Tweet
ANTI-TORTURE COMMITTEE PUBLISHES REPORT
Lragir.am
http://www.lragir.am/engsrc/society22981.html
18/08/2011
The Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment (CPT) published the report on its periodic
visit to Armenia in May 2010, together with the response of the
Armenian Government. These documents have been made public at the
request of the Armenian authorities.
In their response, the Armenian authorities provide information on
steps taken or envisaged to implement the CPT's recommendations.
Key extracts of the report
'During the 2010 visit, the delegation heard a significant number of
credible and consistent allegations of recent physical ill-treatment
of detained persons by police operational staff and, occasionally,
by senior officers, at the time of initial interviews (i.e. before a
protocol of detention was drawn up). The alleged ill-treatment mainly
consisted of punches, kicks and blows inflicted with truncheons,
bottles filled with water or wooden bats, with a view to securing
confessions or obtaining other information. In several instances,
the severity of the ill-treatment alleged was such that it could be
considered as amounting to torture (e.g. extensive beating; infliction
of electric shocks with stun batons; blows to the soles of the feet).
Further, many persons, including persons interviewed by the police
as witnesses, alleged that they had been subjected to oppressive
interviewing methods (e.g. sustained questioning by as many as eight
interviewers; threats of being physically ill-treated or executed,
or of repercussions for family members) in order to compel them to
make statements or to act as police informants.' (paragraph 12 of
the report)
'The case of Vahan KHALAFYAN, who died in police custody on 13 April
2010, is illustrative of the problem of ill-treatment; it had received
extensive media coverage in Armenia. At the time of the visit, the
evidence gathered during the preliminary investigation into this
case already clearly indicated that Mr Khalafyan had been held at
Charentsavan Police Division for some seven hours without a protocol
of detention being drawn up, and that he had been subjected to severe
beatings during questioning by four police officers, including the
Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit. Mr Khalafyan reportedly took
a knife from the wardrobe next to where he was sitting and stabbed
himself twice in the lower stomach. The post-mortem examination
established that he had died from these injuries but also revealed
numerous other injuries which were consistent with an assault upon
him prior to the fatal stab wounds being inflicted (i.e. bruises
on the scalp on the top of the head, with corresponding evidence of
bleeding to the brain, as well as inside the mouth, on the lower jaw,
behind the right knee, on the right shin and on the front of the
right ankle).' (paragraph 13 of the report)
'It is the responsibility of the staff and of the prison administration
as a whole to protect prisoners' physical and psychological integrity,
and to take immediate, resolute and even anticipatory action to
prevent inter-prisoner intimidation. In the course of the 2010 visit,
the delegation observed that there was a general tendency for staff in
Nubarashen and Kosh Prisons to delegate authority to a select number
of inmates who were at the top of the informal prison hierarchy,
in particular a prisoner "leader" (the so-called "zon nayokh"),
and use them to keep control over the inmate population. In order to
exercise his authority, the prisoner "leader" at Nubarashen Prison
was apparently afforded certain privileges, such as the possibility
to move relatively freely within the establishment and to enter any
cells. At Kosh Prison, the prisoner "leader" was clearly in charge
of order among prisoners. It also appeared that those not willing
or able to give financial or other contributions to the prisoner
"leader" in exchange for full protection were marginalised and at
risk of intimidation.' (paragraph 66 of the report)
'At Yerevan-Kentron Prison, the material conditions in which the
three life-sentenced prisoners were accommodated give cause for
serious concern.'
'The situation was aggravated by the regime of solitary confinement
applied to the three life-sentenced prisoners. Two of them had been
held in such conditions for over nine years. They were not allowed
to associate with each other or with any other prisoner. They did not
even have a TV set or radio in their cells (unlike the third inmate).
The only regular out-of-cell activity consisted of daily outdoor
exercise, which was taken alone in a yard on the top floor of the
prison building. Such conditions could be considered as amounting to
inhuman treatment and contributed to the degradation in the prisoners'
mental health.' (paragraph 71 of the report)
'In the CPT's view, the [conditions of detention] at Nubarashen
Prison could well be considered as amounting to inhuman and degrading
treatment.' (paragraph 83 of the report)
'Suicides or suicide attempts appeared to be very rare events in the
establishments visited. However, the CPT is concerned by certain
extreme measures that may be taken when a prisoner is considered
to be a particularly high suicide risk. At Nubarashen Prison,
a life-sentenced prisoner identified as suicidal had been kept in
his cell, hand- and ankle-cuffed to his bed for more than one month
between December 2009 and January 2010. At no point was he sent to
a hospital facility. The cuffs were removed by staff for him to go
to the in-cell toilet or during mealtimes. According to the prisoner
concerned, the measure was ended after he managed to remove the cuffs
himself.' (paragraph 117 of the report)
Lragir.am
http://www.lragir.am/engsrc/society22981.html
18/08/2011
The Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment (CPT) published the report on its periodic
visit to Armenia in May 2010, together with the response of the
Armenian Government. These documents have been made public at the
request of the Armenian authorities.
In their response, the Armenian authorities provide information on
steps taken or envisaged to implement the CPT's recommendations.
Key extracts of the report
'During the 2010 visit, the delegation heard a significant number of
credible and consistent allegations of recent physical ill-treatment
of detained persons by police operational staff and, occasionally,
by senior officers, at the time of initial interviews (i.e. before a
protocol of detention was drawn up). The alleged ill-treatment mainly
consisted of punches, kicks and blows inflicted with truncheons,
bottles filled with water or wooden bats, with a view to securing
confessions or obtaining other information. In several instances,
the severity of the ill-treatment alleged was such that it could be
considered as amounting to torture (e.g. extensive beating; infliction
of electric shocks with stun batons; blows to the soles of the feet).
Further, many persons, including persons interviewed by the police
as witnesses, alleged that they had been subjected to oppressive
interviewing methods (e.g. sustained questioning by as many as eight
interviewers; threats of being physically ill-treated or executed,
or of repercussions for family members) in order to compel them to
make statements or to act as police informants.' (paragraph 12 of
the report)
'The case of Vahan KHALAFYAN, who died in police custody on 13 April
2010, is illustrative of the problem of ill-treatment; it had received
extensive media coverage in Armenia. At the time of the visit, the
evidence gathered during the preliminary investigation into this
case already clearly indicated that Mr Khalafyan had been held at
Charentsavan Police Division for some seven hours without a protocol
of detention being drawn up, and that he had been subjected to severe
beatings during questioning by four police officers, including the
Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit. Mr Khalafyan reportedly took
a knife from the wardrobe next to where he was sitting and stabbed
himself twice in the lower stomach. The post-mortem examination
established that he had died from these injuries but also revealed
numerous other injuries which were consistent with an assault upon
him prior to the fatal stab wounds being inflicted (i.e. bruises
on the scalp on the top of the head, with corresponding evidence of
bleeding to the brain, as well as inside the mouth, on the lower jaw,
behind the right knee, on the right shin and on the front of the
right ankle).' (paragraph 13 of the report)
'It is the responsibility of the staff and of the prison administration
as a whole to protect prisoners' physical and psychological integrity,
and to take immediate, resolute and even anticipatory action to
prevent inter-prisoner intimidation. In the course of the 2010 visit,
the delegation observed that there was a general tendency for staff in
Nubarashen and Kosh Prisons to delegate authority to a select number
of inmates who were at the top of the informal prison hierarchy,
in particular a prisoner "leader" (the so-called "zon nayokh"),
and use them to keep control over the inmate population. In order to
exercise his authority, the prisoner "leader" at Nubarashen Prison
was apparently afforded certain privileges, such as the possibility
to move relatively freely within the establishment and to enter any
cells. At Kosh Prison, the prisoner "leader" was clearly in charge
of order among prisoners. It also appeared that those not willing
or able to give financial or other contributions to the prisoner
"leader" in exchange for full protection were marginalised and at
risk of intimidation.' (paragraph 66 of the report)
'At Yerevan-Kentron Prison, the material conditions in which the
three life-sentenced prisoners were accommodated give cause for
serious concern.'
'The situation was aggravated by the regime of solitary confinement
applied to the three life-sentenced prisoners. Two of them had been
held in such conditions for over nine years. They were not allowed
to associate with each other or with any other prisoner. They did not
even have a TV set or radio in their cells (unlike the third inmate).
The only regular out-of-cell activity consisted of daily outdoor
exercise, which was taken alone in a yard on the top floor of the
prison building. Such conditions could be considered as amounting to
inhuman treatment and contributed to the degradation in the prisoners'
mental health.' (paragraph 71 of the report)
'In the CPT's view, the [conditions of detention] at Nubarashen
Prison could well be considered as amounting to inhuman and degrading
treatment.' (paragraph 83 of the report)
'Suicides or suicide attempts appeared to be very rare events in the
establishments visited. However, the CPT is concerned by certain
extreme measures that may be taken when a prisoner is considered
to be a particularly high suicide risk. At Nubarashen Prison,
a life-sentenced prisoner identified as suicidal had been kept in
his cell, hand- and ankle-cuffed to his bed for more than one month
between December 2009 and January 2010. At no point was he sent to
a hospital facility. The cuffs were removed by staff for him to go
to the in-cell toilet or during mealtimes. According to the prisoner
concerned, the measure was ended after he managed to remove the cuffs
himself.' (paragraph 117 of the report)