OSCE Centre helps Kyrgyz police improve fingerprint database

BISHKEK, 12 December 2008 - An automated fingerprint identification system will be introduced by the Interior Ministry as part of the Kyrgyz Police Programme to improve crime investigation capacity. An agreement on this was signed today between the Ministry, the OSCE Centre in Bishkek and the company SONDA Technologies.

Under an ongoing project, the OSCE Centre has already set up 10 workstations and 4 servers, and SONDA Technologies installed licences and trained local operators to use the new system and software. Over the last two months, operators from the Ministry's Forensic Centre processed and uploaded some 10,000 new dactylograms into the database.

"A well-functioning digital fingerprint system is an important tool during crime investigations. The work now conducted by the Ministry with our support constitutes a good basis to achieve such an automated system within a reasonable time limit," said Knut Dreyer, the OSCE Centre's Police Reform Advisor.

Interior Minister Moldomusa Kongantiev thanked the OSCE Centre for its help adding: "The dactylograms will considerably relieve the work of forensic and investigation units of the Kyrgyz Police and provide a data base for future criminal investigations."

The fingerprint database currently used in the country stores information on convicted criminals, and allows to exchange information with neighbouring countries and Interpol.

Establishing and developing an automated fingerprint database has been part of a project, supported by the OSCE Centre, to build the capacity of the Kyrgyz Police and ensure that human rights are observed during police investigations.