Overcrowding in Armenia Prisons Tantamount to Torture, Says Human Rights Activist

Overpopulation in Armenian prisons, and particularly in Nubarashen penitentiary, is a serious issue, said Artur Sakunts (pictured on the left), head of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor office and head of the civic group monitoring Armenia’s prisons, at a press conference in Yerevan today on the state of prisons in the country.

According to Sakunts, this issue of overcrowding can be considered torture.

Weighing in on instances of death in prison, the human rights activist said that there were 7 such cases in 2009 as compared to 35 in 2010.

The causes of death, according to Sakunts, are tied to poor air circulation, which leads to serious health issues. Other prevalent issues include establishing contact with the outside world, and free time and recess. All these, he continued, create risks for corruption.

“We have presented a package of reforms and proposals on behalf of our monitoring group to the justice minister back in February of this year and we expect there will be certain actions, steps regarding our proposals and also we will receive some information,” he said.

Also present during the meeting with journalists today was Arsen Babayan, head of the public relations office at the justice ministry’s penal institutions department, who acknowledged the problem of overcrowding, but in this case, he said, the overcrowding is exaggerated. He denied talk of prisoners sleeping in turns. “We have no such issue at this time and we never have.”

“As for communication with the outside world, it’s no secret that as a result of prisoners being so many (in these overcrowded conditions) and shortage of prison staff, there will be some difficulties, but to date we haven’t received any complaints about phone calls or recess,” said Babayan.

The government official then informed the press that a new penitentiary is being built in Armavir and with it, the issue of overcrowding will be resolved. Lifers — of which there are 100 — will also be kept in this new prison, he said.

According to Babayan, currently in Armenia there are 5,100 arrested and imprisoned, of which 140 are women and 17 are minors, with an additional 20 minors in pre-trial detention.