From Disease to Release: Human Rights Protagonists Say the Rights of Ill Convicts are violated

The Group of Public Observers Conducting Monitoring of Penitentiary Institutions (PI) and Agencies of the RA Ministry of Justice warns once again that the issue of releasing 8 extremely serious ill convicts from service has not been resolved yet. The group considers this a negligence which “points to a gross violation of human rights”.

    

The group of public observers submitted urgent reports to the Ministry of Justice regarding those eight convicts, considering that their service is incompatible with their health condition, moreover, because of their health issues they do not represent a threat to the public. (According to the new law, the seriousness of the crime does not bear any significance if the inmate is experiencing an extreme health condition as such people are already moribund.)

In 2006, the government approved a list of diseases which prevent individuals from service:  bronchial asthma, heart, liver and kidney and gynecological diseases (there are three women with such diseases.) and the diagnoses of the convicts correspond to this list.

Although the Ministry of Justice has responded, the issue has not been resolved yet. The Inter-agency Committee is authorized to issue their release from further service of the punishment. According to the group of public observers, the Inter-agency Committee has not taken steps to make a decision, and as result of such indifference, one of the convicts tried to harm himself twice. 

The president of the group of public observers told ArmeniaNow that the solution is delayed because there are no clear procedures for the activity of the Inter-agency Committee.  

“There are no clear procedures to set the dates and criteria, and as a result, there is more uncertainty, than certainty,” says Sakunts.   

The Ministry of Justice responded that according to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, an illness is not always an obstacle for serving the term, if the convict can receive adequate health care at the penitentiary institution. 

“But we all know that the quality of health care service in Armenia is incomparable to the quality of medical services abroad,” argues Sakunts. He adds that these convicts are in a very serious phase of their diagnosed illnesses.  

Source: http://www.armenianow.com