Launch of second stage of projects for prison healthcare and probation development heralded

Today, the Council of Europe Office in Yerevan and the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia officially heralded the launch of the "Strengthening the Healthcare and Human Rights Protection in Prisons in Armenia" and "Support the scaling-up of the probation service in Armenia" Projects, which are funded within the scope of the 2019-2022 Council of Europe Action Plan for Armenia.

Head of the Council of Europe Office in Yerevan Natalia Voutova greeted the participants of the meeting and informed that the Project will assist the authorities of Armenia in the implementation of reforms for the healthcare and human rights protection of prisoners in line with European standards and will help to improve the activities of the State Probation Service through the implementation of necessary reforms within the legislative, institutional and operational frameworks.

Deputy Minister of Justice Srbuhi Galyan expressed gratitude to the colleagues of the Council of Europe for the support and stated that these Projects serve as one of the effective tools for shifting prison medicine and development of the probation institution to a new level and that the focus is on the reforms in the sectors that are among the priorities of the Government of Armenia.

With satisfaction, the Deputy Minister mentioned that several actions targeted at the strengthening of healthcare and human rights protection at penitentiary institutions, the introduction of the probation institution and the establishment of the Probation Service were successfully implemented during the first stage of the Projects carried out in these sectors. "Today, Armenia is hinged on the common values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. This is exactly the reason why persons at penitentiary institutions and persons who are beneficiaries of probation are also targeted in the Programme of the Government in the context of guaranteeing that everyone is equal before the law. Persons at penitentiary institutions are under state supervision; thus, the State needs to take necessary steps for not only the re-socialisation of those persons, but also for guaranteeing their fundamental rights," Srbuhi Galyan stressed.

Afterwards, the first meeting of the co-ordinating councils for the "Strengthening the Healthcare and Human Rights Protection in Prisons in Armenia" and "Support the scaling-up of the probation service in Armenia" Projects was launched.