On 9 May 2009 the Arthur Badalyan went with a group of friends to the village of Navur near the town of Berd, close to the border to Azerbaijan, to pick mushrooms in the forest. He disappeared and was captured by Azerbaijani forces. His relatives contacted Armenian authorities, after which he was registered as a missing person in Armenia and a search for him was made in the relevant area. However, his whereabouts remained unknown to his family and the Armenian authorities until, in November 2010, a registration of Armenian captives was held in Azerbaijan with the arrangement of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Badalyan was registered by the ICRC on 5 November 2010 and was thereafter regularly visited in detention until 17 March 2011 when he was released to the Armenian authorities through the mediation of the ICRC as part of an exchange of captives.
Badalyan claims that he was held captive for 22 months in a closed cell. He was not given enough food and often he was not allowed to go to the toilet, thus having to care for his needs in the cell. Moreover, he was subjected to harsh torture and mental anguish, as he was deemed to be a military prisoner, and was regularly harassed to divulge information. He was often beaten on his legs, so that he could not feel or move them. Electric wires were frequently attached to his fingers and the power switched on, causing severe pains. His cell door was hit with metallic objects, as a result of which he now suffers from a hearing disorder.
Immediately following his release, Badalyan was hospitalised and examined in Armenia. The medical examination revealed that he was depressed, frightened and tense and that he had pain in his arms and legs. He was diagnosed with a serious neuropsychological disorder, including schizophrenia of a paranoid type.
Thus on August 8, 2011 the lawyer of CSL HR ENGO Edmon Marukyan after exhausting all domestic remedies resented the case to the ECtHR stating that Badalyan was subjected to physical and mental torture and ill-treatment during his detention, in violation of Article 3 of the Convention.
The case was communicated on November 10, 2015 and questions were sent to the Government of the RA.
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