E/CN.4/2001/66 page 20 It is reported that, on 3 March, when Eduard Vardianian’s mother telephoned the Abovian police station, she was told that he had killed a man, confessed everything, thrown himself out of the window and was now dead. It is alleged that there were traces of cigarette burns on his hands. The death is understood to have been recorded as a suicide by the Chief Medical Examiner of Kotaik region. The office of the Procurator General reportedly investigated the case and concluded that all injuries sustained by Eduard Vardanian were the result of his fall. 60. The Special Rapporteur has received further information (see E/CN.4/1999/61, paras. 51 and 52) on a number of defendants in the so called “Dro” and “Vahan Hovanesian” trials involving members of the Dashnak Party, then in opposition, which took place in 1996 and 1997, who have reportedly made allegations that they were subjected to torture and ill-treatment whilst detained. When Abet Petrosian was tried on 6 February 1997, it is alleged that he testified he had been beaten by various officials. Abet Petrosian’s co-defendants, Seyran Massoyan, Mkrtich Meghavorian and two others are alleged to have made similar claims. It is reported that the court did not take these allegations into account or order any investigation, on the grounds that the defendants had not lodged complaints about their treatment while they were held in pre-trial detention. 61. Finally, the Special Rapporteur is concerned at the information he has received concerning three soldiers accused and convicted in the case of the alleged suicide of Artak Kachikovich Petrossian who have been released under an amnesty. Artak Petrossian was drafted into the army in June 1998 and was sent to unit No. 43577 in the Armavir region. On 23 July 1998 he was subjected to beatings and sexual abuse by a junior officer. As a result of the attack, he left the unit on the night of 23 July and tried to kill himself. He was found and medically treated. On 11 August 1998, he was sent to complete his military service in unit No. 32503, based at the Erebuni airport. On 17 August 1998, he was reportedly taken to the local army command post. Two hours later, he is said to have fallen from the fourth floor balcony of the airport building and died on 24 August without having regained consciousness. The cause of his death is disputed. He was allegedly suffering from the effects of a beating, including a broken arm and a fractured skull. On 27 September 1999, junior sergeant David Galechian was convicted on the charges of incitement to suicide, attempted sodomy and abuse of authority and sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment. Grigor Tigranian and Vardan Ovannisian were convicted in connection with the same incident, on charges of abuse of authority, and Norayr Meliksetian on charges of complicity in the offence of abuse of authority. They were each reportedly sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. Reports suggest that the three of them were released without serving their sentences. 62. By letter dated 23 October 2000, the Special Rapporteur reminded the Government of a number of cases transmitted in 1999 regarding which no reply had been received. Observations 63. The Special Rapporteur considers it appropriate to draw the attention of the Commission to the relevant findings of the Human Rights Committee in its consideration of the initial report of Armenia in November 1998 under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, expressing the Committee’s concerns about “allegations of torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement officials”. The Committee recommended “the establishment of a special