Police are Armenia’s Achilles’ heel
"No Armenian official has been brought to justice for torture to this day," said today president of the Helsinki Committee of Armenia Avetik Ishkhanyan.
In addition, correspondent of the Europe and Middle East programs division of the Association for Prevention of Torture Matthew Pringle recalled the 2006 report of the European Committee on Prevention of Torture on Armenia, which presents a number of concerns about serious abuse. The report specifically states that there has not been any progress in the police treatment towards people.
Matthew Pringle remarked that according to the "Human Rights Declaration", Armenia must present a report on abuse within the next two to three years.
Pringle was disappointed that the first and last report by Armenia was in 1998 when it should have presented a report every three to four years. "I don't know why the RA Foreign Affairs Ministry is delaying this report and hasn't presented it yet. Armenia is off track," he said.
President of the Vanadzor office of the Helsinki Citizen's Assembly Artur Sakunts touched upon the situation in the penitentiaries. He noted that there is a lot of torture there and he brought up the example of the 12 prisoners kept in a cell foreseen for 10 prisoners. He also proposes moving the "Yerevan-Kentron" penitentiary out of the National Security Service building.
Pringle considered the police divisions as Armenia's Achilles' heel since this is where prisoners are subjected to abuse and beatings. Head of the Department of Corruption and Organized Crime of the RA Prosecutor General's office Armen Ashrafyan considers the active role and cooperation of the citizen's assembly as a productive mechanism in the fight against corruption.
