Ombudsman on life-termer’s suicide
Armenian Ombudsman has issued a statement in which he raised the numerous problems encountered in Armenian prisons.
In the statement, he said that the suicide of a life-termer in the Nubarashen prison made him once again refer to the unsolved problems and shortcomings in the system, particularly
1. The lack of psychological service (one psychologist serves at least 100 lifers)
2. No rehabilitation programs (cultural or sports events, lack of opportunities for work or education).
3. Lack of an effective mechanism of post-conviction review.
4. Lack of a flexible and differentiated system for application of life imprisonment, change of treatment and early release.
In European countries, such systems are based on a number of factors:
a) the offender's age
b) the number of prison terms
c) the gravity of crimes, number and type of murders
d) convict's personality.
In autumn, the Ombudsman will issue a special report detecting the main reasons behind the problems in prisons.
