CCPR/C/116/D/2422/2014 Code allows for five years of imprisonment for desertion, and three to eight years of imprisonment for desertion following a prior agreement among a group of persons. He further maintains that torture and unsanitary conditions and lack of medical services are common in Armenian prisons. 3.2 The author maintains that his allegations are supported by various credible sources, such as the chapter on Armenia in the Human Rights Watch World Report 2014, which states that: According to local human rights defenders, torture and ill treatment in police custody persist, and the definition of torture in Armenian law does not meet international standards, as it does not include crimes committed by public officials. Authorities often refuse to investigate allegations of ill treatment or pressure victims to retract complaints. Police use torture to coerce confessions and incriminating statements from suspects and witnesses. 7 The author further cites the 2012 United States Department of State country report on human rights practices in Armenia as stating that “police allegedly continued to employ torture to obtain confessions and reportedly beat citizens during arrest and interrogation. Many prisons were overcrowded, unsanitary, and lacking in medical services for inmates.” 8 3.3 The author also argues that the findings of the Refugee Appeals Board concerning his credibility were subjective and flawed, for the reasons described above.9 State party’s observations on admissibility and merits 4.1 In its observations dated 10 December 2014, the State party describes the structure and operation of the Refugee Appeals Board, which it considers to be an independent, 7 8 9 6 widespread culture of corruption can also make it difficult to acquire certain statistics. On 27 May 2009 the Ombudsman published a report regarding mistreatment and torment of soldiers in the Armenian military (as quoted in [the] U.S. Department of State [report of] 2010. … According to the report, there is a general lack of holding the assailants responsible. The range of penalties for evasion and desertion are the same in the case of ordinary military service as in alternative service. The author provides a copy of that chapter, which further states: “As of October 31, the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor office had reported 29 non-combat army deaths, including 7 suicides. Local human rights groups have documented the defence ministry’s failure to investigate adequately and expose the circumstances of non-combat deaths and to account for evidence of violence in cases where the death is ruled a suicide.” The author also refers to a 2013 Amnesty International report entitled “Armenia: no space for difference”. The report states, in its paragraph 2.1, that: In recent years, stories of human rights abuses against conscripts, hazing (bullying) and non-combat deaths in the armed forces have begun to appear in the media. Activists accuse the military of failing to properly investigate abuses and of portraying murders or other unlawful killings as suicides. There are ongoing concerns about suspicious deaths in the Armenian Armed Forces under non-combat conditions, as well as over the practice of hazing and other mistreatment of conscripts, while investigations into these crimes rarely produce results. In 2012, the Armenian Government reported that during the year 18 servicemen died under non-combat conditions. Local and international human rights groups such as the Vanadzor Office of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly and the Helsinki Association of Armenia report that, in many cases, autopsies reveal the deceased soldier to have been beaten or abused. Several hidden recordings showing the abuse of army conscripts have been leaked to social networking sites and have provoked popular outrage. The report goes on to state that it is common for individuals who expose abuses occurring in the Armenian armed forces to be subjected to intimidation. See paras. 2.10 to 2.17 above.