“The children were threatened with a knife, sexual abuses were committed, a person was chained to a heating radiator” What kind of abuses occur in closed facilities?
Activities | Rights | Right to Freedom from Torture | News
The cases of abuse in the psychiatric and care facilities are continuous, and the alarms from psychiatric facilities of past and present patients are numerous: During the last two years, law enforcement agencies have also initiated criminal cases. At a discussion on “The State of Protection of the Absolute Right to Be Free from Torture and Degrading Treatment in Armenia. Is Impunity Being Overcome?”, Marieta Temuryan, the coordinator of the Department of Monitoring of Social and Medical Services of the HCA Vandazor, addressed these concerns.
“Maybe you will remember several cases of abuse. In 2023, a case occurred in Vardenis Psychoneurologic Boarding House, when the police found a person chained to a heating radiator. At the “Zatik” support center for children, the guard threatened minors with a knife. The law enforcement agencies had also initiated a criminal case of sexual abuse at the same center. In August of this year, the director of the "Children's Home” SNPO, raised alarms about the abuses perpetrated by the nanny and nurse: These are the cases that received public attention, but I am sure that there are many other incidents that go unreported, and as a result, the perpetrators are not held accountable. And by this way, we leave a space for further manifestations of ill-treatment," she stated.
Marieta Temuryan expressed concern that the monitoring group's activities in care facilities were terminated in May of this year, resulting in a six-month period without oversight.
Feedback
Helsinki Citizens Assembly-Vanadzor
(+374) 322 4 22 68
HCA Vanadzors representative office in Yerevan
(+374) 11 24 22 68
