REPORT ON OBSERVANCE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE RELATIONS BETWEEN CITIZENS AND POLICE IN ARMENIA AND GEORGIA National Endowment for Democracy Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor This report was prepared within the framework of the project “Training and Networking for Young Human Rights Activists” implemented by Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor with financial support from the National Endowment for Democracy. The views, comments, and conclusions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Endowment for Democracy. The project was implemented from March 1, 2010 to March 1, 2012. Vanadzor - 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................6 RESUME .............................................................................................................................12 MONITORING TOOLS AND METHODOLOGY .....................................................................13 Composition of Monitoring Groups .......................................................................14 Pecularities of Carrying out Monitoring ................................................................15 Cooperation with the Police of Georgia ................................................................15 Cooperation with the Police of Armenia ...............................................................15 REVIEW OF THE GEORGIAN LEGISLATION REGULATING RELATIONS BETWEEN POLICE AND CITIZENS ..................................................................................................17 REVIEW OF THE LEGISLATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA REGULATING THE RELATIONS BETWEEN POLICE AND CITIZENS .............................................................30 SECTION 1. HUMAN RIGHTS IN CASES OF RESTRICTION OF FREEDOM IN ARMENIA 49 General Issues of Law ....................................................................................................49 The Monitoring Results .................................................................................................50 The procedure of bringing in a person. The first contact ................................................. 50 Observance of procedure norms in cases of restriction of freedom Knowledge and informing ............................................................................................. 51 Definition of the Procedural Status ................................................................................ 54 Detention Terms ....................................................................................................... 55 Documenting in cases of restriction of freedom .......................................................... 56 Proportionality of application of force and special means during detention and bringing in . 57 Examples from practice ............................................................................................. 59 The Conditions of Detention in cases of restriction of freedom ..................................... 60 Conclusions ............................................................................................................61 Recommendations .................................................................................................62 Interrogation .................................................................................................................62 SECTION 2. HUMAN RIGHTS IN CASES OF RESTRICTION OF FREEDOM IN GEORGIA ..71 The Right to Defense ......................................................................................................71 The Procedure of Restriction of Freedom ......................................................................71 From Detention to the Police Department ....................................................................... 72 Detention Procedure. ................................................................................................ 72 Acquaintance with the Rights .................................................................................... 72 Transfer to the Department ....................................................................................... 73 From Police Department to the Court ............................................................................ 74 Interrogation............................................................................................................ 74 The Treatment of Detainees ...................................................................................... 75 Conclusions ............................................................................................................76 Recommendations ................................................................................................77 3 SECTION 3. PROTECTION AND RESTORATION OF VIOLATED RIGHTS ..........................78 Legal proceedings in questions connected with restriction of freedom in Georgia .......78 Primary representation of the accused person to court, preliminary judicial session and judicial proceedings ..................................................................................................... 78 Audio and video recording ............................................................................................. 79 Principles of competitiveness and equality of the parties .................................................. 79 The procedural agreement ............................................................................................ 80 The aggrieved person ................................................................................................... 81 Recognition of the violated right at the international level ................................................ 82 Extra-judicial mechanisms of human rights protection in Armenia. .................................... 84 The possibility of receiving compensation in case of illegal detention or arrest .................. 88 Conclusions and Recommendations ................................................................................ 89 SECTION 4. WORKING CONDITIONS OF POLICEMEN AND CONDITIONS FOR THE CARE OF DETAINEES ...............................................................................................91 Working conditions of Police Officers in the Republic of Armenia. ................................91 International standards concerning the labor law. ........................................................... 91 The internal law concerning the labor law. ...................................................................... 91 Conditions in the premises of police departments where observation has been conducted. 92 Overcrowding of interrogation rooms ............................................................................ 93 Materials and technical equipment of interrogation rooms ............................................... 94 Problems which have been observed by police officers. ................................................... 94 Problems existing in the police departments ................................................................... 95 Conclusions and Recommendations ................................................................................ 95 Working conditions of police officers and conditions of the care of arrestees in Georgia .......................................................................................................................96 Police departments ....................................................................................................... 96 Isolation Cells for Preliminary Detention ........................................................................ 96 Materials and technical equipment in isolation cells ......................................................... 97 Medical service ............................................................................................................. 98 Treatment of detainees ................................................................................................. 98 Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 99 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................... 100 APPEnDIx n 1 ............................................................................................................100 APPEnDIx n 2 ............................................................................................................105 APPEnDIx n 3 ............................................................................................................108 APPEnDIx n 4 ............................................................................................................138 4 From Initiators n this report, the results of monitoring of relations between the police and citizens are summarized. The monitoring was held from October 2010 till January 2011. Monitoring was held within the Iframework of the project “Training and networking for young human rights activists” (March 1, 2010 - March 1, 2012), with the financial support of the national Endowment for Democracy. Helsinki Citizens' Assembly-Vanadzor expresses gratitude to the trainers of the project - Yaroslav Kopchuk and Alina Pomorsky, experts of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (Poland) with whose participation, the tools for monitoring the relations between the police and the citizens, have been developed; Olyona