Reports of Torture with Electric Shocks at Nubarashen Prison: A Fight Against Criminal Elements

According to Haykakan Zhamanak, law enforcement in the 'New Armenia' has initiated a relentless fight against representatives of the criminal world. The main methods employed include searches carried out under the pretext of seeking weapons and prohibited substances, which have led to inhumane acts, with information leaking to the media.

Last week, staff from special units in various penitentiaries entered cells wearing masks and batons, perpetrating violence against defenseless individuals, including convicts and detainees. This fact, confirmed by the Ministry of Justice, has caused significant uproar. Representatives from the Human Rights Defender’s office visited Nubarashen Prison, met with three beaten individuals, documented their injuries, and subsequently, the Ombudsman requested the Prosecutor's office to investigate the facts, with human rights defenders issuing condemnatory statements and media coverage following.

Most of the beaten individuals have not complained, adhering to the unwritten rules of the criminal world and prison. However, according to our information, there have indeed been some who chose to speak out this time.

One particularly noteworthy case involves Arman Khostikyan, a convict from cell 60 of Nubarashen, who is sentenced to 12 years for car theft. He wrote a letter to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, detailing his treatment at the hands of the SSP employees, whom he refers to as executioners, fulfilling their sadistic appetites. He also reminded Pashinyan of how similar sadists tortured inmates in Georgia during Mikhail Saakashvili's presidency in the name of fighting against criminal subculture, and how that scandal affected Saakashvili's popularity, and was considered by some as a reason for his overthrow.

“Dear Mr. Pashinyan, first I want to inform you that I do not belong to any subculture, have never belonged to one, and do not intend to defend the interests of any subculture. I write this to ensure that no one thinks that under the guise of this fight, they can manipulate you and mislead you,” Khostikyan writes before recounting how he was punished for holding a phone and describing how, on the tenth day of his detention, on the morning of August 23, officers from the penal service entered his punishment cell armed with electric shocks, placed handcuffs on him, and began to torture him with electric shocks under the pretext of executing an order.

When the convict stated that he would turn to Pashinyan, they responded mockingly, “We are executing Pashinyan’s order.” This is why Khostikyan has determined that “if in the past they were secretly committing illegal acts, now they are doing it openly.”

The beaten convict also poses a question to the country’s leader, reminding him of his promises to punish offenders. “But is the promise of punishment only concerning the ordinary people, and should the law enforcement authorities not uphold the law… First you, and then the ordinary people are subjected to speculation and deception, as if they are fighting against criminal subculture, while inadvertently gratifying their sadistic appetites on sick inmates. This time it is fortunate that the administration of Nubarashen prison and the state are capital-letter individuals who entered immediately and saved me from the hands of executioners. I cannot imagine what would have happened to me if they were a bit late,” wrote convict Khostikyan, adhering to the prison rule of “no bad words against administration.”