Armenia 2019 Human Rights Report
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ARMENIA 2019 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Armenia’s constitution provides for a parliamentary republic with a unicameral legislature, the National Assembly (parliament). The prime minister elected by the parliament heads the government; the president, also elected by the parliament, largely performs a ceremonial role. During December 2018 parliamentary elections, the My Step coalition, led by acting prime minister Nikol Pashinyan, won 70 percent of the vote and an overwhelming majority of seats in the parliament. According to the assessment of the international election observation mission under the umbrella of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the parliamentary elections were held with respect for fundamental freedoms. The national police force is responsible for internal security, while the National Security Service (NSS) is responsible for national security, intelligence activities, and border control. The Special Investigative Service (SIS) is a separate agency specializing in preliminary investigation of cases involving suspected abuses by public officials. The Investigative Committee is responsible for conducting pretrial investigations into general civilian and military criminal cases and incorporates investigative services. The NSS and the police chiefs report directly to the prime minister and are appointed by the president upon the prime minister’s recommendation. The cabinet appoints the SIS and Investigative Committee chiefs upon the prime minister’s recommendations. Civilian authorities maintained effective control over the security forces. Significant human rights issues included: torture; arbitrary detention, although with fewer reports; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary interference with privacy; significant problems with the independence of the judiciary; crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or intersex (LGBTI) persons; and use of forced or compulsory child labor. The government took steps to investigate and punish alleged abuses by former and current government officials and law enforcement authorities. For example, throughout the year, an investigation continued into the culpability of former high- ranking government officials surrounding events that led to the deaths of eight civilians and two police officers during postelection protests in 2008. ARMENIA 2 Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from: a. Arbitrary Deprivation of Life and Other Unlawful or Politically Motivated Killings There was at least one report that the government or its agents committed an arbitrary or unlawful killing. According to an October 3 report by Hetq.am, in June 2018 detainee Armen Aghajanyan was found hanged in the Nubarashen National Center for Mental Health where he had been transferred from Nubarashen Penitentiary for a psychological assessment. The family believed he was killed to prevent his identification of the guards who beat him in March 2018 upon his admission to the penitentiary, including Major Armen Hovhannisyan, who was charged with torture and falsification of documents. Aghajanyan’s family stated there were signs of violence on his body and that he was taller than the height of the sewage pipe from which he allegedly hanged himself on June 12. At the time of the alleged suicide, Armen Hovhannisyan, one of the guards who had been identified as having beaten Aghajanyan, was in custody. As of November 1, the investigation into Aghajanyan’s death continued; however, on November 26, trial court judge Davit Balayan freed Hovhannisyan, ruling that his actions did not constitute torture but exceeded official authority. The judge applied a 2018 amnesty to Hovhannisyan. Throughout the year there were media reports that the Ministry of Defense was providing incomplete information or not reporting on certain noncombat deaths in the army. Human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) voiced concern regarding the Defense Ministry’s classification of military deaths and the practice of qualifying many noncombat deaths as suicides, making it less likely that abuses would be uncovered and investigated. Of note, NGOs reported that after car accidents, health ailments were the second most common cause of military deaths, calling into question the adequacy of health services in the armed forces and whether young men with serious pre-existing health conditions were being conscripted. On February 11, media outlets reported that the Defense Ministry had hidden the death of contract serviceman Edgar Grigoryan, who allegedly committed suicide on January 1 in Syunik region. On February 12, the defense minister responded to the press stating that the death was not related to his military service and thus not reported. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, Grigoryan was intoxicated and shot himself in the chest after threatening a senior officer at his duty station. Grigoryan’s family disputed this account. Six soldiers received disciplinary fines Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2019 United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor ARMENIA 3 as a result of the investigation into Grigoryan’s death. The investigation continued at year’s end. In response to demands from families whose sons died in the army under noncombat conditions, the government established a working group consisting of NGOs and individual experts to examine five past cases and identify systemic problems. The group commenced work in November 2018. After a few months, several members quit the group, citing their lack of access to case materials. Other NGOs, however, continued in the group, citing good cooperation with the Investigative Committee, and two NGOs presented their observations to the committee on the shortcomings they had discovered in the investigations. By year’s end the Investigative Committee was examining those observations. On October 10, the government approved the Judicial and Legal Reform Strategy for 2019-2023 and the national action plan for its implementation. The strategy envisaged the creation of a fact-finding group to examine noncombat deaths, among other human rights violations. In its July 8 biannual report on the human rights situation in the armed forces, the NGO Peace Dialogue noted that, for the first time, the Ministry of Defense had designated the protection of soldiers’ human rights as an organizational priority. On July 24, the Defense Ministry launched a “trust line,” a telephone number that soldiers may call to submit complaints, ask for assistance, and provide suggestions. On September 12, hearings began in a high-profile case against former officials for their alleged involvement in sending the military to break up protests following the 2008 presidential election, in which eight civilians and two police officers were killed. Charges filed in this and associated criminal cases included allegations of overthrowing the constitutional order, abuse and exceeding official authority, torture, complicity in bribery, official fraud, and falsification of evidence connected with the investigation of the 2008 postelection events. High-profile suspects in the cases included former president Robert Kocharyan, former minister of defense Mikhail Harutyunyan, former deputy minister of defense Yuri Khachaturov, former defense minister Seyran Ohanyan, former chief of presidential staff Armen Gevorgyan, former police chief Alik Sargsyan, former prosecutor general Gevorg Kostanyan, and others. On July 27, Kocharyan was charged with overthrowing the constitutional order in connection with the violent suppression of protests in 2008. Authorities charged Gegham Petrosyan, a former deputy police commander, with the murder of Zakar Hovhannisyan during suppression of the protests. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2019 United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor ARMENIA 4 On January 29, Council of Europe commissioner for human rights Dunja Mijatovic issued a report on her September 2018 visit to the country, which noted that authorities had taken steps to establish responsibility for the violent events and deaths of March 2008. The report noted the importance of conducting the process in a careful manner “in strict adherence to the principles of rule of law, judicial independence, transparency, and guarantees of fair trial,” in order to dispel any accusations of revenge politics or selective justice. On June 4, parliament adopted a law on providing assistance to the victims of the March 2008 postelection violence, and on September 5, the government allocated 720 million drams ($1.5 million) to assist victims and their families. Separatists, with Armenia’s support, continued to control most of Nagorno- Karabakh and seven surrounding Azerbaijani territories. The final status of Nagorno-Karabakh remained the subject of international mediation by the OSCE Minsk Group, cochaired by France, Russia, and the United States. Violence along the Line of Contact continued at lower levels compared with previous years. Recurrent shooting caused deaths, primarily to military members. Following the outbreak of violence in 2016, the sides to the conflict submitted complaints to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) accusing each other of committing atrocities during that time. The cases remained pending with the ECHR. b. Disappearance There were no reports of disappearances by or on behalf of government authorities.