ARMENIAN POLICE UNDER THE GUN OVER ALLEGED ABUSE OF PRISONERS
Gayane Abrahamyan
EurasiaNet
May 6 2010
NY
The recent death of a 24-year-old man in police custody in Armenia
is prompting human rights activists to renew calls for an end to
police abuse of prisoners. The push by rights activists is causing
law-enforcement officials in Yerevan to back-peddle.
Vahan Khalafian died on April 13 at the Charentsavan police station,
roughly 40 kilometers north of Yerevan, after he was brought in
for questioning in connection with a robbery, involving the theft of
clothes from a garage. Police claimed that Khalafian committed suicide
"with a kitchen knife" taken from a shelf in the station. Khalafian’s
family, however, believes that he "was tortured and killed."
"My son’s face and feet were all covered with bruises. He was stabbed
twice in the abdomen and had a cross-shaped cut on his chest," Anahit
Khalafian, the victim’s mother, recounted to EurasiaNet.org. "Was my
son a yogi or something to be able to stab himself twice?"
The Special Investigation Service (SIS), which is investigating
the case, rejects Mrs. Khalafian’s contention. The SIS declined to
provide any information about the case, citing the fact that it is an
"ongoing investigation."
The mother of another young man arrested with Khalafian claims that
her son, now in prison, was also subjected to violence.
"When I saw him he had wounds on his head. He said: ‘Mom, I have
signed some papers. I don’t know what’ll happen, but they beat me
terribly. I had to either die like Vahan, or write what they wanted,’"
said Armik Gharibian, the mother of Davit Giulumian. Gharibian assumes
that the papers contained an admission of guilt.
The police at first categorically denied that Khalafian had been
beaten or otherwise abused. At an April 17 press conference, Armenian
Chief of Police Alik Sargsian asserted that Khalafian was "merely
interrogated and no one laid a finger on him."
But, following appeals by the Paris-based International Federation
for Human Rights (FIDH) and New York City-based Human Rights Watch
for a thorough, transparent investigation, a high-ranking official has
been taken into custody. [Editor’s Note: Human Rights Watch receives
funding from the New York-based Open Society Institute (OSI).
EurasiaNet operates under OSI’s auspices].
The SIS now says that Ashot Harutiunian, head of the Charentsavan
Criminal Investigation Department, "used violence against Khalafian,
forcing him to testify against himself and confess his crime."
Harutiunian is now facing charges of abusing his position, and with
negligence leading to "grave consequences." If convicted, he faces
up to a 10-year prison term.
Another police officer, Moris Hayrapetian, has also been detained on
the same charges.
Armenian Chief of Police Sargsian later apologized for his earlier
statement, though maintained that Khalafian had committed suicide.
The apology caused additional anguish for Khalafian’s mother. "If
the investigation is still in process, if the forensic examination
results are not ready yet, nothing is clear," she said. "How can the
chief of police claim that it was suicide?"
This is the second reported case of a death at an Armenian police
station since 2007, when murder witness Levon Gulian died during
interrogation at a Yerevan precinct house. As with Khalafian,
police named suicide as a possible reason for his death. In 2009, an
investigation into Gulian’s death was suspended for lack of evidence.
In their April 27 statement, the FIDH and Armenian human rights
groups stressed that their "organizations are deeply concerned by
the seemingly pervasive culture of impunity for crimes committed by
or under the responsibility of law enforcement bodies in Armenia."
The General Prosecutor’s office vigorously disputed that assessment.
"There is no atmosphere of impunity, the General Prosecutor’s office
follows up on all alerts, ensuring a comprehensive investigation,"
said spokesperson Sona Truzian.
But Armenia’s ombudsman, Armen Harutiunian, maintains that his office
has difficulty receiving information from the police about abuse
complaints. Harutiunian states that roughly half of the 5,000 reported
rights abuse cases that his office receives are police-related.
"Cases of police violence are way too frequent, and experience shows
that in the majority of cases, violence and torment is used to force
a confession of guilt," said Harutiunian. "When we turn to the police
to clarify those issues, they keep giving us the same answer: ‘An
internal investigation has been carried out. The claim of violence
has not been confirmed.’"
Harutiunian wryly suggested that "Health Hazard" notices should be
posted outside all police stations.
The General Prosecutor’s office is required to investigate police
abuse cases. But according to human rights law expert Davit Hakobian,
that usually does not happen. Instead, "the police start an internal
investigation, which is a mere formality," Hakobian claimed.
Not only human rights activists and opposition members are speaking
out against police abuse; governing Republican Party of Armenia MP
Rafik Petrosian, speaking at an April 1 news conference, demanded
that officials "put an end to the violence so common among the police."
Police spokesperson Sayat Shirinian denied such accusations. "Violence
is by no means common among the police," Shirinian asserted. "Human
rights activists and politicians have probably nothing to do but
throw mud at the police. All of it is a brazen lie."
Editor’s note: Gayane Abrahamyan is a freelance reporter based
in Yerevan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
