Training On Rights Monitoring For Armenian Police And Public Monitor

TRAINING ON RIGHTS MONITORING FOR ARMENIAN POLICE AND PUBLIC MONITORS

armradio.am
16.06.2008 17:24

Detention standards and human rights monitoring are the focus of a
two-day training course that began today in the Gegharkunik province
of Armenia.

Participants in the course, which was organized by the OSCE Office
in Yerevan in co-operation with the Armenian Police, include heads,
deputies and inspectors from Armenia’s northern regional police
departments and police detention centres, officers from the Public
Order Department of the Armenian Police, and members of the Public
Monitoring Group.

"The training is designed to increase police officers’ knowledge
of standards of treatment of arrested and detained persons, and
to enhance the monitoring capacity of members of Public Monitoring
Group for Police Detention Centres. I hope this training will also
facilitate a dialogue between the police and the Public Monitoring
Group to help foster co-operation and trust," said Ambassador Sergey
Kapinos, Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan.

Trainers leading the course include Avetik Ishkhanyan, Chairman of
the Armenian Helsinki Committee; Krassimir Kanev, Chairman of the
Bulgarian Helsinki Committee and Board Member of the Association for
the Prevention of Torture; Karen Mehrabyan from the Public Order
department; and Erik Svanidze, formerly on the European Committee
for the Prevention of Torture.

A similar two-day training course will be held on 18 and 19 June in the
Vayots-Dzor province for police officers from regional departments and
police detention centres from the southern part of the country. The
newly appointed members of the Public Monitoring Group for Police
Detention Centres will also take part in the course.