International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies - 29 May 2007
Helena Laatio, of the International Federation, in Baganur, Mongolia

Prisoners sleep in close quarters at the Baganuur "strict regime" detention facility. Six inmates are generally crammed into one compartment. None of the inmates have tested positive for HIV but screening provided by the Red Cross showed that around 50 detainees, or around 10 per cent of the prison's population, were diagnosed with syphilis, a sexually-transmitted disease.

Around 540 inmates at the Baganuur prison sit on the ground during roll call outside the facility. Nearly half of the detainees are expected to remain behind bars for at least 15 years. Most of them are being held on multiple convictions, mainly for theft and burglaries, but also murder. One of the aims of the Red Cross' programme is to prepare inmates for life outside the prison, in an effort to keep them from returning to the streets and a life of crime.

The sight of the prison dormitory is disturbing. The faces of young men, aged between 18 and 30, stare out from a long wall of crowded compartments.

Most of them are being held on multiple convictions, mainly for theft and burglaries, but also for murder. The shortest prison term here is five years, but nearly half of the 540 inmates are expected to remain in this "strict regime" facility for at least 15 years or more.

The prison is located near the town of Baganuur, about a two- hour drive from the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar. The authorities at the detention centre are working in close partnership with the local branch of the Mongolian Red Cross Society as part of an initiative to discourage risky behaviour in the country's prisons.

Peer educators, who are also prisoners, talk with representatives of the Finnish Red Cross and the International Federation as part of the "Let's Go Home Healthy" initiative -- the only one of its kind in Mongolia, which aims to discourage risky behaviour in prisons and prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

The pilot project, called "Let's Go Home Healthy", was started in 2004 with the aim of informing inmates about HIV/AIDS. Screening provided by the Red Cross showed that none of the prisoners had contracted the HIV virus, but ten per cent were diagnosed with syphilis, a sexually-transmitted disease.

Treatment was partially funded by the Red Cross project, which came to a stand-still in 2005 due to a lack of funding. It picked up pace last year, after the International Federation and the Finnish Red Cross came forward with new funding.

Besides providing health education to inmates, the Red Cross also helps ex-detainees readjust to life outside the prison walls, once they are released. No other programmes of this type exist in Mongolia to support young offenders, especially those without families, who often wind up back on the streets and eventually land back in prison.

An essential part of the "Let's Go Home Healthy" project is the training of peer educators, who are taught first aid and other skills by social workers. There are now 45 peer educators in the Baganuur facility.

"Most peer educators have good records, which can help reduce their sentences," says H. Purevsuran, who has run the prison for many years. "They generally tend to look after themselves and wear clean clothes...and their self esteem has also improved."

In addition to first aid training, the Red Cross also organizes small sports events and competitions for the inmates, as well as informal discussions, which support progress and create a healthy environment.

So far, more than 700 inmates have benefited from the Red Cross health education project in Baganuur.

"This project is very useful because it gives us knowledge and skills that help us, when we go 'out into the sun'," as one young inmate and peer educator describes the moment when the prisoners are released.

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