OSCE organizes anti-torture roundtable in Armenia

YEREVAN, 17 July 2001 (OSCE) - Together with the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the OSCE organized on 13 and 14 July a roundtable in Yerevan, entitled "Prevention and Prohibition of Torture, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment: Current Situation and Future Perspectives".

The participants, which included representatives from state bodies, non-governmental and international organizations, analyzed the current situation in Armenia, and identified main issues of concern in relation to torture, inhuman and degrading treatment. They discussed the joint first and second periodic report submitted by Armenia to the United Nations Committee against Torture in November 2000, under article 19 of the UN Convention against Torture. The roundtable also considered the implications for the country of the UN Committee's concluding observations on the report as well as the UN standards, mechanisms and safeguards for the prohibition of torture and ill treatment.

The participants suggested the need for Armenia to make a declaration under article 22 of the UN Convention, which allows the submission of individual complaints. The discussion underlined in particular the need for the inclusion of concrete data, cases and statistics illustrating Armenian reality. The importance of the co-operation between all relevant actors, including NGOs, for the preparation of the next periodic report due in October 2002 was highlighted.

The roundtable also gave room for representatives of the country's Ministry of Interior, the General Prosecutor's Office and the Advocates Union to share their views and experiences. A major issue was the difficulty of identifying torture and ill treatment cases, notably through professional medical expertise. Several participants also noted the little use of the existing complaint mechanisms by citizens.

The roundtable identified the major issue of transparency, especially independent monitoring and accountability of law enforcement officials. The Human Rights Commission to the President created in 1998 presented torture and ill treatment as one of the major human rights violations occurring in the country. A foreign expert presented European standards, in particular safeguards, Court cases and concrete monitoring mechanisms, notably the activities of the European Committee on the Prevention of Torture (Armenia committed itself to ratify the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Convention on the Prevention of Torture within one year from its accession, which was effective on 25 January 2001). The participants discussed the legal and practical situation as well as the need for further safeguards, i.e. greater access to family, legal aid and doctors, systematic registration of detainees, etc.

The roundtable participants explored further steps and possible co-operation towards the eradication of torture and ill treatment. The Ministry of Justice representative informed about the current reform process, especially the transfer of the penitentiary system from the Ministry of Interior to the Ministry of Justice and corresponding new laws, which contain important safeguards for the prevention and progressive eradication of torture and ill treatment. The Ministry representative underlined the need for greater involvement of the civil society in the reform process as well as their access to the detention places and cooperation with penitentiary administration to improve the situation.

The participants identified recommendations related to greater transparency; acceleration of legal reforms (new Criminal Code, law on ombudsman, law on alternative military service); improvement of complaint mechanisms and procedures; increased public awareness on rights and specific cases; the need for having more factual and statistical figures about torture and ill treatment allegations; as well as better preparation of the next periodic report and more professional medical expertise.

The roundtable meeting was jointly organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the OSCE Office in Yerevan, and the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The participants included representatives from the Ministries of Interior, Justice, National Security and Defense, the General Prosecutor's Office, the Human Rights Commission to the President, the National Assembly and the Court of Cassation, as well as advocates unions and human rights NGOs. Two foreign experts from the ODIHR and Glasgow university shared information on international and European standards as well as others countries experiences in the field of prevention and eradication of torture and ill treatment.

The OSCE Office in Yerevan was established in February 2000 to promote the implementation of OSCE principles and commitments as well as the cooperation of the Republic of Armenia within the OSCE framework, in all OSCE dimensions, including the human, political, economic and environmental aspects of security and stability.

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For further information please contact Christine Mardirossian, Human Rights Officer at the OSCE Office in Yerevan, tel. + 3741 54 10 64 or + 3741 54 58 45, e-mail: cmardi@osce.am.