IHF Open Letter on Armenia
Reply-To: [email protected]
Sender: [email protected]
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 08:44:37 +0300 (EET DST)
Message-Id: <[email protected]>
Subject: IHF Open Letter on Armenia
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: International Helsinki Federation <[email protected]>
IHF Open Letter on Armenia
OPEN LETTER
Yerevan, 11 October 1999
HE Robert KOCHARIAN
President of the Republic of Armenia
Dear Mr. President,
I am writing on behalf of the International Helsinki Federation for
Human Rights (IHF), which represents 39 independent human rights
organizations in Europe, the former Soviet Union, and North America.
We respectfully request your personal efforts and those of your
government to investigate the deaths of Oleg ARISHIN and Stepan
GEVORKYAN, who died on 27 April and 15 April 1999 respectively, both
while serving prison sentences. We would also ask for your review of
the case of Arsen STEPANYAN, who died on 23 July 1999, at his home,
having returned from Arabkir police station where he had been
interrogated.
The IHF considers that strong evidence exists that these persons died
as the result of beatings or were murdered by police officers. Oleg
ARISHIN and Stepan GEVORKYAN, both 20 years old, were together charged
with robbery and assault against authorities. The authorities have
claimed that Mr. ARISHIN committed suicide by a drug overdose while in
prison; the corpse of Mr. GEVORKYAN revealed clear evidence of heavy
beatings. During his trials he had filed numerous complaints of having
been ill-treated in police custody. Mr. STEPANYAN was taken to Arabkir
police station following a dispute with a representative of the
electric power service and former policeman. He returned several
hours later and reported having been beaten by police; he died that
evening. The judicial doctor reported that he had suffered broken
bones and a heart attack.
No one has been charged in any of these deaths. The families of Mr.
ARISHIN and Mr. GEVORKYAN have been informed that their cases have
been closed. No case was opened in the death of Mr. STEPANYAN.
Mr. President, as Armenia moves toward admission into the Council of
Europe and seeks further cooperation with European structures, it
would be important to show your commitment to justice in these cases,
given evidence pointing to official misconduct.
More important, the government must help instill more confidence in
the judicial system among the people by supporting an objective
inquiry, which would include, if necessary, exhumation of the remains
and examination by independent forensic experts.
We appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to your
response.
Sincerely,
Aaron Rhodes
Executive Director
cc The Council of Europe
UN Committee Against Torture (CAT)
UN Special Rapporteur on Torture
Delegations to the OSCE
National Helsinki Committees
__________________________________________________
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
Rummelhardtgasse 2/18
1090 VIENNA, AUSTRIA
Tel. +43-1-408 88 22
Fax +43-1-408 88 22-50
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet: http://www.ihf-hr.org
--
==============================================================
MINELRES - a forum for discussion on minorities in Central&Eastern
Europe
Submissions: [email protected]
Subscription/inquiries: [email protected]
List archive: http://www.riga.lv/minelres/archive.htm
==============================================================