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Sara Petrosyan

It Will Take Ten Years for Prisons to Conform to the Law

Prison structures constructed during Soviet times in Armenia need to conform to the status of correctional facilities as outlined by the current Penal Code, in force since 2004. But, according to the workers of correctional facilities, this is one case where the law has rushed ahead of the real situation, and it will take at least ten years before prisons will be up to the required standard. "We can partly realize correctional facilities of the closed type today, but the semi-closed and semi-open types are beyond our reach, purely because of the current conditions," said Samvel Hovhanissyan, head of the Criminal Executive Department of the Ministry of Justice.

The state financed the establishment of the Artik correctional facility, while a confinement unit is being constructed in Vanadzor and one is planned for Echmiadzin.

The Kosh correctional facility, in the past a general high-security unit, changed to the semi-closed type after the reforms. Samvel Gurjanyan, deputy head for psycho-social issues at the facility, thought that it would take years for the unit to conform to that status. The hostel conditions needed to be changed to four or six-person cells, with separate toilets, and the prisoner would have to eat in his cell.

Gurjanyan said that the semi-closed model had particularly changed the visitation process, making it stricter. According to the new procedure, those convicted for particularly serious crimes would annually be allowed one long visit, for up to three days, and three shorter visits, up to four hours each. In the past, a prisoner's conduct would determine his visitation rights - if he behaved well, he would get three days of visitation per month. The current law allowed some prisoners, in case of good behavior, to go on vacation for seven days. The new code did not allow punishing prisoners by limiting their visitation rights, and allowed for the encouragement of good behavior by providing extra visitations.

Correctional staff were positive about the new method of reform, which transferred a prisoner in case of good conduct from a closed facility to a semi-closed one, and then to a semi-open unit. He could establish contact with his family and society in this way, after which it would be easier for him to adapt to life outside the prison. According to Gurjanyan, isolation from society would turn the prisoners into semi-civilized people who would not be able to settle into their new environment once they were released.

Vardan Harutyunyan, president of the Center for Rights and Freedom, an NGO, said that the reforms had had a very positive impact on the prison community. The system had become as open as possible, with more visitations, and the fact that there were people thinking about them had a very positive influence on prisoners' psychology. However, there were still certain problems at correctional facilities, according to Harutyunyan - the open system still employed people who were used to the closed system. "I mean to say that their mindset has remained the same, but the situation has changed, and they can no longer use their power the way they used to before the reforms."

The president of the Center for Rights and Freedom went on to say that he did not have information about torture in prisons either. "Very few people would talk about the violence. These are accepted rules of the game in prisons; both prisoners and workers there abide by these rules," he said, adding that torture was not just physical violence, but also included the conditions of imprisonment.

"The conditions in our prisons, especially regarding hygiene - the toilets and showers - are damaging to one's self-esteem. There are places that are completely renovated annually, but they don't even last a year, because they were constructed in Soviet times with the intention that the colder and damper it is, the better," Harutyunyan said.

The Sevan correctional facility was constructed in 1957 and the entire structure is falling apart, including the medical section and security system. Varujan Yeghiazaryan, the head of the facility, said that renovation was slated for this year. However, this renovation would hardly be enough to organize the necessary improvements there. Two convicts managed to escape from that facility last year, although they were recaptured a day later.

Convicts seek administration's help to preserve family

After the Ministry of Justice took over the correctional institutions, social workers, psychologists and lawyers were given regular positions there. "Our approach changed, in that we tried to look at things from the convict's point of view and make things easier for him, which brought more calm to the facility," said Samvel Gurjanyan, deputy head for psycho-social issues at the Kosh facility.

The president of the Center for Rights and Freedom, which has already implemented several programs in the prisons, announced that their studies showed that all of those who were released had problems both inside and outside of the facility. There were people who had nowhere to go, and their beds at the facility were reserved for them, because they were expected to return.

Samvel Gurjanyan explained that the problem arose especially in cases of long sentences, mainly when the convict had been married recently, if his wife did not wish to wait 15 years or spend the rest of her life with such a man. This was usually followed by divorce and stressful situations, during which a psychologist's help was necessary. Gurjanyan mentioned the case of a depressive prisoner who attempted suicide because his wife left him, he had no contact with his family, was isolated from the world and everything that gave him a reason to live.

"We met his family in Gyumri, tried to change the attitudes of his wife and child towards him, and interceded to try and keep his family intact. They promised to visit, they have started to call him already. The convict's psychological status improved after that, we hope they are reconciled," said Gyurjanyan.

One of the prisoners narrated a similar incident, about a time when he had only three months before he was to be set free. "It was tough on me, I had been in prison for three years, and had small children that did not know me. After my conviction, my wife demanded a divorce and would not let me see the children. I sought the administration's help - they tried to convince her, and offered their car to bring them for a visit, but my wife did not agree. Nevertheless, their readiness to help and humane treatment helped me overcome those difficult times."

The workers at the Kosh facility noted that the prisoners asked their help not only to fix problems with their families, but also wished to be married and requested the legalization of marriages. In accordance with their wishes, 20-30 such marriages were registered annually.

During our visit, all 15 rooms meant for long-term visits were occupied, and convicts there could spend three days with their family. However, the situation was different from prison to prison - at Kosh, prisoners took turns waiting for the rooms to be freed, while the head of the Sevan facility could not recall a time when all seven rooms available there had been occupied at the same time.

He's out, but he'll be back soon

The issue of educating the prisoners and reforming them remains unresolved, although that is exactly the reason why they are isolated from society. The positions of social worker, psychologist and lawyer were created at these facilities for that purpose. These are new positions, and the professionals employed are probably not yet completely familiar with the situation. They work with team leaders and groups consisting of 80 prisoners, trying to support convicts in adapting to the new conditions. Varuzhan

Yeghiazaryan, the head of the Sevan correctional facility, contrasted this with the English prison system, where four professionals work with each prisoner. In Armenia, unfortunately, team leaders have no doubt in their mind whenever they say, "He's out, but he'll be back soon."

Photos by Onnik Krikorian

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