Members of European Committee for the Prevention of Torture visit penitentiary institutions and get acquainted with conditions for confinement of persons deprived of liberty

Deputy Minister of Justice Levon Balyan received the delegation led by Head of the Delegation of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Second Vice-President of the Committee Therese Maria Rytter.

The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) pays visits to places of detention to assess the treatment of persons deprived of liberty.

During the meetings, a number of fundamental issues were discussed with Deputy Minister of Justice Levon Balyan. In particular, the Deputy Minister, attaching importance to the transition from the punitive policy to the ideology of rehabilitation and re-socialisation, presented the key reforms made in the criminal justice sector in the Republic of Armenia, the main achievements of the penitentiary system and the progress recorded in comparison with the previous visit of the Committee over the past four years.

Levon Balyan also emphasised the adoption of the new sector-specific legislation, the betterment of the mechanism for recording any case of alleged torture or other maltreatment, the closure of two penitentiary institutions, the introduction of a video surveillance system at ''Armavir'' Penitentiary Institution, the improvement of building conditions of penitentiary institutions, the increase of positions of officers and their social guarantees and ensuring of the right of convicts having attained the age of 19 to receive general education.

The process of and perspectives for using the equipment acquired for house arrest and administrative control, the issues related to the transfer of the ''Penitentiary Medicine Centre'' State Non-Commercial Organisation to the Ministry of Health and sector-specific issues were also discussed.

Levon Balyan introduced to the members of the delegation the envisaged model of a new and contemporary penitentiary institution that meets international standards. The members of the Committee highly appreciated the innovations and reforms in the criminal justice sector, including the success achieved in terms of overcrowdedness of penitentiary institutions and in terms of improvement of the quality of food provided to persons deprived of liberty.

Deputy Minister Levon Balyan once again reaffirmed the commitment of the Ministry of Justice to complete the process of the reforms that have been launched.

Both the Ministry of Justice and the members of the Committee reached an agreement to continue the co-operation to improve the sector.