CAT/OP/ARM/2
I. Introduction
1.
In accordance with the mandate set forth in the Optional Protocol to the Convention
against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,
members of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment visited Armenia from 3 to 6 September 2013.
2.
The Subcommittee was represented by the following members: Mari Amos (head of
the delegation), Víctor Madrigal-Borloz and Miguel Sarre Iguíniz.
3.
The Subcommittee was assisted by two human rights officers from the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and by four local interpreters.
4.
The primary objective of the visit was to provide advisory services and technical
assistance to the national mechanism for the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment or punishment of Armenia, in accordance with article 11 (b) (ii) and
(iii) of the Optional Protocol. The visit was intended to assist in strengthening the capacity
and the mandate of the national preventive mechanism and in evaluating the needs and the
means necessary to strengthen the protection of persons deprived of their liberty from
torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in Armenia. Another
objective of the visit was to assess the strategies in place to address the current challenges
and difficulties faced by the mechanism, taking due account of the Subcommittee’s
guidelines on national preventive mechanisms (CAT/OP/12/5).
5.
A number of meetings were held with the members and staff of the national
preventive mechanism, some of whom were from the Department for the Prevention of
Torture and Violence of the Human Rights Defender’s Office and some of whom were
from the Expert Council on the Prevention of Torture and Violence. The meetings
permitted the Subcommittee to discuss the mechanism’s working methods and to explore
ways of strengthening and increasing its effectiveness. To observe how the mechanism
operates, the Subcommittee also visited, together with the mechanism, three places of
detention: the Nubarashen psychiatric hospital, the Nubarashen penitentiary and the
Yerevan detention facility. The Subcommittee wishes to express its gratitude to the
mechanism for its cooperation and for having facilitated the visit.
6.
While in Armenia, the Subcommittee also met with officials from the Prosecutor
General’s Office, the Ministry of Health Care, the Standing Committee on State and Legal
Affairs of the National Assembly, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of
Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Police, the Special Investigation Service, the
Ministry of Defence, the Military Police and the State Migration Service of the Ministry of
Territorial Administration and Development. It also met with representatives of three public
monitoring groups and a civil society organization (see annex I).
7.
The present report contains observations and recommendations to the national
preventive mechanism, which is the entity charged with fulfilling the mandate of the
Human Rights Defender. The recommendations were made pursuant to the Subcommittee’s
mandate to offer training and technical assistance and to advise and assist national
preventive mechanisms, in accordance with article 11 (b) (ii) and (iii) of the Optional
Protocol.
8.
The planning of the Subcommittee advisory visit was a joint undertaking, as both the
national preventive mechanism and the Subcommittee had agreed in advance on the agenda
of the joint meetings. Those meetings allowed the Subcommittee to understand the
achievements and challenges, as well as the legal, structural and institutional obstacles,
faced by the mechanism, along with its working methods.
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