Strengthening the Protection of the Rights of Persons in Detention in Armenia

Building upon the results achieved from the implementation of the Project “Enhancing healthcare and human rights protection in prisons in Armenia”, the Project “Strengthening the Protection of the Rights of Persons in Detention” financed by Council of Europe Action Plan for Armenia 2023 – 2026 assists the Armenian authorities to further enhance penitentiary reform and prison health care, and the protection of the human rights of persons deprived of liberty. The Council of Europe is providing support at policy and operational levels assisting authorities to accomplish penitentiary reform goals and trigger changes in practices throughout the prison system especially after the adoption of the Criminal Code, Criminal Procedural Code as well as Penitentiary Code in June 2022.
The Project is implemented in close cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Health, Prison Medicine Centre, as well as other stakeholders including the civil society organisations.
The Project focuses on following priority areas:

Further enhancing the institutional capacity of the Prison Medicine Centre in order to provide quality health care in the penitentiary system;
Further consolidating the knowledge and skills of medical and non-medical staff on different topics on provision of health care;
Strengthening the capacities of prison staff to apply tools and rehabilitation programmes for persons deprived of liberty;
Harmonizing the regulatory framework on human rights with the new Penitentiary Code.

The key Conventions for this Project are the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), as well as the findings and the recommendations of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
The duration of the Project was set at 24 months, and it was completed on 31 December 2024, with an overall budget of 550 000 Euros.

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Back Workshop on reliability check of piloted risk and needs assessment tool in Armenian prisons

In an effort towards enhancing the rehabilitative approach in Armenia’s criminal justice system, a workshop centred on the -reliability check of the risk and needs assessment (RNA) tool during its piloting phase in Armenian prisons was held in Yerevan on 22 March 2024. This workshop attracted participants from the Penitentiary service and the staff directly involved in piloting the tool. The primary objective of the workshop was to address the challenges encountered during the implementation of the RNA tool and assess its reliability.

The RNA tool that is being piloted in four penitentiary institutions since 1 December 2023 is a promising advancement in assessing and managing resocialisation risks and needs of inmates within Armenia's prison system. Reliability check of the toolkit as well as fruitful discussions during the workshop brought to light various aspects, including practical challenges arising during the piloting phase. In order to check reliability of the tool, the participants were asked to work on the same case independently from each other by assessing the resocialisation needs of an inmate through the RNA tool. The aim was to see if all the participants achieve similar assessment results, which would prove the reliability of the tool.

The workshop served as a platform for effective dialogue and the exchange of ideas, with participants actively engaging in discussions on strategies to enhance the reliability and effectiveness of the RNA tool. As the piloting phase progresses, the results of the reliability exercise and insights gained from workshop will be instrumental in refining and optimising the RNA tool for broader implementation across Armenia's prison system.

This event is part of the Council of Europe’s support within the framework of the Project “Strengthening the protection of the rights of persons in detention” that assists the national authorities to further enhance penitentiary reform, prison health care and the protection of human rights of persons deprived of liberty. The Project is financed within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Armenia 2023-2026 and implemented by the Council of Europe.

Armenia 26 March 2024