The RA Ministry of Justice has no answers to direct questions
15:10, February 21, 2018 | News, Own news | Detention Facilities
Vanadzor PI prisoner E. Y., who is suffering from multiple health problems, is in a damp quarantine cell. As reported by him, the damp of the cell has a negative effect on his state of health, and his request to be transferred to the infirmary was rejected by Acting Head of the PI V. Yeghiazaryan.
E.Y. informed HCA Vanadzor of this in his application of October 27, 2017.
The prisoner also remarked on the quality of food provided in the PI and mentioned that it did not meet the established standards.
On November 8, 2017, on the basis of the application, HCA Vanadzor turned to D. Harutyunyan, RA Minister of Justice, with regard to restoring E. Y.’s violated rights, verifying the other circumstances indicated in the application and bringing the violators to justice.
Despite the content of the issues raised in the application, Head of the Medical Services Division of the RA MoJ Penitentiary Department Ara Hovhannisyan responded to the letter of HCA Vanadzor. In his response dated February 1, 2018, Ara Hovhannisyan indicated the examinations that E. Y. had undergone and the treatment that had been prescribed.
It should be noted that the vast majority of the aforementioned examinations were conducted after the prisoner had submitted an application to HCA Vanadzor. However, there was no mention of the conditions in the quarantine cell and their impact on the prisoner’s health in the response of the head of the Medical Services Division of the Penitentiary Department.
Moreover, in fact, no response was provided for the letter of HCA Vanadzor relative to the quality of food provided by the PI and holding the prisoner for longer than the established period.
Through this, the RA Minister of Justice attempted to avoid the issues raised.
HCA Vanadzor touched upon this issue relative to prisoner E. T. as well, who was transferred from Nubarashen PI to Armavir PI. E. T. has been held in the quarantine cell for more than 2 months; however, the Penitentiary Department ignored this issue in their response to advocate at HCA Vanadzor A. Zalyan, who is the defender of E. T.’s interests with regard to this case.
On the basis of HCA Vanadzor’s alert on E. T.’s issue, the RA Human Rights Defender has started a discussion procedure at his own initiative. However, the case has not got off the ground yet.