DETAINEES ARE TORTURED IN ADVANCE
A1Plus.am
21/01/10
Torture cases have moved from the Site for Keeping Prisoners to the
police divisions. This was the conclusion by head of the group of
observers at the Sites for Keeping Prisoners of the RA Police, Suren
Iskandaryan. According to him, there were only 2-3 cases of torture
at Sites for Keeping Prisoners in 2009. However, that is not because
there Is no more torture in prison, but because: "The detainees tell
us that they were kept at the division for two days and then moved
to the prison. Keeping somebody in a room for two days is torture."
The independent group has been around since 2006. It makes planned
and unplanned visits to the Sits for Keeping Prisoners. The group
includes representatives of non-governmental organizations. During
the visits, the representatives register facts, prepare protocols,
send surveys to the RA Chief of Police and then prepare a year-end
report and disseminate to the society.
Suren Iskandaryan told "A1+" that they receive 10-12 calls a month.
People are interested in their rights, complain about prohibitions for
visits and more. The group head is convinced that many employees of the
Sites for Keeping Prisoners are not aware of the law. For instance,
somebody from Kapan called and complained that he was not allowed to
see his son at the Site for Keeping Prisoners based on the reason
that there is no such thing as visiting. "When the parent was at
the division, we asked to pass the phone. We were told that we don’t
know the law and that there is a confidential order. We went after
him and found out that there was no prohibition in the prisoners’
personal files," said Suren Iskandaryan, adding that they also
witnessed another interesting case. "It turned out that the mother
was her son’s advocate and had the right to visit her son without any
limitations. This was ignorance.The on-duty officer said that I had
prepared a form. I told him that he had no right to prepare a form
because there is already a form by law."
The Sites for Keeping Prisoners also face domestic issues. There are
sites where there are no clinics, nutrition remains an issue, there is
no heating, etc. "We can say that the situation is uncontrolled. True,
it is very good compared to before, but when we traveled to Austria,
we were surprised to see the sites there. The conditions were totally
different and it was like a rest house compared to our sites," says
Suren Iskandaryan, mentioning that they have suggestions and will
present them in the 2009 report.