Enhancing Health care and Human Rights protection in prisons in Armenia

This 30-months project is part of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Armenia 2019-2022. It is implemented by the Council of Europe in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Health and the Penitentiary Medicine Center.

The aim of the project is to further support the national authorities in reforming healthcare provision and human rights for sentenced persons in Armenia in line with the European standards.

Attention will be given to the following three areas:

enhancing regulatory and operational framework for provision of in line with European standards;
improvement of the material conditions and the provision of healthcare in prisons;
capacity building of the Penitentiary Medicine Centre (PMC).

The project will particularly focus on the improvement of prison healthcare services through introduction of new technologies in healthcare services, such as telemedicine and electronic database system of medical records, ensuring protection of healthcare rights of mentally-ill persons in penitentiary institutions, improvement of preventive healthcare, particularly sanitary-epidemiological and hygienic conditions and control mechanism, modernizing hospital/specialized medical care and services in the penitentiary institutions. Project activities should significantly contribute to improving effectiveness, transparency and accountability of penitentiary prison healthcare in general and the PMC in particular. Proper documentation and reporting on indications of torture, ill-treatment, inhumane and degrading treatment will stay in focus and addressed.

The amount devoted to this project is 750,000 Euros and its implementation started in November 2019 to end in December 2022.

Project documentation

Useful information

PROJECT NEWS

Back Armenia - new approach to the treatment of mental health, suicide and self-harm prevention in penitentiary institutions following the Council of Europe recommendations

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The Minister of Justice of Armenia amended the Decree N-279 on “Approving the Order of the Activities of the Structural Subunits Implementing Social, Psychological and Legal Work with Inmates” in line with the Council of Europe recommendations and rectified the punitive approach to acts of self-harm in prisons. It has been proven that self-harm is a consequence of psychological and psychiatric problems and should be treated from the therapeutic rather than punitive standpoint. The adopted amendment will ensure that no restriction or punishment (including but not limited to isolation or solitary confinement etc.) are applied to prisoners who attempted suicide or inflicted self-harm.

Furthermore, the Minister of Justice issued a Decree on Piloting of Mental Health Screening and Risk and Needs In-depth Assessment, as well as a Decree on Screening and Risk and Needs Assessment of Suicide and Self-harm Behavior in three selected prisons, Kosh, Armavir and Abovyan (the female prison in Armenia). These two screening tools were developed based on the Council of Europe standards and should enable the prison medical staff to perform an initial screening upon admission in a penitentiary institution of persons deprived of liberty, as well as an in-depth assessment in respect of the mental health, suicide and self-harm behavior. The piloting aims to test the tools for their effectiveness with a view of expending their use in the whole penitentiary system.

The above recommendations to the Decrees were developed within the framework of the Council of Europe project “Enhancing health care and human rights protection in prisons in Armenia” financed through the Council of Europe Action Plan for Armenia 2019 -2022.

Armenia 17 September 2021