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Service Intended To Punish Officials Ignores Whistleblowing
Roza Hovhannisyan, Reporter
Law - Saturday, 15 March 2014, 09:59
Complaints about the Special Investigative Service are often heard
from human rights activists and advocates, as well as the public at
large. This service intended as a punitive institution for officials
does not fulfill its duties prescribed by law, says Michael Danielyan,
chairman of Helsinki Association. Human rights advocates have blown
the whistle to the SIS but the service almost never proceeds with
their reports.
One of the latest reports to the SIS was that of the Human Rights
Defender on the investigator of actor Vardan Petrosyan's case. The HRD
pointed to misuse of official position by investigator Haik Hakobyan.
The SIS did not launch proceedings, explaining by absence of corpus
delicti.
Vardan Petrosyan's advocate Nikolay Baghdasaryan told Lragir.am that
the SIS does not have an identical approach to similar cases. "The SIS
refused to bring a case but we have applied to the first instance
court to eliminate the decision on refusal to bring a case. I know
that another investigator was charged with a similar case. So, what is
the logic? They bring charges in one case, and they do not bring
charges in another case, we need to understand why it is so," Nikolay
Baghdasaryan said.
Lragir.am sent a written enquiry to the SIS, requesting information on
how many complaints against officials the SIS received from citizens
of Armenia in 2011-2013, how many of them were proceeded with, how
many criminal cases were brought, how many cases were sent to court.
The spokesman for the SIS Michael Aharonyan asked for additional time
to provide statistics but replied in about a month that they cannot
provide any statistics.
"Since the RA Special Investigative Service (as well as the other
investigative services of the Republic of Armenia) provides detailed
statistical data on criminal cases investigated or being investigated,
the results and persons charged to the RA Police Information Center, I
would advise you to apply to the mentioned center to receive more
complete and exhaustive information on your questions," the letter of
the SIS Press Secretary states.
"This service works upon orders, if there is an order, it will fulfill
it," the chairman of Helsinki Committee told Lragir.am. He noted that
he cannot remember a single case when any official was punished by the
SIS on the basis of reports of citizens.
Ishkhanyan says the SIS, the Prosecutor General's Office, were
expected to be independent bodies but the truth is that none of them
is independent, everyone depends on the executive and especially the
president.
"So it is ingenuous to hope that the Special Investigative Service or
the Prosecutor General's Office would carry out objective and unbiased
investigation on any case, especially those relating to officials.
They are said to be independent but it is not true. As one sees how
the heads of these services are appointed, one understands everything.
They are appointed by the president. So, everything is agreed," Avetik
Ishkhanyan says.
The latest report of Helsinki Committee to the SIS was related to
Mashtots Park. Recently they have not reported to this service
because, Ishkhanyan says, their expectations are not great.
"We applied to the Special Investigative Service against the police
acts during the developments in Mashtots Park but the case was
dismissed, whereas the police did unlawful actions there," Ishkhanyan
says.
Another case when the SIS refused to investigate a report was the
application of the advocate of the Budaghyan family Haik Alumyan
against the ex-governor of Syunik Surik Khachatryan. The advocate
enquired whether the SIS has investigated recent press reports on
illicit actions by Surik Khachatryan and his relatives.
"I tried to find out whether the Special Investigative Service
considered those publications as crime reports or not. They replied
that some criminal cases relating to several of cases reported in the
press have been investigated but did not specify the reports and
criminal cases, so we cannot dwell on them. Second, they mentioned
that some other press reports dated from the period when Surik
Khachatryan was not a governor, so the SIS is not competent to attend
to them. The third group of reports, according to their reply, concern
Surik Khachatryan's relatives, not Surik Khachatryan himself, so the
SIS is not competent," Haik Alumyan told Lragir.am.
He assesses the actions of the Special Investigative Service relating
to this case as highly negative.
Human rights activist Michael Danielyan says the SIS is a particle of
the Prosecutor General's Office, not an independent body, and its
activities are titular. "Whenever we submit a report to the Special
Investigative Service, the service supposedly investigates it but in
reality it does nothing, and eventually we receive a reply that they
checked and found out that nothing had happened," he notes.
The human rights defender says there are many cases when the accused
announce in court that they were tortured and treated inhumanly in
police departments.
"Such cases must be investigated by the Special Investigative Service
but the SIS forwards the complaints to the same investigators working
in the same police who know very well how people are tortured. We have
reported a number of cases of torture to the SIS but this body does
not do its job. At least their office should not be in the premises of
the Prosecutor General's Office, it is funny, they say they are an
independent body but they are seated in the Prosecutor Office,"
Michael Danielyan says.
"The efficiency of activities of an organization is determined by the
procedure of appointment and dismissal of the head of the
organization. First of all, we must review the independence of this
body against the procedure of appointment and dismissal. At the
moment, this process is not transparent and is not in line with
standards of independence, therefore, I think, the SIS is not the body
that we would consider independent and expect independent decisions
from it," says Nikolay Baghdasaryan, Vardan Petrosyan's advocate.
The article has been prepared for the Development of Mechanisms of
Oversight on the RA Special Investigative Service, Prosecution and the
National Security Service to Guarantee Prevention of Violation of
Human Rights project.
- See more at: http://www.lragir.am/index/eng/0/right/view/32095#sthash.BnKBkoDW.dpuf
From: Baghdasarian
Roza Hovhannisyan, Reporter
Law - Saturday, 15 March 2014, 09:59
Complaints about the Special Investigative Service are often heard
from human rights activists and advocates, as well as the public at
large. This service intended as a punitive institution for officials
does not fulfill its duties prescribed by law, says Michael Danielyan,
chairman of Helsinki Association. Human rights advocates have blown
the whistle to the SIS but the service almost never proceeds with
their reports.
One of the latest reports to the SIS was that of the Human Rights
Defender on the investigator of actor Vardan Petrosyan's case. The HRD
pointed to misuse of official position by investigator Haik Hakobyan.
The SIS did not launch proceedings, explaining by absence of corpus
delicti.
Vardan Petrosyan's advocate Nikolay Baghdasaryan told Lragir.am that
the SIS does not have an identical approach to similar cases. "The SIS
refused to bring a case but we have applied to the first instance
court to eliminate the decision on refusal to bring a case. I know
that another investigator was charged with a similar case. So, what is
the logic? They bring charges in one case, and they do not bring
charges in another case, we need to understand why it is so," Nikolay
Baghdasaryan said.
Lragir.am sent a written enquiry to the SIS, requesting information on
how many complaints against officials the SIS received from citizens
of Armenia in 2011-2013, how many of them were proceeded with, how
many criminal cases were brought, how many cases were sent to court.
The spokesman for the SIS Michael Aharonyan asked for additional time
to provide statistics but replied in about a month that they cannot
provide any statistics.
"Since the RA Special Investigative Service (as well as the other
investigative services of the Republic of Armenia) provides detailed
statistical data on criminal cases investigated or being investigated,
the results and persons charged to the RA Police Information Center, I
would advise you to apply to the mentioned center to receive more
complete and exhaustive information on your questions," the letter of
the SIS Press Secretary states.
"This service works upon orders, if there is an order, it will fulfill
it," the chairman of Helsinki Committee told Lragir.am. He noted that
he cannot remember a single case when any official was punished by the
SIS on the basis of reports of citizens.
Ishkhanyan says the SIS, the Prosecutor General's Office, were
expected to be independent bodies but the truth is that none of them
is independent, everyone depends on the executive and especially the
president.
"So it is ingenuous to hope that the Special Investigative Service or
the Prosecutor General's Office would carry out objective and unbiased
investigation on any case, especially those relating to officials.
They are said to be independent but it is not true. As one sees how
the heads of these services are appointed, one understands everything.
They are appointed by the president. So, everything is agreed," Avetik
Ishkhanyan says.
The latest report of Helsinki Committee to the SIS was related to
Mashtots Park. Recently they have not reported to this service
because, Ishkhanyan says, their expectations are not great.
"We applied to the Special Investigative Service against the police
acts during the developments in Mashtots Park but the case was
dismissed, whereas the police did unlawful actions there," Ishkhanyan
says.
Another case when the SIS refused to investigate a report was the
application of the advocate of the Budaghyan family Haik Alumyan
against the ex-governor of Syunik Surik Khachatryan. The advocate
enquired whether the SIS has investigated recent press reports on
illicit actions by Surik Khachatryan and his relatives.
"I tried to find out whether the Special Investigative Service
considered those publications as crime reports or not. They replied
that some criminal cases relating to several of cases reported in the
press have been investigated but did not specify the reports and
criminal cases, so we cannot dwell on them. Second, they mentioned
that some other press reports dated from the period when Surik
Khachatryan was not a governor, so the SIS is not competent to attend
to them. The third group of reports, according to their reply, concern
Surik Khachatryan's relatives, not Surik Khachatryan himself, so the
SIS is not competent," Haik Alumyan told Lragir.am.
He assesses the actions of the Special Investigative Service relating
to this case as highly negative.
Human rights activist Michael Danielyan says the SIS is a particle of
the Prosecutor General's Office, not an independent body, and its
activities are titular. "Whenever we submit a report to the Special
Investigative Service, the service supposedly investigates it but in
reality it does nothing, and eventually we receive a reply that they
checked and found out that nothing had happened," he notes.
The human rights defender says there are many cases when the accused
announce in court that they were tortured and treated inhumanly in
police departments.
"Such cases must be investigated by the Special Investigative Service
but the SIS forwards the complaints to the same investigators working
in the same police who know very well how people are tortured. We have
reported a number of cases of torture to the SIS but this body does
not do its job. At least their office should not be in the premises of
the Prosecutor General's Office, it is funny, they say they are an
independent body but they are seated in the Prosecutor Office,"
Michael Danielyan says.
"The efficiency of activities of an organization is determined by the
procedure of appointment and dismissal of the head of the
organization. First of all, we must review the independence of this
body against the procedure of appointment and dismissal. At the
moment, this process is not transparent and is not in line with
standards of independence, therefore, I think, the SIS is not the body
that we would consider independent and expect independent decisions
from it," says Nikolay Baghdasaryan, Vardan Petrosyan's advocate.
The article has been prepared for the Development of Mechanisms of
Oversight on the RA Special Investigative Service, Prosecution and the
National Security Service to Guarantee Prevention of Violation of
Human Rights project.
- See more at: http://www.lragir.am/index/eng/0/right/view/32095#sthash.BnKBkoDW.dpuf
From: Baghdasarian