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HRW Concerned Over Ill-Treatment Of Armenian Activist

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  • HRW Concerned Over Ill-Treatment Of Armenian Activist

    HRW CONCERNED OVER ILL-TREATMENT OF ARMENIAN ACTIVIST

    12:06 10.09.13

    Photo by A1plus.am

    Human Rights Watch has called for prompt and thorough investigation
    into a recent act of violence against an Armenian activist.

    In a letter to Vahram Shahinyhan, the head of the Investigative
    Department of the Armenian Police, the organization expresses
    its concerns over the ill-treatment of Argishti Kiviryan, the
    36-year-old activists and the Coordinator of Armenia Today, who
    joined a demonstration in Yerevan's Komitas street on August 24 to
    protest the controversial construction of a residential building and
    was later beaten by policemen in a police car as he was taken to the
    precinct station.

    The letter is presented below:

    Dear Mr Shahinyan,

    I am writing to express concern about the alleged beating of a
    protestor who was arrested in connection with the break-up of a
    peaceful demonstration in central Yerevan on August 24, 2013. We would
    like to request information about any steps taken to investigate
    these allegations and to urge the authorities to hold accountable
    law enforcement officers responsible for the beating.

    As you are aware, on August 24, 2013, between 50 and 60 people - local
    residents and civic activists - demonstrated in a neighborhood of
    Yerevan to protest the construction of a high-rise apartment building.

    When protesters blocked the main thoroughfare, which is adjacent to
    the construction site, police detained at least 26 participants of
    the protest.

    One of the detained protesters, Argishti Kiviryan, 36, told Human
    Rights Watch that police beat him in the police car as he was
    transported to the station. He said that he was made to lie down on
    the back seat, with one policeman pinning his head down and beating
    him on the head. At one point, he said, he could not breathe.

    Kiviryan told Human Rights Watch that when they arrived at the Arabkir
    district police station, his nose was bleeding and he felt so sick
    that he could not walk up the precinct's stairs. He said that police
    left him, guarded, on the sidewalk. Kiviryan called his lawyer,
    who came a few minutes later and, upon seeing his bloody nose and
    multiple bruises, immediately demanded that he be taken to a hospital.

    Although police initially refused, when the lawyer, Luisine Sahakyan,
    got a nearby doctor to examine her client, police allowed Kiviryan to
    go to the hospital. Sahakyan told Human Rights Watch, that the doctor
    could not stabilize Kiviryan's blood pressure, and he vomited on the
    way to the hospital.

    Kiviryan stabilized in the hospital and he was discharged after
    midnight. Doctors recommended that he take five days of bed rest.

    On August 24 Sahakyan and Kiviryan filed an explanatory statement
    with the local police, and two days later they filed a complaint with
    the Special Investigative Service requesting a criminal investigation
    into the beating and requesting a forensic examination for Kiviryan.

    The exam was conducted only four days later, on August 29. Sahakyan
    told Human Rights Watch that by then most of Kiviryan's bruises
    faded, and the hospital records stated that he did not suffer any
    serious injuries.

    According to Sahakyan, instead of investigating the police behavior,
    the Special Investigative Service launched a criminal case against
    her client for using violence against the authorities (article 316.1
    of the Criminal Code), alleging that Kiviryan bit an officer, which
    Kiviryan strongly denies. Kiviryan told Human Rights Watch that the
    authorities have twice called him for questioning but postponed the
    interrogation for various reasons.

    Armenia is a party to both the European Convention on Human Rights
    and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and has
    strict obligations to refrain in all circumstances from engaging in
    prohibited ill-treatment. The government also has a duty to investigate
    all allegations of mistreatment and remedy violations.

    Human Rights Watch believes that it is very important that given the
    credible allegations of ill-treatment in this case, and Armenia's
    obligations to do so, that a prompt and thorough investigation into
    the allegations be conducted and that those responsible for any
    ill-treatment be held fully accountable.

    We are looking forward to receiving information about the progress
    the investigation has made. Thank you for your attention to this
    important matter.

    http://www.tert.am/en/news/2013/09/10/hrw-kirviryan-shahinyan/

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