Committee against Torture

List of issues prior to submission of the fifth periodic report of Armenia *

Specific information on the implementation of articles 1–16 of the Convention, including with regard to the Committee’s previous recommendations

Issues identified for follow-up in the previous concluding observations

1.In its previous concluding observations (CAT/C/ARM/CO/4, para. 47), the Committee requested the State party to provide information on follow-up to the Committee’s recommendations on issues of particular concern, namely on the statute of limitations, amnesty and pardon; the excessive use of force during demonstrations; and deaths in custody, including suicides (ibid., paras. 8, 21 and 34). The Committee expresses its appreciation for the State party’s follow-up response on those and other matters contained in its concluding observations and the substantive information provided on 22 December 2017 (see CAT/C/ARM/CO/4/Add.1). The Committee considers that the recommendations included in paragraphs 8, 21 and 34 mentioned above have not been fully implemented (see paras. 2 and 7 (c); 7, 8 and 9; and 18 of the present document).

Articles 1 and 4

2.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 8) and the follow-up information provided by the State party, please provide updated information on:

(a)Amendments to the Criminal Code that ensure that the crime of torture is not subject to any statute of limitations;

(b)Whether steps have been taken to respect the principle of non-derogability by ensuring that pardon, amnesty and any other similar measures leading to impunity for acts of torture are prohibited both in law and in practice;

(c)The current status of the draft government decree on approving the 2018–2023 Strategy on Judicial and Legal Reforms in the Republic of Armenia regarding the amendments, to be implemented by the end of the fourth trimester of 2018, to repeal the statute of limitations for the crime of torture and to ensure that amnesty and any other similar measures leading to impunity for acts of torture, as announced in the follow-up reply;

(d)Whether such amendments and measures have been included in the 2018–2023 Strategy on Judicial and Legal Reforms in the event that the draft government decree cited above has not yet been implemented;

(e)Whether the abolition of the statute of limitations and measures leading to impunity for acts of torture and ill-treatment, such as amnesties and similar measures, have been included in the National Strategy on Human Rights Protection for the period 2017–2019 and its Action Plan; whether they have been included in the Programme of the Government of Armenia for 2017–2022; and whether they will be part of the National Strategy on Human Rights Protection for the period 2020–2022.

Article 2

3.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 9–10), please provide updated information on effective measures taken to guarantee that persons deprived of their liberty are treated in accordance with the international standards on detention, including information on:

(a)The adoption of amendments to the Law on Holding Arrested and Detained Persons and of the Criminal Procedure Code, in particular article 110 thereof, which would improve the enjoyment of fundamental legal safeguards by persons deprived of their liberty and provide for enhanced protection against torture and ill-treatment for such persons;

(b)Whether detained persons have prompt and confidential access to lawyers and doctors (including a doctor of their own choice), are able to notify others of their detention, and are informed about the charges against them and their rights, both orally and in writing;

(c)Whether deprivation of liberty is accurately recorded immediately after arrest in a register at the place of detention and in a central register, including subsequent transfers, in order to prevent unrecorded detention and informal requests to attend police interviews; and the functioning of the Information Register of Remand Prisoners and Convicts of the Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia;

(d)Whether the police continue to discourage detainees from requesting legal assistance by advising them of the negative impact that this may have during an investigation; and whether indigent detainees have access to legal aid, including ex officio lawyers;

(e)Steps taken to enhance the independence of medical staff dealing with persons deprived of their liberty, whether medical examinations continue to take place in the presence of police officers and whether all signs and allegations of torture or ill-treatment are accurately recorded, duly documented and reported without delay to the appropriate authorities and whether the findings of any subsequent investigations are made available to the detained persons and their lawyers;

(f)Whether the right of detained persons to be transferred from a police station to a detention facility within the three-day time limit is respected in practice; and whether detained persons are brought promptly before a judge within a maximum of 48 hours.

4.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 11–12), please provide updated information on:

(a)Whether the Criminal Procedure Code has been amended to include mandatory audio and video recording of all criminal interrogations and whether all interrogation rooms in police stations have been equipped with audio and video recording devices; and the outcomes of the budget support programme on the protection of human rights funded by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme;

(b)Whether audiovisual footage is kept for a period sufficient for it to be used as evidence, whether tapes are reviewed in order to identify and investigate acts of torture and ill-treatment and whether the tapes are made available to defendants and their lawyers.

5.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 15–16), please provide updated information on:

(a)Whether there has been a decrease in the use of pretrial detention approved by the courts pursuant to recent political developments;

(b)Whether judges continue to be reluctant to grant preventive measures other than pretrial detention for fear of having their decisions reversed on the basis of complaints lodged by the prosecution;

(c)Whether there has been an increase in the use of non-custodial preventive measures during the period under review and the percentage of cases in which such non-custodial measures are applied;

(d)Whether the length of pretrial detention established in law is respected in practice; and whether such detention is subject to judicial review at all times;

(e)The results of any investigation conducted into the case of Hrachya Gevorgyan;

(f)Redress and compensation provided to victims of unjustifiably long pretrial detention and the number of such cases since the last reporting cycle.

6.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 28 and 30), please provide updated information on:

(a)Any legislative amendments during the period under review regarding the Criminal Procedure Code and the Penitentiary Code that would stress more firmly the principle of imprisonment as a last resort and would further liberalize the rules governing life imprisonment, early release and conditional release;

(b)Any improvements in the implementation of the existing legal and institutional frameworks regarding probation and other non-custodial measures; and whether clear procedures have been developed for the early release of prisoners, including on health grounds;

(c)Whether steps have been taken to ensure the independence and strengthen the work of the commissions charged with the consideration of requests for early release and release on parole; and whether the State party has ensured the proper examination of such requests and provided for appeals against the negative decisions of such commissions;

(d)Any further improvements in the programmes of social rehabilitation and preparation for release of prisoners, including juveniles, and their subsequent social reintegration.

7.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 19–21) and the follow-up reply provided by the State party, please provide updated information on:

(a)Why criminal cases Nos. 62232514, 62202015 and 62202115, examined by the Special Investigation Service of the Republic of Armenia as part of an investigation into the death of 10 persons on 1 March 2008, were deemed to be cases of death caused by negligence, as a result of breaches of the special rules concerning the handling of KS-23 firearms during mass disturbances;

(b)Whether the law enforcement officers involved in these cases were trained in handling KS-23 firearms during mass disturbances;

(c)Why police officers Gegham Grigoriyan, Andranik Manukyan, Hovhannes Ghazaryan and Gegham Harutyunyan, who were held criminally liable under article 309 (2) of the Criminal Code for the use of excessive force in the course of the events of 1 March 2008, were released from serving their main sentences upon application of paragraph 1 (1) of the Decision of the National Assembly of 19 June 2009 on Declaring Amnesty;

(d)Why even the supplementary sentences imposed on those police officers were not applied pursuant to article 64 of the Criminal Code;

(e)Why criminal cases Nos. 62230614, 62230714, 62231214, 62231314, 62231614, 62231714 and 62232114 were deemed to be cases of “unlawful intentional deprivation of life by an unknown person”;

(f)Whether all law enforcement officers, including the police, receive training on crowd control and the use of force in the context of mass assemblies and mass disturbances, including on the handling of KS-23 firearms during mass disturbances;

(g)Whether there have been any investigations carried out into police behaviour and crowd control during the anti-government protests that took place in April 2018, in particular as regards the excessive use of force and the use of special means;

(h)The number of persons arrested during the protests of April 2018 and how many among them had been injured.

8.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 20–21), please provide updated information on:

(a)The institution by the Special Investigation Service, on the basis of media reports, of criminal proceedings in relation to the special measures taken on and after 23 June 2015, including in response to an assembly and a sit-in, as well as the interrogation of more than 200 witnesses, including former and current police officers, and the conduct of approximately two dozen operative-search activities, inspections and inquiries in relation to the events of March 2008;

(b)The current status of the preliminary investigation into the 10 individual proceedings carried out since 1 January 2015;

(c)The current status of the preliminary investigation into the criminal cases of the four police officers charged in relation to the events of June 2015, three of whom were charged with hindering the professional activities of journalists by abusing their official position and one of whom was charged with hindering the professional activities of a journalist and for wilful destruction or spoilage of property;

(d)Why only disciplinary sanctions, such as a reprimand or severe reprimand or demotion, were imposed against the 12 police officers who carried out their duties improperly, violated the ethical norms of police officers, abused their powers, inflicted violence, caused bodily injuries, damaged equipment and inflicted significant damage to the legal interests and rights of citizens and organizations in 2015.

9.Again, with reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 20–21), please provide updated information on:

(a)The current status of the investigation relating to the events that took place between 17 and 27 July 2016 and the criminal cases against the police officers instituted under articles 164 (2), 308 (1), 309 (2) and 332 (1) of the Criminal Code;

(b)The current status of the investigation into the criminal cases instituted under articles 164 (1) and (3), 308 (1) and 309 (2) of the Criminal Code relating to the events of 29 and 30 July 2016 in Sari Tagh;

(c)Why only disciplinary proceedings were instituted against the police officers who, inter alia, inflicted bodily injuries of varying degrees during the events of July 2016 and why only 13 such officers have been the subject of disciplinary action.

10.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 22–23), please provide updated information on:

(a)Any steps taken during the period under review to publicly condemn threats and attacks against journalists, including violence, intimidation, arrest, detention and the destruction or confiscation of their equipment, especially during the events of June 2015 and July 2016, and to ensure their safety and protection, including against reprisals;

(b)Whether there has been an increase in the number of criminal proceedings initiated against the alleged perpetrators of violence and attacks against journalists and whether they have been punished with sanctions commensurate with the gravity of their acts;

(c)Specific steps taken to put an end to the reported practice of initiating parallel criminal proceedings against journalists for perjury, non-compliance with lawful police orders and violence against representatives of the authorities in retaliation for their reporting of police violence.

11.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 24–25), please provide updated information on:

(a)Specific steps taken by the State party to adopt legislation criminalizing domestic violence and ensure its implementation;

(b)Steps taken to strengthen preventive measures, including classifying acts of violence against women, including domestic violence, as public prosecution cases subject to ex officio investigation and prosecution;

(c)Steps taken to put an end to the practice of privately prosecuting and investigating cases of domestic violence only upon receipt of an official complaint by the victim;

(d)Steps taken to change entrenched gender stereotypes and raise the awareness of the general public about the unacceptability and adverse impact of violence against women and domestic violence, and encourage the reporting of incidents involving any forms of violence against women;

(e)Whether law enforcement officers, the judiciary, social workers and medical staff receive appropriate training on how to detect and deal properly with cases of violence against women and domestic violence.

Article 3

12.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 41–42), please provide updated information on:

(a)Whether refugees and asylum seekers are effectively exempt from criminal responsibility for irregular border crossings;

(b)Steps taken to establish a legal basis for regularizing the stay in the State party of persons who do not fall under the definition of refugee contained in the Law on Refugees and Asylum in order to enhance their protection against refoulement by introducing legal and procedural safeguards;

(c)Steps taken to ensure the rights of persons in penitentiary institutions who may be in need of international protection to access asylum procedures, including by establishing a comprehensive mechanism to identify and refer asylum seekers in penitentiary institutions to the Migration Service;

(d)Specific steps taken to ensure humane and dignified conditions of detention for asylum seekers in penitentiary institutions who may be in need of international protection and ensure that they are separated from the general prison population.

Article 10

13.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 21 (b) and 44), please provide updated information on:

(a)Whether all law enforcement officers receive systematic training on the use of force, especially in the context of demonstrations, and the employment of non-violent means and crowd control; and whether the principles of necessity and proportionality are strictly adhered to in practice during the policing of demonstrations;

(b)Whether training programmes on non-coercive investigation and inquiry techniques have been established and whether procedural safeguards have been strengthened with a view to combat torture with techniques that are respectful of human dignity and the presumption of innocence;

(c)Whether mandatory in-service training programmes on the prevention of torture and on the effective identification and documentation of torture in accordance with the Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Istanbul Protocol) have been developed for all relevant authorities and, in particular, law enforcement officials, prison staff and medical personnel employed in detention facilities, forensic experts, judges and prosecutors;

(d)Whether the State party has developed a specific methodology to assess the effectiveness of educational and training programmes relating to the Convention and the Istanbul Protocol and whether it has taken steps to ensure that training sessions on these particular topics are based on the real training needs of all target groups.

Article 11

14.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 26 and 30), please provide updated information on:

(a)Whether the Penitentiary Code has been amended during the period under review with a view to abolishing the legal obligation to segregate prisoners serving life sentences from other prisoners and impose limitations on their family visits;

(b)Steps taken by the State party during the period under review to improve the material conditions in detention facilities, including as regards overcrowding, so that they are in full compliance with the relevant international standards, especially those conditions that affect prisoners serving life sentences, such as inadequate sanitary conditions, low quality nutrition and the extremely limited offer of extra-regime activities, in particular in Nubarashen, Vanadzor, Yerevan-Kentron and Kosh prisons, as well as steps taken to meet the gender-specific needs of female inmates in Abovyan prison;

(c)Steps taken to improve the conditions of detention so that inmates do not have to rely on personal resources to improve their living conditions with regard to food, medicine and sanitary products purchased from outside, thus removing the inequality arising from the fact that some prisoners do not have the personal resources to acquire such goods;

(d)Steps taken during the period under review to provide inmates with general education, vocational education, as well as higher and postgraduate education, other meaningful activities and physical exercise.

15.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 27 and 30), please provide updated information on:

(a)Any improvements in access to and the quality of health care and psychiatric care within police and prison establishments, including for prisoners serving life sentences; and the implementation of the concept paper on modernization of medical services in penitentiary institutions, which was approved by the Government on 19 January 2017;

(b)Whether free health care guaranteed by the State party is available to inmates and whether they have access to other medical professionals and specialized health care at their own expense;

(c)Specific steps taken by the State party to acquire adequate medical equipment, increase the number of qualified medical staff in places of deprivation of liberty and ensure the independence and impartiality of medical personnel employed in such facilities, including by dealing with the institutional dependency of the prison medical personnel from the penitentiary system; and the steps taken to implement the Government’s decree on establishing the centre for penitentiary medicine;

(d)Any follow-up to the ad hoc report on ensuring the right to health care of persons deprived of their liberty in penitentiary institutions, which was published by the Human Rights Defender in 2017; and on the status of the Government’s decree on establishing a centre for penitentiary medicine, aimed at bringing the medical services of the correctional institutions under the direct control of the Ministry of Justice.

16.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 29–30), please provide updated information on whether the State party has ensured that the Police Monitoring Group has access to all police stations, including temporary police detention facilities, and whether the Group is able to conduct unannounced visits.

17.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 31–32), please provide updated information on:

(a)Specific steps taken by the State party to prevent inter-prisoner violence and self-harm in penitentiary institutions in order to protect the life and safety of all prisoners, compile official statistics on such incidents, ensure the effective investigation of all allegations of violence among prisoners and hold accountable those found responsible;

(b)Steps taken to ensure an adequate ratio of staff to prisoners, recruit and train sufficient numbers of prison personnel, including medical personnel, and provide them with adequate salaries;

(c)Steps taken to improve the authority of prison administrations, reduce the impact of the criminal subculture and informal hierarchy in prisons and their influence within the penitentiary system and put an end to the discrimination and violence against homosexual prisoners and sex offenders;

(d)Status of implementation of the Programme of the Government of Armenia for 2017–2022 with regard to penitentiary reforms and in particular of the Programme on Penitentiary System Reforms 2016–2018; and also the status of the draft government decree on approving the Strategic Programme for Improvement of the Penitentiary System 2018–2038.

18.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 33–34) and the follow-up information provided by the State party, please provide updated information on:

(a)Specific steps taken to reduce further the rate of deaths and suicides in custody, in particular early prevention strategies and programmes to improve the identification of persons at risk of committing suicide;

(b)Steps taken to promptly investigate all deaths in custody, including those due to health issues and suicide, by an independent body, as well as the steps taken to prosecute and penalize staff at the penitentiary establishments involved in inciting convicts to commit suicide; please also provide information on the number of penitentiary staff and medical officers who have been held liable for deaths in custody during the period under review;

(c)Steps taken to overcome the problems leading to discontinuation or suspension of criminal investigations into cases of death in custody, including suicide, in particular due to the non-identification of the accused;

(d)Steps taken to authorize independent forensic examination of all cases of death in custody and, in particular, allow the family members of the victims to commission independent autopsies and ensure that their results are accepted by courts as evidence in criminal and civil cases;

(e)Training on the medical care and psychological assistance provided to vulnerable inmates for non-medical prison personnel.

19.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 37–38), please provide updated information on:

(a)Steps taken by the State party to establish an effective, specialized and well-functioning system of juvenile justice, in compliance with international standards;

(b)Training on juvenile justice matters provided during the period under review to relevant officials, including with regard to the so-called progressive approach to sentencing, involving motivational measures and extra-regime activities, as well as steps to reduce juvenile recidivism by developing new educational and rehabilitation programmes;

(c)Steps taken to abolish the solitary confinement of juveniles as a disciplinary measure, both in law and in practice; and any measures taken to remedy the shortage of qualified officers specially trained to work with juveniles.

Articles 12–13

20.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 17–18), please provide updated information on:

(a)Specific measures taken during the period under review to improve the investigation and prosecution of allegations of torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement officers during arrest, detention and interrogation, and in particular to strengthen the investigative capacity and independence of the Special Investigation Service;

(b)Whether the discrepancy between the number of recorded complaints of torture and the number of investigations and prosecutions as a result thereof has decreased; whether an independent complaints mechanism for dealing with allegations of torture and ill-treatment has been established, as provided for in point 34 of the Action Plan of the National Strategy on Human Rights Protection; please also provide information on the work of the public monitoring group of the penitentiary establishments;

(c)Whether the State party has taken steps to end the reported practice of temporarily suspending officers suspected of torture and subsequently appointing them to equivalent or even superior positions in another service in order to avoid their prosecution; and whether persons under investigation for acts of torture or ill-treatment are immediately suspended from their duties for the duration of the investigation;

(d)Whether the standards of proof required to pursue an investigation continue to remain very high and whether the Special Investigation Service continues to delegate the collection of evidence regarding allegations of torture and ill-treatment to police officers;

(e)Whether victims of torture and ill-treatment, including persons deprived of their liberty, have access to prompt medical examinations in order to record their injuries accurately without deliberate delays that would lead to the disappearance of important evidence and ensure that a criminal investigation could not be initiated, and whether victims of torture have the possibility to submit complaints;

(f)Whether the Special Investigation Service continues to investigate allegations of torture and ill-treatment only once a criminal case is formally initiated, and not automatically upon the reporting of such allegations.

Article 14

21.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 45–46), please provide updated information on whether the State party has instituted adequately funded specialized rehabilitation services for victims of torture and ill-treatment, including medical, psychological, social and legal services for the victims. Please also indicate whether a public specialized centre providing multidisciplinary and holistic rehabilitation services for victims of torture and ill-treatment has been established by the State party during the period under review.

Article 15

22.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 13–14), please provide updated information on:

(a)Whether the draft amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code stipulating that any statement established to have been made under torture shall not be invoked as evidence in any proceedings have been adopted during the period under review;

(b)Whether the practice of using forced confessions as evidence in courts has been abolished and the specific steps taken by the State party to combat the practice of coerced confessions;

(c)Whether proceedings are suspended in any case in which a person alleges that a confession was obtained through torture;

(d)Steps taken to ensure that officials who extract confessions under torture, including persons liable under the principle of command responsibility, are promptly brought to justice and prosecuted and that such confessions are only invoked in proceedings against persons accused of torture;

(e)The number of cases in which confessions were deemed inadmissible on the grounds that they had been obtained through torture; the number of convictions that were based on such confessions that were revised; and the number of officials who were prosecuted and punished for extracting confessions under torture during the period under review.

Article 16

23.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 39–40), please provide updated information on:

(a)Specific measures taken by the State party to provide effective protection to children in special schools and closed or partially closed institutions, such as the Vanadzor Children’s Home and the Vanadzor Care and Protection Centre, against all forms of abuse, violence and ill-treatment;

(b)Whether allegations of abuse, violence and ill-treatment in special schools and closed or partially closed institutions, including specific cases reported in the Vanadzor Children’s Home and the Vanadzor Care and Protection Centre, have been investigated and whether the alleged perpetrators have been brought to justice;

(c)Whether specialized non-governmental organizations have access to such institutions, including to places of detention and special schools under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and Science;

(d)Whether the amendments to the Family Code adopted in December 2017 provide for a clear and explicit prohibition of all corporal punishment of children in all settings;

(e)Whether the corporal punishment of children has been prohibited in the home, alternative care settings and day-care settings.

24.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 35–36), please provide updated information on:

(a)Specific measures taken during the period under review to prevent non-combat deaths in the military, violence, hazing and the mistreatment of conscripts by officers and fellow soldiers;

(b)Specific steps taken to ensure the prompt, impartial, thorough and effective investigation of all allegations of abuse of conscripts in the army and all non-combat deaths, ensure that complaints against military personnel are considered by an independent body and prosecute and punish those responsible with appropriate penalties;

(c)Whether victims of hazing and mistreatment are provided with compensation and rehabilitation, including through appropriate medical and psychological assistance.

Other issues

25.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 48), please provide information on any consideration given by the State party to making the declarations envisaged under articles 21 and 22 of the Convention, in order to recognize the competence of the Committee to receive and consider communications.

26.Please provide updated information on the measures taken by the State party to respond to threats of terrorism. Please describe whether those measures have affected human rights safeguards in law and in practice and, if so, how they have affected them. Please also describe how the State party has ensured that those measures are compatible with all its obligations under international law, especially the Convention. Furthermore, please indicate what training is given to law enforcement officers in this area; the number of persons who have been convicted under legislation adopted to combat terrorism; the legal remedies and safeguards available in law and in practice to persons subjected to anti-terrorism measures; and whether there have been complaints of the non-observance of international standards in applying measures to combat terrorism and, if so, what the outcome was.

General information on the other measures and developments relating to the implementation of the Convention in the State party

27.Please provide detailed information on any other relevant legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures taken to implement the provisions of the Convention or the Committee’s recommendations, including institutional developments, plans or programmes. Please indicate the resources allocated and statistical data. Please also provide any other information that the State party considers relevant.