Laboratory analysis establishes that the drinking water at "Armavir" Penitentiary Institution meets standards — tracking the publications

Certain individuals and media outlets are disseminating information claiming that the drinking water at "Armavir" Penitentiary Institution of the Ministry of Justice fails to meet sanitary norms and rules, allegedly causing the spread of disease among persons deprived of liberty. Taking into account also the information provided by the Human Rights Defender, the Health and Labour Inspection Body of the Republic of Armenia has initiated administrative proceedings to assess the compliance of the drinking water at "Armavir" Penitentiary Institution of the Ministry of Justice with sanitary norms and rules. Within the scope of the proceedings, on 13 August 2024, specialists of the Inspection Body conducted an inspection at "Armavir" Penitentiary Institution of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia. The inspection established that the drinking water supply system of the Institution was fully constructed recently, there have not been any reports on accidents within the system, and the Institution has been provided with round-the-clock water supply. At the same time, experts have taken samples from the drinking water from 6 points of the Institution's water supply system which have been sent for laboratory testing to assess the quality of drinking water. According to the expert opinion, the samples of the drinking water taken as a sample, comply with the requirements established under sanitary rules and norms. Accordingly, the requirements established under the sanitary norms and rules approved under the relevant order of the Minister of Health of the Republic of Armenia were not violated, as a result of which the administrative proceedings initiated by the Health and Labour Inspection Body of the Republic of Armenia were dismissed on the ground of absence of the incidence of an administrative offence.