In the TDF of the Kochkor region major capital repair works were carried out in the shower room that had been built with the help of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek. It is worth mentioning the efforts undertaken by heads of regional units of internal affairs bodies aimed at following the recommendations and trying to improve detention conditions in their TDFs using their own resources. For instance, staff members refurbished at their own initiative the premises of the TDF in the At-Bashy region and built a shower-room and a toilet, although they do not work because there is no running water in the building. The cells are clean and the air inside is fresh. A monitoring group in the chief’s office, TDF in Tokmok Staff members of the TDF in the Aravan region carried out minor repair works of the premises. Following a request for sponsor assistance sent out by the TDF of the Panfilov region, the KaraBalta medical school supplied the facility with mattress pads and other bedding. In 2012, a boiler house was commissioned in the Talas province Interior Department which is also feeding the TDF. Observers noticed that compared to last year it is warmer and drier in the cells. A visiting room was installed on the premises of the TDF. In the TDF of the Kara-Bura region, one of the major problems highlighted during the 2011 monitoring study was resolved which had to do with sewage treatment facilities and fast filling of waste matter pits as a result of a high subsoil water level. In 2012 this TDF was connected to the central sewerage system. Unfortunately, alongside positive changes, negative practices were also observed. Poor detention conditions in TDFs under internal affairs bodies that were revealed in the course of the 2011 monitoring study remained mostly unchanged, and in some cases further deteriorated. For instance, monitors noticed unsatisfactory detention conditions in the TDFs of the Kara-Suu and Kadamjay regions. An observer talking to the deputy chief of the Interior Department, Talas province In the administrative detention cell of the TDF in the Aktal region there is no covered floor and detainees sleep on mattress pads placed on a concrete floor. The windows are merely represented by metal sheets with drilled holes are installed in window openings, no glass. A shower-room is missing. There is not water in the temporary detention facility, and all water is delivered from the yard of the District Department of the Interior that has a well. The state of affairs in the TDFs of the Jety-Oguz and Tyup regions has not changed: they do not have a shower room yet, and there is no rain and snow cover in the exercise yard. There is no shower room and exercise yard in the TDF of Balykchy. The issue of absence of ventilation, or poor ventilation, highlighted by the monitors last year has not been resolved in TDFs in Balykchy and Jety-Oguz, Suzak, Nooken, Bazar-Korgon and ToguzToro regions. 42