[prisoner-rights] Report on Armenian penitentiary institutions presented in Yerevan

YEREVAN, 5 October 2006 -- The results of a monitoring of Armenian prisons
or detention centres in 2005, the conditions and treatment of prisoners,
were presented in Yerevan today.

Prepared by the Public Monitoring Group, it focuses on the medical
services and food the inmates receive, psychological problems, contact
with the outside world, daily exercises, as well as the prevention of
torture and inhumane treatment, and prison personnel.

The Group was established under the Justice Ministry to observe the rights
of detainees and is supported by the OSCE.

"This year's report is a big step forward for the Public Monitoring Group,
because it offers more concrete facts, recommendations and analysis," said
Silvia Pogolsa, Human Rights Officer at the OSCE Office in Yerevan. "I
also welcome the constructive co-operation offered by the Justice
Ministry, which provided essential responses and took into consideration
many recommendations suggested by the Group."

Mikhael Baghdasaryan, the Head of the Public Monitoring Group, added: "Our
monitoring revealed that the Ministry implemented some of the
recommendations we made in our 2004 report. We hope that the points
outlined in this report will also be adequately considered and help
improve the conditions of the prisoners."

A practical guide for NGOs on monitoring places of detention elaborated by
the Association of the Prevention of Torture and the OSCE Office for
Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) was also presented. It
has been translated into Armenian with the help of the OSCE Office and
ODIHR.

The OSCE Office in Yerevan together with the Open Society Institute
Armenia Foundation have been providing support to the Public Monitoring
Group since 2004.

Report in Armenian 
(http://www.osce.org/documents/pdf_documents/2006/10/21073-1.pdf)
(PDF)

OSCE Press release