Datainees rights otherview in Armenia

Datainees rights otherview in Armenia
(Guarantee Center Of Civil Society NGO)

With reference to the mission to Armenia of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in September 2010, many detainees and prisoners reported having been subjected to ill-treatment and beatings at police stations and that police and National Security investigators use pressure, including torture and ill-treatment, to obtain confessions, as a central part of their investigations. Please comment on these allegations and indicate the measures the State party has taken to ensure that cases of torture and ill-treatment are prevented, reported and prosecuted. Please indicate whether the State party has put in place or intends to provide for monitoring and recording of police interviews of individuals deprived of their liberty in all places of detention, including by closed-circuit television.

Analyzing the legal aspect of the issue we can mention that the interrogation of detainees is executed according to the Criminal procedural code of Republic of Armenia, which contains dispositions about interrogation. According to Article 211

«The interrogation of the suspect is conducted immediately after detention or announcement about the decree to use measures to secure the appearance. The detained suspect is entitled to testify in the presence of a lawyer. If it is impossible to provide immediate participation of the lawyer, the investigator must provide the participation within 24 hours after detention or arrest.

Prior to the beginning of the interrogation, the investigator advises the suspect about the essence of suspicion, as well as explains his rights, including the right of refusal to testify.

The interrogation begins with a proposal to the suspect to testify about the suspicion and all other aspects, which in his opinion can be significant for the case.

In other issues, when interrogating the suspect, one should be governed by rules established for the interrogation of an accused in the Criminal Procedure Code of RA.

The results of the interrogation must be concluded in the protocol.

According to the article 209 of Criminal Procedure Code

“The testimonies of the suspect and the accused and the answers given to the questions are recorded in the first person and literally, if possible.

After the end of the interrogation the investigator familiarizes the investigated person with the protocol. The interrogated persons are entitled to demand changes and additions to be made in the protocol. It is mandatory that their additions and changes are incorporated into the protocol.

The protocol is signed by the interrogated persons and the investigator. If the protocol is written on several pages, the interrogated person signs each page.

If the interrogated person refuses to sign the protocol, the investigator finds out the reasons and verifies the protocol with his own signature. If The interrogated person is deprived of the capacity to sign the protocol due to physical handicap or illiteracy, the investigator makes a note about that and verifies it with his signature.

According to the 4^th part of the Article 209 of Criminal Procedural code Of RA

If during the interrogation was made photography, voice or video recording the protocol must contain 

1)      Notices about execution of recording

2)      Notices about the used equipments and the duration of the recording.

3)      Notices about the declarations and comments of the interrogated person on making the video or voice records.

4)      The signatures of the interrogated person and the investigator, assuming the originality of the protocol.

Etc..

The existence of the above mentioned article shows that the Legislator gives the opportunity to record the process of the interrogation but it has an alternative character and is not obligatory.

It means that for being able to monitor the process of interrogation there must be a legal norm which makes obligatory to use the video and voice recording systems to be sure that the rights of the detainees are protected during the interrogation.

33. Please indicate efforts made by the State party to ensure that the conditions of detention do not discriminate against prisoners who are not citizens of the State party or are believed to be homosexuals and that such prisoners are not subjected to discrimination by other detainees.

The national legislation about the conditions of detention of prisoners consists mostly from

 Constitution, Criminal Procedure Code, Criminal executive code, Law of republic of Armenia on treatment of arrestees and detainees etc.

The article 2 of the law states that

 The procedures and conditions for keeping arrestees and detainees under arrest and detention shall be applied to all arrestees or detainees regardless of their nationality, race, sex, language, religion, political or other views, social origin, property or other status.

It is not directly mentioned but it is presumed that by telling other views and other status the legislator also means the sexual orientation of the detainees.

In any case the law contains norms which indicate on the existence of equal rights for all.

 «The rights and personal safety of arrestees and detainees and the legality of applying coercive measures toward them during arrest or detention shall be ensured by law.

Guarantees of protection of the rights and freedoms of arrestees and detainees shall be defined by this law and internal regulations. While exercising their rights and freedoms, arrestees and detainees shall be required to observe the procedures and conditions for keeping arrestees under arrest and detainees under detention, as well as the rights and legal interests of other persons.

Foreign citizens and persons without citizenship arrested or detained on the territory of the Republic of Armenia shall possess the same rights, freedoms and obligations as all citizens of the Republic of Armenia, unless international treaties and laws of the Republic of Armenia have other provisions».(art 12 of the Law)

As the article shows the detainees shall have all the same rights and freedoms as the other citizens.

Article 13. Rights of Arrestees and Detainees

Arrestees and detainees shall have the right:

1) to receive information in his/her mother tongue or other language he/she is fluent in about his/her rights, freedoms and responsibilities;

2) to be treated in a polite manner;

3) to complain about violations of his/her rights and freedoms, both personally and through his/her attorney or legal representative to the administration of the places of arrest or detention, to their superiors, to the court, to the prosecutor’s office, to central and local government bodies, public organizations and parties, the media, as well as to international bodies or organizations involved in protection of human rights and freedoms;

4) to protect his/her health, including to receive sufficient food and urgent medical aid as well to be examined by the doctor chosen by himself bearing himself all the expenses;

5) to social security;

6) to receive legal assistance;

7) to personal safety;

8) to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, political or other opinions;

9) to communicate with the outside world;

10) to rest, including the right to outdoor walks or physical exercise and to an 8-hour night sleep, during which it shall be forbidden to involve him/her in court or other activities, except in cases specified by the Criminal Procedural Code;

11) to be called by his/her first or last name;

12) to request a personal meeting with the head of the place of arrest or detention, or with bodies monitoring or supervising the activities of these places;

13) to possess documents and records concerning the criminal case or the protection of his/her rights and legal interests, excepts documents and records that contain state or professional secrets or other confidential information protected by law;

14) to participate in civil law actions.

Arrestees shall have the right:

1) to receive education and to be engaged in creative work;

2) to work;

3) to purchase food and articles of prime necessity from the shop or kiosk of the place of arrest or to obtain them with the help of the administration;

4) to receive and send money transfers.

Arrestees or detainees shall also have other rights defined in the law.

Arrested and detained foreign citizens shall have the right to establish and maintain contacts with diplomatic missions and consular services of their countries in the Republic of Armenia; in the absence of such, they have the right to establish and maintain contacts with diplomatic missions and consular services of those countries, which have undertaken the protection of these persons’ interests.”

A very problematic issue is the issue of the Health care of the detainees that have health problems at the moment of imprisonment or get the mentioned problems during the period of their detention.

As you could already see in the 4^th part of the 21^st article of the Law the detainees have the right to protect his/her health, including to receive sufficient food and urgent medical aid as well to be examined by the doctor chosen by himself bearing himself all the expenses.

The legislator only fixes the rights of the detainees declared previously many times in different international documents, but there are no other legal guarantees to insure the execution of the above mentioned rights of the detainees. Our Organization has been victim of some demands of detainees presenting the real situation that is going on in the places where the detainees with health problems are kept. The people having serious health problems don’t get sufficient medical aid. We have made some requests to the ministry of Justice of RA who is responsible for the execution of the rights of detainees and are waiting for their official reply with official numbers and data regarding the issue.

We are planning to go far with this issue and taking the case of a person try to change something and make it a strategic case for the others too, so that the administration of the places where the detainees are kept and the other legal entities pay more attention to the issue of executing the rights of the detainees in this particular context.