OSCE OFFICE REPRESENTATIVES VISIT PENAL COLONY FOR WOMEN AND JUVENILES

ArmRadio.am
30.08.2006 13:00

OSCE Office representatives and board members of the Public Monitoring
Group for Penitentiary Institutions today visited the Abovian Women and
Juvenile Colony to present school-related items for the new academic
year to children in detention, as well as provide OSCE publications
to the library.

The visitors met with prison administration, detainees and the only
child born in prison, who will go to a regular school for the first
time this year.

Board members also observed physical conditions and the overall
protection of detainees’ rights.

"This is my fifth visit to this criminal executive institution,
and I can see some progress in the area of arranging visits and
cell space allocation," said Michael Baghdasaryan, Chairman of the
Board. "However, there is still obviously room for improvement in
the sanitary and hygiene conditions of the institution".

The OSCE has been supporting criminal justice reform in Armenia
since 2001, among other ways through helping to establish the Public
Monitoring Group, which began operating in 2004. The Group monitors
the rights of detainees in criminal executive institutions and provides
recommendations to the Justice Ministry to improve the situation.

Besides day-to-day support provided to the group, the OSCE Yerevan
Office provides regular training for the members of the Group,
jointly with OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights,
and invites experts in the field from other participating States to
exchange experiences with their Armenian colleagues.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress