OSCE office organizes training course on monitoring right to health in Armenian detention facilitiesSeptember 21, 2009 - 20:18 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - An OSCE-supported training course on the right to health and international standards in Armenia's detention facilities ended in Tsaghkadzor on September 21, 2009. Members of the Public Monitoring Groups for Penitentiary Institutions and Police Detention Centers and observer trainees participated in the two-day course, organized by non-governmental organization Civil Society Institute and funded by the OSCE Office in Yerevan in partnership with the OSI Armenia, OSI Budapest Human Rights and Governance Grants Program and OSI New York Law and Health Initiative. "Monitoring of the detention facilities is the best instrument to safeguard the right to health of detainees," said Ambassador Sergey Kapinos, the Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan. "All components of the right to health, including access to doctors, equivalence of care, patients' consent, confidentiality and professional competence should be taken into consideration by the groups as well as by the responsible bodies in penitentiary institutions. We believe that this training will raise the professional capacity of the public observers and foster better compliance to rules of treatment and international human rights standards on the conditions of penitentiary institutions." The local and international trainers delivered courses on international standards of the right to health, national mechanisms and international best practices of harm reduction in detention facilities. As part of the course the participants visited penitentiaries and pre-trial detention centers to learn about and monitor conditions of the detainees. "The training course aims to enhance the monitoring skills of the observers by providing international experience on protecting the right to health of detainees and prisoners, and hence contribute to more effective monitoring," added Arman Danielyan, the head of the Public Monitoring Group for Penitentiary Institutions. A similar five-day training course on the principles of human right monitoring in penitentiaries will be held in October, and trainees will be selected to become new members of the Public Monitoring Group for Penitentiary Institutions, reported the press service of OSCE Yerevan Office. Top stories David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has met with Stephan Schütz, Executive Partner at Gerkan, Marg and Partners. The number of state universities will be reduced from 23 to 8 by 2030, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan has said. From September 21 to November 11, a total of 2,820 Russians registered at a place of residence in Armenia, the police has said. Partner news | Azerbaijan extends Rune Vardanyan’s arrest by 5 months A court in Azerbaijan has extended the arrest of former Nagorno-Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan by five months. “Great success”: Pashinyan pleased with new border protocol Pashinyan has described the signing by Armenia and Azerbaijan of a protocol on delimitation in Tavush as “a great success”. Armenia, Azerbaijan sign protocol on demarcation coordinates Armenia’s government took on May 15 another step towards handing over four border areas to Azerbaijan. U.S. warns Georgia not to side with Moscow against the west Georgia has been warned by the U.S. not to become an adversary of the west by falling back in line with Moscow. |