CAT/OP/ARM/2/Add.1
III. Resources
5.
The RA Government in the fourth quarter of 2013 discussed and by the suggestion
of the RA National Assembly accepted the budget enquiry of the RA Human Rights
Defender in regards to the commitments under Article 6.1 of the RA Human Rights
Defender Law, which refers to the National Preventive Mechanism obligations defined by
the OPCAT. Therefore, the Human Rights Defender, within his institution established a
separate department headed under the title National Preventive Mechanism Department,
which is comprised of 4 lawyers (Head of the Department, Deputy Head of the Department,
1 Senior Expert and 1 Expert) and of 1 doctor (Senior Expert).
6.
It is worth mentioning, that the financial means allocated by the RA Government do
not cover the expenses of the Expert Council adjunct to the NPM. Therefore, negotiations
are being conducted with partner organizations on possible mutual programs, at the same
time activities are being undertaken to increase the number of experts in the Expert Council.
IV. Working methods
7.
In order to constantly exchange information with relevant authorities, a number of
meetings-discussions were already conducted. The following were implemented:
• In regards to the places of detention of Police, where the NPM recorded
shortcomings, their possible solution methods were presented by the NPM,
furthermore, commitments were expressed for future cooperation.
• In regards to the issues in the special schools under the jurisdiction of the RA
Ministry of Education and Science. Additionally, representatives of local and
international organizations, other interested parties were also invited.
• In regards to the issues in Psychiatric Institutions (PI):
8.
The NPM members participated as trainers in the trainings for the medical personnel
of the PIs of Armenia conducted within the framework of mutually implemented project
“Ill Treatment and strengthening of fight against impunity” by the European Union and the
Council of Europe. Participation in these events is noteworthy in the sense that the
representatives of the medical personnel of the PIs perceived the NPM as a supportive body.
V. Draft and existing legislation
9.
Both the current and drafting legislations are within the focus of the NPM. Thus, the
internal regulations of the garrison disciplinary isolators of the RA Ministry of Defence
were already examined; numerous contradictions were found in regards to legal acts and
European Committee for the Prevention of Torture standards. The RA Minister of Defence
was informed about the aforementioned. The activities of drafting of changes and
amendments in the relevant regulations were conducted by the assignment of the Minister
of Defence. The Minister also proposed to involve the NPM in the above-stated process in
order to carry out the work more effectively.
10.
The results of the activities will be publicized by the NPM, as the NPM has already
adopted the practice of publicizing the carried out activities. A better example of the similar
case is considered to be the results of the detention facility under the jurisdiction of the RA
National Security Service. So, as an outcome of the visit conducted the director of the RA
National Security Service was immediately informed of the shortcomings recorded, who
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