On April 22, from early in the morning, the Human Rights Defender's representatives continued to monitor the protests, visit police units, discuss complaints, as well as receive citizens at the Defender's Office.
The hotline of the Ombudsman's Office received 151 calls regarding the rights of the apprehended in police units. Visits were organized to Police Central, Arabkir, Kanaker-Zeytun, Malatia, Mashtots, Erebuni, Shengavit, Nor Nork, Gyumri and Kapan unit, as well as to places of detention. During the visits, private conversations were held with 200 individuals, 10 of whom were juveniles.
Three visits were paid to the police units of Arabkir, Kentron, Kanaker-Zeytun on the same day. The Human Rights Defender personally and the staff are in constant contact with lawyers and human rights defenders, as well as competent state authorities.
Visits were conducted by the Human Rights Defender and 10 working groups. Before each visit, specific issues were put forward, and afterwards the results were summarized.
Examination of the information obtained during the private conversations and the documents about apprehension revealed issues related to failure to inform the apprehended about the reasons of their apprehension, filling in of incomplete data in respective police registries, failure by police officers to introduce themselves while apprehending participants of the assembly or marches, incidents of keeping people for a time-period exceeding that prescribed by law and for preventing such incidents immediate measures were taken.
In nine occasions, obstructions to advocates’ access to police units were prevented or eliminated. In a number of cases, measures were taken for ensuring unimpeded access to police units by members of the medical personnel.
It is worth mentioning, that the Human Rights Defender’s Office works to the maximum of its resources and mandate, under emergency regime. All the measures within the Defender’s legal mandate are being taken with a view to protecting human rights.