The 2008 report issued today by the Board on Public Monitoring of Penitentiary System under the Ministry of Justice notes that some progress has been made in ensuring adequate hygienic and sanitary conditions within Armenian correctional facilities. Now, inmates receive soap, tooth paste and even toilet paper. However, the report goes on to say that both the quantity and quality of these personal items is sorely lacking and claims that the supply of toilet paper, intended to last for one month, is way too little. The report, which was made public today at the Congress Hotel, goes on to state that prison cell inspections are often accompanied by beatings and worse if inmates say anything back to the guards and that medical staff at the detention facilities often do not officially make a note of the injuries inmates suffer as a result. The report also singles out the problem of adequate nourishment within various correctional facilities. For instance, according to applicable Armenian law, various types of fruits must be included with prisoner meals. However, the monitoring group states that in all its visits to various jails it once never saw fruit on the menu. Then too, the report says that in many correctional facilities, prisoners themselves do the cooking and that this leads to unappetizing and less than nutritional meals. The situation is much better in those facilities where civilian cooks are employed. There is also a problem of overcrowding in the Noubarashen, Erebuni and Vardashen detention facilities. Noubarashen is registered as having a capacity for 840 inmates but now holds 947. The situation is worse at Erebuni where there are 591 inmates as opposed to a capacity of 391. The report also states that in Noubarashen, cells intended for 8 inmates now hold 10-13. As a result, the inmates must sleep in shifts since there aren't enough beds for all.