On January 10, 2017, Representatives of the Department for the Prevention of Torture and Ill-Treatment of the RA Human Rights Defender's Office by the order of the Defender made a special visit to "Nubarashen" Penitentiary Institution of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia and examined the conditions of cells on the first floor of the mentioned penitentiary.
During the visit it was reported that the conditions of all the cells and corridors of the first floor were extremely insufficient. Based on the accomplished researches, the Defender has proposed stopping the exploitation of the first floor cells of the "Nubarashen" penitentiary.
Based on the information received from mass media, as well as on Armine Sahakyan's alert, Karapet Sahakyan's sister, who was deprived of liberty kept in cell number 2 of "Nubarashen" Penitentiary of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, on January 23, 2017, the representatives of the Department for the Prevention of Torture and Ill-Treatment visited once again the mentioned penitentiary, met with detainees in the cell number 2 and had a private talk with them.
During the visit, it was found out that on January 20 and 22, the persons deprived of their liberty in the number 2, committed self-injuries as a sign of protest against the decision to move to cell number 89. Three of the persons deprived of their liberty were provided with necessary medical care in the Medical Center "Erebuni", and the medical care of others was organized in the penitentiary.
During a private talk, the Ombudsman's representatives discussed with the latter the reasons of the self-injuries, as well as the conditions of the cell where it was intended to transfer the persons held in cell number 2.
The issue of insufficient conditions of the 89th cell was raised by the Human Rights Defender in November 2016 on the basis of a complaint filed by a person previously convicted of imprisonment in the cell (as a result of complaint discussion, persons deprived of liberty in the mentioned cell were moved to another cell), compared to that some improvements were made in the cell during the visit on January 23.
At the end of the visit, the self-injuries persons deprived of their liberty agreed to move to the cell number 89 provided that the cell renovation works indicated by the administration of the Nubarashen penitentiary were continued.
Improvement works of the cell number 89 of "Nubarashen" penitentiary institution of the RA Ministry of Justice will be in the focus of the Defender's attention.