A human rights activist criticized female government officials in Armenia for their inhumane treatment of prisoners

ArmInfo. Human rights activist Zhanna Aleksanyan criticized women in charge of Armenia's penitentiary system and those holding key government positions for their inhumane treatment of prisoners.

Regarding the death in custody of Arsen Gevorgyan, a candidate for the mayor of Stepanavan from the "Strong Armenia" party, she called on the country's authorities to stop and not push people to the brink of death. In this vein, the human rights activist recalled the conditions of detention in Armenia, in particular the poor quality of medical care in prisons, the arbitrary and inhumane treatment of sick prisoners, and those on hunger strike.

"I've been visiting prisons for about three decades. I first visited Nubarashen prison in 1998 with the late human rights activist Avetik Ishkhanyan. "We visited those sentenced to life imprisonment. I remember the profound emotions we experienced then. It was as if we were in hell. We thought we'd never return to prison again, but we continued to visit places of detention over the following decades. And today, I can't say much has changed. If anything has, it's only because of time itself," Aleksanyan wrote on her Facebook page.

Reacting to Justice Minister Srbuhi Galyan's statement that "deaths of prisoners are recorded all over the world," the human rights activist noted that such justifications in no way absolve them of responsibility for what is happening. "No matter how much you claim that deaths happen everywhere, you are perfectly aware of your responsibility. The state has a direct obligation to ensure the protection of the lives and health of people in closed institutions and places of detention. And this inhumane order, these morals, shaped by the current authorities, will one day cease to exist. "And then the time for your responsibility will come," the human rights activist stated.

Aleksanyan also recalled that today in Armenia, women are responsible for the penitentiary system – the ministers of justice and health. "A woman is also responsible for bringing charges." Thus, Armenia has created a precedent that calls into question the very advisability of appointing women to government positions. Particularly striking is the behavior of Prosecutor General Anna Vardapetyan, who demonstrated unprecedented cruelty – Aregnaz Manukyan, a member of the board of the Mother Armenia party, was not even allowed to talk to her minor child on the phone while in custody. "Therefore, women of Armenia, come to your senses!" Aleksanyan concluded.

As a reminder, on October 21, the Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia opened a criminal case against Arsen Gevorgyan, who headed the proportional list of the Strong Armenia party in the Stepanavan Municipal Council elections, and 13 other individuals. It was later revealed that the court ordered Gevorgyan arrested for two months. Five others were placed under two-month arrest or house arrest. On November 10, he died in pretrial detention. The cause was a heart attack.

It is noteworthy that the day before the criminal case was opened, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan invited citizens and candidates for community heads in the local government elections who were under pressure from the ruling Civil Contract party to write to him personally. But by the evening of that same day, he himself began threatening representatives of the opposition forces. Note that all of this occurred before the local government elections in Stepanavan.