OSCE OFFICE ORGANIZES TRAINING COURSE ON MONITORING RIGHT TO HEALTH IN ARMENIAN DETENTION FACILITIES

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
21.09.2009 19:18 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ An OSCE-supported training course on the right to
health and international standards in Armenia’s detention facilities
ended in Tsaghkadzor on September 21, 2009.

Members of the Public Monitoring Groups for Penitentiary Institutions
and Police Detention Centers and observer trainees participated
in the two-day course, organized by non-governmental organization
Civil Society Institute and funded by the OSCE Office in Yerevan
in partnership with the OSI Armenia, OSI Budapest Human Rights and
Governance Grants Program and OSI New York Law and Health Initiative.

"Monitoring of the detention facilities is the best instrument to
safeguard the right to health of detainees," said Ambassador Sergey
Kapinos, the Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan. "All components
of the right to health, including access to doctors, equivalence of
care, patients’ consent, confidentiality and professional competence
should be taken into consideration by the groups as well as by the
responsible bodies in penitentiary institutions. We believe that this
training will raise the professional capacity of the public observers
and foster better compliance to rules of treatment and international
human rights standards on the conditions of penitentiary institutions."

The local and international trainers delivered courses on international
standards of the right to health, national mechanisms and international
best practices of harm reduction in detention facilities. As part
of the course the participants visited penitentiaries and pre-trial
detention centers to learn about and monitor conditions of the
detainees.

"The training course aims to enhance the monitoring skills of the
observers by providing international experience on protecting the
right to health of detainees and prisoners, and hence contribute to
more effective monitoring," added Arman Danielyan, the head of the
Public Monit Group for Penitentiary Institutions.

A similar five-day training course on the principles of human right
monitoring in penitentiaries will be held in October, and trainees
will be selected to become new members of the Public Monitoring Group
for Penitentiary Institutions, reported the press service of OSCE
Yerevan Office.