Human Rights Defender slams police for excessive force, failure to read rights upon arrest

YEREVAN, APRIL 29, ARMENPRESS. The Ombudsperson Kristinne Grigoryan dispatched rapid response teams to several police precincts of the Yerevan Police Department for a monitoring in relation to the arrests of demonstrators.

The Ombudsperson’s representatives had private conversations with 35 arrested citizens and studied the footages of their detention. 7 of the 35 detained individuals are minors, one of whom is 13 years old.

According to eyewitness accounts, 4 police officers detained the 13 year old, while the others were detained by 4-6 police officers each.

When police officers were detaining the 13-year-old, some of the demonstrators informed the police officers that they are detaining a minor, however the police officers did not take it into account. The 13-year-old was subsequently released from the police department without administrative proceedings.

The Ombudsperson’s office said that in some cases, upon detaining the demonstrators, police officers failed to notify the demonstrators on the grounds of their detention, failed to notify their rights (right to an attorney, right to remain silent, right to a phone call and other rights), and used excessive force.

In addition, in some precincts police failed to properly book the detained.

Those detained included Alexan Tumasyan, an attorney who was arrested by police as a demonstrator but who informed the officers that he wasn’t taking part in the protests but was there to represent one of his clients.

The Ombudsperson’s office said the recorded issues are now being summed up and necessary measures will be taken.

“The Human Rights Defender is noting that the procedure of administrative arrest conducted by police officers is carried out with manifestations of gross violations of several rights and freedoms. Particularly, the police officers’ failure to issue any lawful order, failure to explain the grounds for arrest, failure to read basic rights, and the use of excessive force is of continues nature. Based on this, the Human Rights Defender is calling upon the Police of Republic of Armenia to display duly and lawful conduct while carrying out their duty and ensure the possibility of the exercise of the basic rights of detained individuals,” the Ombudsperson’s office said in a statement, adding that they continue 24/7 monitoring, including in terms of “extreme and dangerous speech”.