Published on 30 January 2023

FIRST SECTION

Application no. 15434/20 Ara GHAZARYAN against Azerbaijan lodged on 13 April 2021 communicated on 10 January 2023

STATEMENT OF FACTS

1. The applicant, Mr Ara Hayk Ghazaryan, is an Armenian national who was born in 2000 and lives in Yeghegis village. He is represented before the Court by Mr A. Zalyan and Ms A. Chatinyan, lawyers practising in Vanadzor.

2. The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant in his application lodged with the Court, may be summarised as follows.

3. The applicant was drafted into military service in Armenia. During his service he suffered beatings and harassment from his fellow servicemen and he therefore decided to go to the border with Azerbaijan in order to surrender to Azerbaijan.

4. At around noon on 12 August 2019 the applicant crossed the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan and was arrested by Azerbaijani forces, whom he had approached with a white cloth wrapped around a stick.

5. According to the applicant, he had, when apprehended, been forcibly moved to a battalion location where he had been examined by a doctor who had not recorded any of his injuries. On the first day, he had had to sleep in an area that resembled a sports hall, under supervision and with his hands chained to the bed. The next morning he had been woken by being shouted at, blindfolded and taken to a military police location, where he had been obliged to answer questions, including personal questions, in front of a camera. He states in his application that he was threatened with not being allowed to meet representatives of the Red Cross.

6. Moreover, in his application, the applicant states that during his detention he was regularly hit in the face and on different parts of his body with fists, and that he was threatened with being killed or having to spend the rest of his life in detention by the officers at the location where he was kept. He states that he was kept in a cell with no lavatory or bathroom and was not given permission to go to any other toilet.

7. According to Mr Ghazaryan, the said regular violence he alleges he experienced had stopped a few days before visits from Red Cross representatives and he had then been obliged to clean his cell. He had corresponded with his family via the Red Cross, but the content of the letters sent through the Red Cross had been dictated by Azerbaijani guards. When the Red Cross brought him food or sweets, the guards had taken these from him upon their departure.

8. On 7 April 2020 Mr Ghazaryan’s representatives had submitted his letters to the head of the Rehabilitation Center for Tortured People at the Armenian Scientific Union of Psychologists, in order to identify any possible psychological conditions. On 20 April 2020 specialists at the centre drew up an assessment, in which it was found that the letters indicated numerous psychological problems.

9. On 14 December 2020 Mr Ghazaryan had been hit by Azerbaijani officers and ordered to beat compatriot prisoners. He had then been blindfolded and taken to a plane for his return together with other Armenian captives.

10. After his return to Armenia, on 24 January 2021, Mr Ghazaryan underwent a psychological examination. A report of 12 April 2021 stated that the applicant showed confirmed signs of psychological and physical suffering.

COMPLAINTS

1. The applicant complains under Article 3 of the Convention of ill ‑ treatment during his detention and the conditions in which he was kept. The applicant sets out that during his captivity, officers had hit and kicked him in the face and on different parts of his body. Moreover, he alleges that he was kept in a cell with only one window, a bed and a table. There had, according to him, been no lavatory or bathroom and he had had to relieve himself inside the cell, though he had kept asking for permission to go to a toilet. He states, moreover, that he was deprived of the right to have food and to eat and that he was threatened with having to spend the rest of his life in the cell. When he had received food, he had had to eat it in the same cell with a foul smell and no facilities to ensure basic hygiene. He had had no contact with the outside world, no calendar or clock and did not know for how long he was there.

2. Furthermore, the applicant complains of a violation of Article 5, notably §§ 1 and, in substance, 2 and 4, maintaining that he should have had access to a lawyer and interpreter. He further submits that there had not been any war at the time of his arrest and detention and that no competent court had decided on his detention, nor had he been given any other possibility to have the lawfulness of his detention decided.

3. Referring to the officers at the detention centre allegedly having dictated his letters to his family and having read and humiliated him for the letters from his family, he complains of a violation of Article 8 of the Convention.

4. He also maintains that there were, and are, no effective and available remedies, in violation of Article 13 of the Convention.

5. Lastly, the applicant alleges that the violations of his rights under the above provisions had taken place because he was an Armenian and a soldier in the Armenian army, in violation of Article 14 of the Convention.

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

1. Has there been a violation of Article 5 of the Convention?

Was the applicant (Mr Ara Hayk Ghazaryan) deprived of his liberty in breach of Article 5 § 1 of the Convention? In particular, was the deprivation of liberty, which allegedly occurred during the period between 12 August and 14 December 2020, effected “in accordance with a procedure prescribed by law” and did it fall within any of the sub-paragraphs of this provision?

Was the applicant informed, in a language which he understood, of the reasons for his arrest and of any charge against him, as required by Article 5 § 2 of the Convention?

In the event that the applicant’s arrest and detention fell within the provisions of Article 5 § 1 (c): Was he brought before a judge or other officer authorised by law to exercise judicial power, as required by Article 5 § 3 of the Convention?

Did the applicant have at his disposal an effective procedure by which he could challenge the lawfulness of his detention, as required by Article 5 § 4 of the Convention?

2. Has the applicant been subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, in breach of Article 3 of the Convention?

3. Has there been a violation of the applicant’s right to respect for his “private and family life, ... and his correspondence” as guaranteed by Article 8 of the Convention?

4. Has the applicant had at his disposal an effective domestic remedy for his Convention complaints under Articles 3, 5 and 8, as required by Article 13 of the Convention?

5. Did the applicant suffer discrimination in the enjoyment of his Convention rights on the ground of his Armenian origin, contrary to Article 14 of the Convention read in conjunction with Articles 3, 5, 8 and 13?

6. The Government are requested to provide all relevant information and documents concerning the case, including any decisions or other documents concerning the initial arrest of Mr Ara Hayk Ghazaryan and his detention as well as medical records or statements concerning him, all documents in both the original and English translation.