Tweet
THE POLICE TRY "TO MEET THEIR TARGET" AND CONTINUE TORTURES
April 1 2013
The Civil Society Institute (CSI), the Norwegian Helsinki Committee
(NHC), and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) have
put forward a mid-term assessment, which was prepared within the scope
of recommendations undertaken by Armenia during its Universal Periodic
Review by the United Nations Human Rights Council in May 2010. The
report puts forward the practice of implementing those recommendations
by the Armenian legal system and state bodies. The report reads:
"The routine practice of torture and ill-treatment, especially in
police custody, continues unabated. Victims of torture do not file
official complaints fearing retaliation, and perpetrators are not
held accountable for such acts." Artur Sakunts, the head of Helsinki
Citizens' Assembly Vanadzor Office, stated during a conversation
with www.aravot.am that their researches also testified to the same
phenomenon. Talking about the reasons, he said: "The main reason is
that the Special Investigative Service (SIS) doesn't properly examine
the reports on the police's ill-treating citizens, the courts don't
give a legal assessment to those cases of ill-treatment either. The
other is a structural problem. There is the internal security
service of the police, which conducts internal investigation into
the police officers' actions based on the citizens' reports. It is
a police unit, which means that there is no independent mechanism of
complaining. In this issue, the prosecutor's office, which conducts
investigation into such cases and doesn't pay proper attention, also
plays an important role." We inquired whether even the fact that a
campaign of disseminating love for the police among society had started
didn't contribute to normalization of the situation. Even videos have
been shot. In this regard, A. Sakunts recalled the cases of Samvel
Tonoyan, a detective, and Sargis Martirosyan, the head of the Kentron
Department of the Police, when a police officer was not punished for
misconduct, but was encouraged with promotion. Then he noted: "It is
a fact that there is a big divide between the real and publicized
actions of the police, and from this perspective, the commercials
are not ads, but rather are of absolutely different kind. Therefore,
it cannot increase trust; on the contrary, the distrust of the system
deepens. Certainly, some cosmetic changes in the system have been
made. For example, women are involved in maintaining public order,
which is important at first sight. However, when pickets or marches
are organized, where the majority is girls, there is no girl among the
accompanying police officers, and there is inadequate use of force. In
such cases, the police perform their functions by using force, and
the commercials cannot have a significant impact." Nina Karapetyants,
a lawyer of the Helsinki Citizens' Association, doesn't see progress
either. During a conversation with us, she stated: "Perhaps the reason
is impunity. Perhaps that situation benefits the government; it is
in the interests of the government that the police are an instrument
in the government's hands to punish some people. On the other hand,
the police are required to make reports with numbers. No one is
concerned about the real state of affairs. As a result, charges are
laid against people who have nothing to do with the crime. They pursue
a Soviet policy of percentage targets, as well as carry out a political
instruction; classic examples of that are cases of Arshaluys Hakobyan,
Arman Veziryan, and March 1." Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
Read more at: http://en.aravot.am/2013/04/01/153315/
© 1998 - 2013 Aravot - News from Armenia
April 1 2013
The Civil Society Institute (CSI), the Norwegian Helsinki Committee
(NHC), and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) have
put forward a mid-term assessment, which was prepared within the scope
of recommendations undertaken by Armenia during its Universal Periodic
Review by the United Nations Human Rights Council in May 2010. The
report puts forward the practice of implementing those recommendations
by the Armenian legal system and state bodies. The report reads:
"The routine practice of torture and ill-treatment, especially in
police custody, continues unabated. Victims of torture do not file
official complaints fearing retaliation, and perpetrators are not
held accountable for such acts." Artur Sakunts, the head of Helsinki
Citizens' Assembly Vanadzor Office, stated during a conversation
with www.aravot.am that their researches also testified to the same
phenomenon. Talking about the reasons, he said: "The main reason is
that the Special Investigative Service (SIS) doesn't properly examine
the reports on the police's ill-treating citizens, the courts don't
give a legal assessment to those cases of ill-treatment either. The
other is a structural problem. There is the internal security
service of the police, which conducts internal investigation into
the police officers' actions based on the citizens' reports. It is
a police unit, which means that there is no independent mechanism of
complaining. In this issue, the prosecutor's office, which conducts
investigation into such cases and doesn't pay proper attention, also
plays an important role." We inquired whether even the fact that a
campaign of disseminating love for the police among society had started
didn't contribute to normalization of the situation. Even videos have
been shot. In this regard, A. Sakunts recalled the cases of Samvel
Tonoyan, a detective, and Sargis Martirosyan, the head of the Kentron
Department of the Police, when a police officer was not punished for
misconduct, but was encouraged with promotion. Then he noted: "It is
a fact that there is a big divide between the real and publicized
actions of the police, and from this perspective, the commercials
are not ads, but rather are of absolutely different kind. Therefore,
it cannot increase trust; on the contrary, the distrust of the system
deepens. Certainly, some cosmetic changes in the system have been
made. For example, women are involved in maintaining public order,
which is important at first sight. However, when pickets or marches
are organized, where the majority is girls, there is no girl among the
accompanying police officers, and there is inadequate use of force. In
such cases, the police perform their functions by using force, and
the commercials cannot have a significant impact." Nina Karapetyants,
a lawyer of the Helsinki Citizens' Association, doesn't see progress
either. During a conversation with us, she stated: "Perhaps the reason
is impunity. Perhaps that situation benefits the government; it is
in the interests of the government that the police are an instrument
in the government's hands to punish some people. On the other hand,
the police are required to make reports with numbers. No one is
concerned about the real state of affairs. As a result, charges are
laid against people who have nothing to do with the crime. They pursue
a Soviet policy of percentage targets, as well as carry out a political
instruction; classic examples of that are cases of Arshaluys Hakobyan,
Arman Veziryan, and March 1." Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
Read more at: http://en.aravot.am/2013/04/01/153315/
© 1998 - 2013 Aravot - News from Armenia