Incarcerated Individuals to Regain Right to Connect with the Outside World

Incarcerated individuals will now have the opportunity to connect with the outside world again, which will facilitate the strengthening of their ties with society and aid in their reintegration. This announcement was made by Armenia's Minister of Justice, Rustam Badasyan, on his Facebook page.

“A few days ago, I promised that we would lift the general ban on visits for those deprived of liberty. With the government’s decision today, this is now a reality—we are restoring the opportunity for both short-term and long-term visits for incarcerated individuals,” Badasyan wrote.

He emphasized that this right will bolster the connection of incarcerated persons with the outside world, which is essential for their resocialization. Visits had been previously restricted due to pandemic-related risks.

“To our joy, thanks to the implementation of comprehensive measures and ongoing efforts, we have seen a decline in infection rates within prison facilities (only 39 individuals held in prisons, or 1.98%, have tested positive for the virus, all of whom have recovered),” he noted.

Badasyan also mentioned that monitoring will be conducted to continuously assess the impacts of this initiative.