I write to express our concern regarding reports that Anahid Tumaniyan,
a forty-five-year-old resident of Yerevan, her two
children—sixteen-year-old Aram and twenty-two-year-old Varduhi
Tumaniyan—and her twenty-year-old sister-in-law, Christina Torosiyan,
were severely beaten over a period of several days while in the custody of
the Erebuni District Police Station after their arrest on February 16, 1998.
I write to express our concern regarding reports that Anahid Tumaniyan, a forty-five-year-old resident of Yerevan, her two children—sixteen-year-old Aram and twenty-two-year-old Varduhi Tumaniyan—and her twenty-year-old sister-in-law, Christina Torosiyan, were severely beaten over a period of several days while in the custody of the Erebuni District Police Station after their arrest on February 16, 1998.
Ms. Tumaniyan and her two children, Aram and Varduhi, were arrested by plainclothes police officers of the criminal investigation department of the Erebuni District Police Station at approximately 10:30 p.m. on February 16. Erebuni police officials also arrested Ms. Torosiyan at approximately the same time at her nearby home. Ms. Tumaniyan told Human Rights Watch that about ten plainclothes police officers arrived at her home, and that despite repeated requests by her and other family members present, police officers refused to inform Ms. Tumaniyan or her children of the reasons for their arrests. Subsequent to the arrest, police officers are reported to have carried out a search without warrant of Ms. Tumaniyan's home.
Upon arrival at the Erebuni police station at approximately 1:00 a.m. on February 17, Ms. Tumaniyan was questioned by Erebuni District Police Chief Kharapetiyan and five other plainclothes officers. Mr. Kharapetiyan questioned Ms. Tumaniyan regarding a debt she had incurred to an acquaintance whose death the police were investigating. According to Ms. Tumaniyan, she was repeatedly beaten and questioned about her involvement in the murder from the time she arrived until 5:00 a.m. She told Human Rights Watch that during questioning she could hear Aram, Varduhi, and Christina in nearby investigation rooms, crying out as police officers struck them. She reported that her son Aram was brought into the investigation room where she was being questioned, and that police officers repeatedly beat him in her presence until he lost consciousness. Ms. Tumaniyan stated that police officers were attempting to coerce a confession from her son that he was guilty of the murder, and testimony from Ms. Tumaniyan that she was a material witness.
Ms. Tumaniyan stated that she was kept in the investigation room until 10:00 a.m. on February 17. At 10:00 a.m. her daughter Varduhi was brought into the investigation room, and reportedly beaten by plainclothes police officers in an attempt to coerce testimony from her that Varduhi had also participated in the murder. According to Ms. Tumaniyan, at approximately 11:00 p.m. (she was kept in the investigation room throughout the day) Christina was brought into the room, and also repeatedly beaten and questioned in her presence.
Ms. Tumaniyan told Human Rights Watch that she was kept in the investigation room under continued questioning and physical abuse, without food, until February 18. She was subsequently released and rearrested at her home on the morning of February 20. She stated that she was taken to the Erebuni District Procuracy office, where she was questioned by Vardan Martirosyan, a procuracy investigator. Ms. Tumaniyan reported to Human Rights Watch that she again refused to sign false testimony, and that Mr. Martirosyan ordered her to be taken to an investigation room to be beaten. She reported further that three plainclothes Erebuni police officers placed her hand on a table and broke her finger in order to coerce her into signing false testimony.
On September 8, 1998, the trial of Varduhi and Aram Tumaniyan commenced in Erebuni District Court on robbery and murder charges (Articles 88 and 99 of the Armenian criminal code). Christina Torosiyan was tried during the same proceedings under Article 206, failure to report a crime. Witnesses to the proceedings reported to Human Rights Watch that on September 9, Erebuni District Court Judge Lova Simoniyan made threatening and prejudicial statements about Varduhi during open court proceedings. During testimony in which Varduhi repeatedly denied her involvement in the murder, Judge Simoniyan is reported to have said, "I'll do something to you so you'll never be able to bear children that are like you." Witnesses reported that during the proceedings on September 10, Judge Simoniyan stated to Aram, after he denied his involvement, "If I had the right, I would put you up against a wall and shoot you."
The conduct of the criminal proceedings and trial described above contravenes Armenia's obligations as a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) . Prejudicial public statements by judges prior to or during court proceedings violate the ICCPR's Article 14, which guarantees individuals the right to a "fair and public hearing by a[n] . . . independent and impartial tribunal," and the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Physical abuse is a violation of the ICCPR's Article 7, which states, "no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."
We urge you to investigate immediately allegations that Ms. Tumaniyan, her children, and Ms. Torosiyan were severely beaten by Erebuni police officers. We further urge you to prosecute those police found to be involved, and to make the results of the investigation public. We call on you to investigate reports that Erebuni District Court Judge Simoniyan made threatening and prejudicial statements during open court proceedings, and, if these statements are confirmed, to discipline him accordingly.
We look forward to your response to these concerns.
Sincerely,
/s/
Holly Cartner
Executive Director
Human Rights Watch
Europe and Central Asia Division
cc:
Chief Procurator Agvan Hovsepiyan
Minister of Internal Affairs and National Security Serge Sarkisyan
U.N. Center for Human Rights, Geneva
Mme. Mary Robinson, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
Amb. Gerard Stoudmann, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
Amb. John Mitchiner, UK Embassy Yerevan
Amb. Michel Legras, French Embassy Yerevan
Amb. Carola Muller-Holtkemper, German Embassy Yerevan
Amb. Michael Lemmon, U.S. Embassy Yerevan
Mr. Nigel Rodley, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture
Mr. Demetrio Volcic, Special Rapporteur on Armenia, Council of Europe
Mr. Dumeni Columberg, Special Rapporteur on Armenia, Council of Europe
Mr. Jan Kleijssen, Co-Secretary, Council of Europe
Mr. Guy DuFour, Co-Secretary, Council of Europe
Mme. Danielle Coin, Co-Secretary, Council of Europe
Mr. Petr Sich, Co-Secretary, Council of Europe
