The police is the first state body that deals with law violators. Often it is during work with this link that alarms about torture are raised. The police reform implementation strategy and the 2024-2026 action program also address this issue.

What is torture?

Torture is a deliberate action aimed at causing severe physical or psychological pain or suffering to a person:

• to obtain information or confession,
• to punish that person or a third party,
• to intimidate the person or break their will,
• or for any other reason, when such action is carried out by a state official or on their instruction or with their tacit consent.

Torture is considered a gross violation of human rights and is prohibited by international and national legislation. It is used as a tool of pressure and humiliation, but from a legal standpoint, the application of such methods is unacceptable regardless of circumstances.

The most important international document on this topic is the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Strategy objectives

In an interview with Iravaban.net, Marat Atovmyan, Vice President of the Armenian Bar Association and lawyer, notes that the police has a serious role in eliminating torture.

“It is very important that police officers have the necessary skills, knowledge and abilities to properly relate to persons who have become victims of torture, to be able to properly take reports about interrogations, as well as to take correct legal measures to protect their rights,” notes Atovmyan.

The police reform implementation strategy and the 2024-2026 action program aim to form a law-respecting, fair and professional police system. Special attention has been paid to preventing torture, recording cases of violence, protecting personal data, and retraining in accordance with international standards.

International criteria have been established for the protection of persons deprived of liberty. The most important of these is the Istanbul Protocol, adopted by the UN in 1999. It provides clear guidelines on how to investigate complaints about torture and how to document medical traces and transmit information to competent authorities.

In this process, it is very important that police officers and doctors are well prepared. If the rules are not clear or there are no necessary specialists, there may be violations of rights – intentionally or carelessly. In addition, different forms of registering such cases in different institutions (for example, in the police and emergency services) can create gaps. Such problems can affect both citizens’ rights and the motivation of dedicated police officers.

Another problem is that people sometimes do not report cases of violence due to fear or lack of trust. But there are also cases when reports are too superficial or even false.

Proper training of doctors and police officers, as well as the availability of sufficient human and technical resources, are important for the system to avoid delays and errors.

Action plan of the strategy

The action program envisages developing and implementing a special methodology for evaluating the quality of retraining and courses on the UN Convention Against Torture and the Istanbul Protocol, as well as retraining materials on torture and other forms of ill-treatment.

In addition, the complete application of the renewed procedure for the activity of public observer groups exercising public supervision in places of detention of arrestees must be ensured.

Successful international experience

The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) visited Armenia in 2023. They noted that the situation in the police has generally improved.

Many citizens have reported that they have been treated properly. It was also noted that interrogations are video-recorded and police officers wear video-recording devices. However, there have also been some cases where police have used disproportionate force.

Iravaban.net also presents several examples from international experience. These countries manage to effectively fight against these problems.

In Germany, police officers are required to undergo retraining on torture and human rights protection related to international conventions, particularly EU standards.

Independent bodies have been established to monitor police activities (for example, an independent supervisory council), which citizens can turn to if they want to report a case of torture.

Police activities are often audio and video recorded to avoid abuse.

In Finland, there is equivalent application of Istanbul Protocol regulations, including medical examinations and proper documentation of torture alerts.

A digitized system has been built that allows rapid response to torture alerts and provides professional assistance.

Police officers are retrained not only in legal but also psychological and ethical aspects.

In Great Britain, there is an independent investigative body – the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which investigates police violations including cases of torture.

Police officers undergo immediate retraining on the rights and dignity of detainees.

Standardized interrogation procedures are applied, which are video-recorded.

These successful experiences show that in preventing torture, the following are important:

• the presence of independent oversight bodies,
• continuous retraining of law enforcement officers,
• the use of technical means (video recording),
• and active involvement of society.

The “Public Oversight and Awareness of Effective and Inclusive Police Reforms” sub-grant is implemented by the “Armenian Bar Association” with funding from the European Union under the “Monitoring Justice Sector Reforms in Armenia” program (www.juremonia.am) within the framework of a grant announced by the “Social Justice” public organization.

The overall goal of the program is to increase civil society participation in monitoring and impact assessment of police reforms by ensuring structural involvement mechanisms, independent assessment and raising public awareness. Close cooperation and involvement with public organizations as well as relevant subdivisions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is envisaged during program implementation.

This article was prepared with financial support from the European Union. The “Armenian Bar Association” public organization is responsible for the content and it does not necessarily express the views of the European Union.