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The police-citizen relations are counted among the most vulnerable fields of human rights and are covered in reports by a number of international organizations. Through coverage of numerous individual cases as well as reports and surveys on police activities, the HCA Vanadzor reveals the reasons underlying violations of human rights and comes up with proposals to resolve the situation.

The Police give feedback to each report declaring their awareness of the problems at stake and intention to solve them. Nevertheless, the incidence of human rights violations does not decrease.

Human rights are violated by illegal, i.e. groundless detention of citizens at various police departments as well as physical and psychological pressure and inhuman treatment towards citizens on the part of the police. Unable to withstand the tortures, citizens have to confess any guilt they are not even aware of. All this leads to the conclusion that using tortures, violence and pressure to coerce confessions appears not as a practice of a certain police officer or a department but rather that of the entire system.

Hereby, we would like to draw the attention of the police and the public at large to a subsequent instance of human rights violation by the police.

During their visit to ‘Artik’ Penitentiary on March 27, 2014, members of the Public Monitoring Group at penitentiary institutions and services of the RA Ministry of Justice, Araik Zalyan (lawyer at HCA Vanadzor) and Arina Metsoyan (‘Asparez’ Journalists’ Club) met detainees of the Penitentiary Robert Muradyan, Andranik Mkhitaryan and John Martirosyan who reported suffering inhuman treatment by police officers coercing their testimonies.

In particular, Robert Muradyan reported that back on October 27, 2013, Artur Grigoryan, police officer at Mush Department of Gyumri Police visited Robert’s place, informed his mother Shoghik Muradyan that her son Robert Muradyan was summoned to police and gave her his phone number. Later on the same day, R. Muradyan visited the Mush Police Department where he was reportedly subjected to violence, beating and degrading treatment by various police officers.

Robert Muradyan also stated that during interrogation, the police officers uttered sexually offensive swearword addressed to him and his mother and used violence degrading his human dignity. As a result, the police managed to coerce the testimony they sought.

Andranik Mkhitaryan reported that he used to work as a taxi driver in Gyumri. On October 23, 2013, during his working day, he stopped at a grocery store and entered it. Upon exiting the store, he saw a group of police officers gathered near his car. As he came up to them to ask what the matter was, his question remained unanswered. Then he informed the police that he was the driver of the car, and they immediately attacked and swore at him. A. Mkhitaryan mentioned that the police officers attacked him so fiercely that the “cigarette held in his hand appeared in his eye”, then forced him into an ‘Opel’ car and continued striking him. The police officers warned him that he could not even imagine what would happen to him unless he unlocked the location of the guys with whom he had met Russian soldiers. He told the police about his passengers, but the police officers did not believe him and continued striking and swearing at him. Later on, they apprehended him to the police office, screamed at him and accompanied him upwards to the Police Chief. They reported to the Chief that Andranik had robbed the Russians. Unable to withstand the threats and degrading treatment any longer, Mkhitaryan was forced to comply with the requirements of the police officers and give false testimony.

John Mkhitaryan reported that on October 23, 2013, he was at the police station too and reportedly heard the voice of a beaten man, i.e. Andranik Mkhitaryan’s voice from the next room.

HCA Vanadzor submitted a crime report on violation of the rights of these persons to the Head of the RA Special Investigation Service, V. Shahinyan and the RA Prosecutor General, Gevorg Kostanyan. The report particularly reads as follows: “We hereby demand that you initiate a criminal case, detect and bring to liability the police officers responsible for tortures and psychological pressure on Robert Muradyan and Andranik Mkhitaryan.”