Juvenile Convicts in Armenia Deprived of Their Right to Education

There currently are seven arrested or convicted juveniles in the jail in the Armenian Abovyan town who have for a year been deprived of their right to education, Zara Hovhannisyan, a member of the group of public observers who conducts public monitoring at Armenia’s penitentiary institution, announced at a press conference on Tuesday.

“There is a law on general education, which says that a 12-year education in Armenia is compulsory and free. We appealed to the [Justice Ministry’s Penitentiary Department] and received a response that ‘measures are being taken to solve the issue.’ They said the contract with the previous education providing institution had been terminated, and they have been working on a new contract. However, we can’t just sit and wait, since the implementation of the contract can take another year. Our group is extremely concerned about this issue and believes that it has to be resolved immediately,” Hovhannisyan said.

The minors, she added, are 9-10 graders, and they can easily appeal the violation of their right to education at the European Court of Human Rights, “which will undoubtedly hand out a verdict in favor of the minors.”