1 / 5

On November 18 the RA NA Standing Committee on Defense, National Security and Internal Affairs moderated by Koryun Nahapetyan organized parliamentary hearings on the theme Accountability and Transparency of the Police and the Parliamentary Oversight.

Making opening remarks Koryun Nahapetyan has noted that the theme is highlighted in the context of the most important principles of the police activity: transparency, accountability, deepening of parliament-police practical relations, as well as the further strengthening of the parliamentary oversight. According to him, during the recent years a large scale changes are underway in the system of the police, which has not been left out of attention of the parliament. Mr Nahapetyan has mentioned that the parliamentary hearings serve as a very important platform, where it is possible to touch upon the key problems and reforms of the activity of the police, as well as present recommendations. To his observation, in the democratic society the police should be accountable before its citizens, community and state, and the principle of accountability is not only of state, but also of practical importance. Koryun Nahapetyan has stated that the police should be clear and accessible for different controlling bodies, and with this respect the parliamentary oversight should have its key role.

The RA Deputy Head of Police Vardan Yeghiazaryan has noted that the forming public relations have caused new problems for the police, which have made radically change the work style of the system and give new quality to the works underway, making a superior problem the protection of every citizen’s rights.

The RA NA deputy Khachatur Kokobelyan also referred to the accountability of the RA Police, the transparency and parliamentary oversight and has noted that the police is the law enforcement body standing next to the citizen, and this is the reason that the citizen assesses the state by police. To more increase the transparency in the system, to fill in the gaps and to solve the existing problems the deputy has proposed to hold concrete events directed to the rise public trust, to fix at the level of law or more strengthen the model of police and society, to work with the public and raise their legal conscience.

The Chair of the Board of the NGO Civil Society Institute Artak Kirakosyan has noted that the main problem existing in the police system, about which the police always mentions, is the theme of tortures. According to him, the Disciplinary Commission factually does not function and can only examine the policemen’s cases on gross violations during the assemblies, when office examination has begun in the police with that. Mr Kirakosyan has also mentioned as a gap that the 02 programme violates the presumption of innocence.

Thorsten Stodiek, Police Affairs Office, Adviser on Research and Analysis Strategic Police Matters Unit, OSCE Secretariat, in his report has urged that the civil society and the oversight bodies will cooperate more dynamically for more revealing the problems existing in the system and proposing solutions for them. The expert has also noted that the OSCE has always been ready to assist and cooperate with the police.

Slaviša Šćekić , Expert of the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces, has noted that the studies have shown that the police of Armenia with its work style is similar with the police of Montenegro. She has proposed to closely cooperate with the local mass media, political and public structures for the solution of the problems existing in the system and effectively completing different works being underway.