CPT on Armenia: some progress in countering informal prisoner hierarchy, but material conditions in prisons should be urgently improved

The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has published the report on its September 2023 periodic visit to Armenia (see also the executive summary), together with the response of the Armenian authorities. The delegation examined the situation of persons deprived of their liberty by the police and the military, of persons in several prisons, the Central Prison Hospital, and in social care homes ("internats") (*).

As for conditions in police custody, most of the persons interviewed by the delegation stated that they had been treated correctly by the police. However, the delegation gathered some allegations of recent physical ill-treatment of persons detained by the police, notably during questioning, reportedly with the aim of extracting a confession or obtaining other information.

Regarding prisons, the CPT delegation did not receive any allegations of physical ill-treatment by staff in the penitentiary establishments visited. The power of the informal prisoner hierarchy seems to have diminished, in part thanks to the recent criminalization of membership in prison subculture and the decision taken by the prison administration to segregate some of the most influential and least compliant "crime bosses" at Yerevan-Kentron Prison. However, inter-prisoner violence has not yet been fully eradicated, especially in Nubarashen and Artik Prisons. The CPT has recommended taking resolute steps to put an end to the informal prisoner hierarchy influence.

As for the material conditions in prisons, the ongoing comprehensive refurbishment of Abovyan Prison was a positive development, but for the rest, conditions continued to be generally very poor at Nubarashen Prison, and mediocre at best at Armavir and Artik Prisons.

Press release
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee on Armenia: some progress in countering informal prisoner hierarchy, but material conditions in prisons should be urgently improved