Corruption increases in Armenian penitentiaries
No progress has been registered in the field of human rights in Armenia. The country continues to witness gross violations of human rights, according to the Helsinki Association.
On February 28, the Association presented its two-volume report on the human rights situation in Armenia.
"Violations and encroachments against journalists continued in 2010. The police did their best to hinder the rallies organized by the opposition," underlined the authors of the report.
The Association is concerned over large-scale violations of human rights in penitentiaries.
"The number of corrupt practices has increased in prisons. The condition of inmates with health problems is still annoying. Patients taken to prisons from the Hospital for Convicts are in grave condition," said Helsinki Association Coordinator Arsen Babayan adding that penitentiary institutions are in a sorry plight and need a major overhaul.
The authors of the report stressed that sanitary regulations and norms are not observed in prison cells.
"As soon as we stepped a cell, bugs fell onto us. Cells are overcrowded, with inmates sleeping in turn," said Arsen Babayan.
The Association learnt from verified sources that in 2010 38 people died and 5 people committed suicide in Armenian prisons. 47 convicts are diagnosed with tuberculosis and another 22 are AIDS carriers.
