FIDH
Gaël Grilhot
Responsable du Bureau Presse
17, Passage de la Main d’Or – 75011 Paris
tél. : +33-1 43 55 90 19
port. : +33-6 10 60 05 57
E-mail : [email protected]
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
Civil Society Institute (CSI)
PRESS RELEASE
Armenia: Witness to a shooting dies in custody
Monday, May 21, 2007 – The International Federation for Human Rights
(FIDH) and Civil Society Institute (CSI), its member organisation in
Armenia, express their deep concern about the death of Levon Gulyan in
custody under strongly suspicious circumstances.
On May 12, 2007 Mr. Levon Gulyan, a 31-year-old restaurant manager, died
in the Headquater of Police in Yerevan, where he had been invited to
testify as a witness in a murder case.
On May 9th, Mr Gulyan witnessed the killing of Stephan Vardanyan, which
occurred during a fight, in front of Mr Gulyan’s restaurant. As an
eyewitness to the murder, Mr Gulyan and two of his employees, Mr
Melkumyan and Mrs Grigoryan, were taken into custody by the police.
There, he wrote a testimony, however he was kept until late evening on
May 10th. He was then twice allowed to go home but was told to return
back to the police station, which he did in both of the cases. After his
return to the local Police Station for the second time, Mr. Gulyan was
taken to the main Police Department by the order of Mr. Hovhannes
Tamamyan, Chief Deputy of the Police Department.
At around 5:00 pm on May 12th, Mr. Gulyan’s family was told that he
had
died. The police officers stated that Gulyan committed suicide or tried
to escape, by jumping from the 2nd floor. Considering that his relatives
observed bruises on Mr Gulyan’s body when he previously returned home,
and that Mr Melkumyan was beaten heavily when taken into custody, Levon
Gulyan’s family suspects that he was ill-treated by the Police officers
before he fell from the window.
In order to protect the confidentiality of pre-trial investigation, the
lawyers who were present during forensic expertise on the body refuse to
give details, however they acknowledged that the body was marked with
beatings.
Death in custody in Armenia are not unprecedented since there have been
a number of very similar cases happening in the past. This last event
demonstrates the need for an increased public control and access to the
police stations, which has been stressed in the suggestions of the Group
of Public Observers of the detention facilities of the Police of RA in a
recent report. See
FIDH and CSI call upon the Armenian authorities to conduct a full,
independent and impartial investigation, to ascertain the facts and, if
relevant, to bring those responsible to justice.
FIDH and CSI call upon the Armenian authorities to fully conforming to
the provisions of the European Convention on the Prevention of Torture
and the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
About FIDH:
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), headquartered in
France, is an international non-governmental organization for the
defense of human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights of 1948. It is a non-profit organization. Founded in 1922, it
includes 155 national member organizations over 5 continents. The FIDH
acts as a relay between its members and international authorities. To
date, the FIDH has undertaken more than a thousand missions of
investigation, trial observations, mediation, and training in some one
hundred countries.
FIDH enjoys consultative status with the United Nations, UNESCO, the
Council of Europe, the International Labor Organization and observer
status with the African Commission of Human and People’s Rights.