23:00, 14 January 2009

Armenia: Ombudsman confirms that oppositionists are tortured

Ombudsman in Armenia Armen Arutyunyan has stated that oppositional activists are exposed to violence and even torture in the country's criminal corrective establishments (CCEs).

According to Armenian service of Radio Liberty, which is referring to Mr Arutyunyan, these facts can be confirmed by the employees of the Ombudsman's office who react operatively to signals about beatings received from CCEs.

The Ombudsman has noted that the people, exposed to violence at CCEs, can be split into three groups. Firstly, the cases when people indeed officially lodge their complaints to the Ombudsman's office - for example, Grigor Voskerchyan and Vardkes Gaspari. Secondly, the cases when, despite obvious evidence of exposures to torture, inmates themselves refuse to recognize the facts, and, guided by the feeling of fear, assert that they fell down or hit themselves. Thirdly, people who admit that they were beaten, but refuse to make the facts public for fear, in particular, because of possible problems with their cellmates.

Author: Lilit Ovanisyan

Source: CK correspondent