Prohibition of torture and inhuman treatment within the armed forces

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Published: October 22, 2025

Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) states that no one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Prosecutors in the Armenian military who are responsible for ensuring the legality of investigations into violence against military personnel must also receive comprehensive training on the interpretation of this prohibition. The Republic of Armenia is also pursuing this goal in point 2.6 of the action plan of its National Strategy for the Protection of Human Rights.

On 27 September 2025, the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia, Mr Yeghiazar Avagyan, the Military Prosecutor of the Republic of Armenia and the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia, Mr Grigor Elizbaryan, discussed with German expert Mr Kristijan Vlasic, Public Prosecutor at the Düsseldorf Public Prosecutor's Office and Captain of the Reserve (Bundeswehr), and Dr Janna Liedtke, Judge at the Duisburg Labour Court, ways of promoting modern and international standards in the application of criminal law in Armenia.

At the request of the Armenian Attorney General's Office, training sessions and lectures were then held for military prosecutors, students at the military academy and other members of the public prosecutor's office. They received information on how to recognise different forms of torture and ill-treatment and how to investigate them effectively, taking into account legal, ethical and practical considerations. We would like to express our sincere thanks to the two speakers, Mr Grigor Elizbaryan and Mr Kristijan Vlasic, for their interesting presentations.