US embassy cable - 05YEREVAN1261

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 001261 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN, DRL, INL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/14/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, PGOV, AM 
SUBJECT: MONITORING BOARD CALLS ARMENIAN PRISON CONDITIONS 
"UNSATISFACTORY" 
 
REF: 04 YEREVAN 1792 
 
Classified By: DCM A.F. Godfrey for reasons 1.4 (b, d). 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1. (SBU) Conditions in Armenian prisons remain 
"unsatisfactory" despite some improvements, according to a 
report by Armenia's Civil Society Monitoring Board (CSMB). 
On June 30, CSMB members hosted a roundtable discussion where 
they announced the results of inspections they conducted from 
June through November 2004.  Ministry of Justice Prisons 
Department Head Samvel Hovannisian immediately derided 
members for assertions that physical abuse, medical neglect, 
and poor conditions remain problems in Armenian prisons. 
Hovannisian dismissed many of the CSMB's recommendations as 
financially unrealistic.  The GOAM has no obligation to 
implement CSMB recommendations.  End Summary. 
 
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PRISON CONDITIONS FALL SHORT OF INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS 
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2. (SBU) In a June 30 roundtable event covered by news media, 
members of the MOJ-accredited Civil Society Monitoring Board 
(CSMB) released the CSMB's first report on prison conditions 
in Armenia.  According to CSMB Chairman Temik Khalapyan, 
members completed more than 20 scheduled and unscheduled 
prison visits from June 1 through November 5, 2004. 
Khalapyan said that though the system improved over the 
inspection period, prison conditions remained "horrible." 
CSMB members described chronic problems including unsanitary 
living conditions, denial of visitor privileges, medical 
neglect and, in the most extreme cases, physical abuse.  MOJ 
Prisons Department Head Samvel Hovannisian, who participated 
in the roundtable, said that insufficient funding to invest 
in infrastructure remained the most pressing problem for the 
GOAM. 
 
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ESCAPEE BEATEN BY POLICE 
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3. (U) Thirty-year-old Mher Yenokyan, convicted of murder and 
imprisoned for life, escaped from a prison in Goris on 
December 9, 2004.  By late January 2005, police had captured 
and transferred Yenokyan to maximum security Nubarashen 
Penitentiary near Yerevan.  During the roundtable, CSMB 
member Mikael Abramyan claimed Yenokyan, whom he personally 
visited, appeared in court "with appalling signs of abuse." 
CSMB Chairman Khalapyan, who visited Yenokyan "a few days" 
after the incident, claimed "it was obvious that Yenokyan was 
tortured."  In response to their accusations, MOJ Prisons 
Department Head Samvel Hovannisian asserted to roundtable 
participants and press covering the event that guards 
believed Yenokyan was planning another escape and used 
justified force to punish him and to obtain details about his 
plans. 
 
4. (C) Comment:  In separate meetings after the roundtable, 
Khalapyan and CSMB member Avetik Ishkanyan privately told us 
that they believed the severity of abuse in the Yenokyan case 
was uncommon.  Khalapyan and Ishkanyan both claimed that 
prisoners are more likely to suffer physical abuse in 
pre-trial detention where, they asserted, law enforcement 
officials force confessions.  Neither member could 
substantiate the claims, however, because the CSMB has been 
unable to negotiate terms of access to inspect police 
detention facilities.  End Comment. 
 
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CSMB RECOMMENDATIONS MIRROR EUROPEAN STANDARDS 
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5. (SBU) CSMB recommendations largely echoed the April 2005 
Helsinki Committee report on prisons in Armenia. 
Recommendations included continued monitoring, training on 
par with international standards for prison guards and 
administrators, a standard mechanism for reporting human 
rights violations, and enforcing humane treatment 
conventions.  The CSMB also recommended cost reduction 
through prisoner participation in system improvements and 
adherence to international minimum standards for physical 
size, capacity, and furnishing of prison cells.  CSMB members 
claimed that legislative loopholes, including the absence of 
a technical definition for torture, provided abusive law 
enforcement authorities excuses to avoid responsibility. 
 
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MOJ LIMITS ACCESS TO MONITORS 
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6. (C) The CSMB and GOAM could not agree on terms of access 
to pre-trial detention centers or police stations and, as a 
result, the report is limited to prison inspections only. 
Though it is clear that the CSMB actively monitored Armenian 
prisons throughout the short reporting period, the MOJ is not 
legally obligated, and does not appear fundamentally 
motivated, to implement the CSMB's recommendations.  MOJ 
Prisons Department Head Samvel Hovannisian demonstrated 
surprising disregard for basic prisoner rights and deflected 
responsibility for the system's chronic infrastructure 
problems.  He claimed the CSMB and NGOs wasted foreign aid 
that his department could have better utilized "to fix the 
problem."  The MOJ is drafting a response to the CSMB's 
recommendations. 
EVANS