Ministry of Justice and Delegation of International Committee of the Red Cross in Armenia sign Memorandum of Understanding

The Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia and the Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Armenia are deepening their
co-operation.

Today, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Vigen Kocharyan and Head of the Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Armenia Claire Meytraud signed a Memorandum of Understanding, the aim of which is to define the scope of co-operation between the Ministry and the ICRC for humanitarian activities being implemented by the ICRC that will be aimed at improving the conditions of and treatment for persons deprived of liberty, as well as promoting international humanitarian law in the national legislation.

Projects for the strengthening of family ties between persons deprived of liberty and their relatives will be implemented within the scope of the Memorandum; the projects will target the most vulnerable groups such as foreigners and the Armenians deprived of liberty whose relatives almost don’t visit them or don’t visit them at all. The physical and psychological welfare of persons deprived of liberty will be improved through more appropriate use of parks and time spent out of cells and through projects aimed at improving the quality of parks and the time spent out of cells.

The primary beneficiaries of those projects will be persons kept under closed and semi-closed regimes.

Training courses devoted to the mandate and working style of the ICRC and topics jointly agreed by the Ministry and the ICRC will be held for the staff of the penitentiary system within the scope of the Memorandum.

The parties attached importance to the signing of the Memorandum and emphasised that it would contribute to the deepening and enhancement of the existing
co-operation.