of them had no permanent earnings.

Adapted from the Press Service of the Commissioner for Human Rights in Saratov Region