Torture in the Legal System
00:00, June 24, 2010 | News | Right to be free from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment | PoliceOn June 22, 2010 Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly – Vanadzor organized a working discussion on “Tortures in the Legal System.”
The discussion was organized in the framework of the Civic Advocacy Support Program with the support of the Counterpart International – Armenia.
The discussion took place with the participation of members of public monitoring group at detention facilities, representatives of local human rights NGOs, international organizations and foundations.
At the beginning of the working discussion the head of the organization, Artur Sakunts, presented the participants with the goal of the discussion.
The organization intends to collect torture facts in the legal system and present an alternative report to the Committee for Torture Prevention during their visit.
During the working discussion the participants had to discuss the report structure, as well as to present the general problems in the system and the facts torture in the legal system that they were aware of.
According to the participants the main problem is that there is no control when people are brought to the police station and are kept there before detention.
The group conducting monitoring in detention facilities for arestees does not have the right to visit or talk to the citizens that are in the police station if there is no decision on the arrest. The group members cannot study the relevant documents, as well.
The participants mention that the law does not allow to make notes on bringing to the police station. This is a major problem in practice, which causes wide-spread abuses by the law-enforcement to illegally keep the citizens under detention through subjecting them to violence.
The next question is the lack of proper examination by the state on the occasion of the recorded facts of torture.
The participants presented cases when the defendant announced at the trial that he had been subjected to violence during the pre-trial, and no measures were taken in connection with it.
As a result of the discussion the participants agreed to present concrete torture facts that have taken place in their practice to be included in the report.