Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor

The European Court of Human Rights obliged the Republic of Armenia to provide  EUR 20000 to S. Voskanyan’s wife as a non-pecuniary compensation for violation of the right to life.

Since 7 October 2010, S.Voskanyan was in detention facility, where, a few days later, he complained of foot pain, stating that he had injected saliva under the skin. The detention facility doctor, being aware of the situation and Voskanyan’s continuous complaints and deteriorating health condition, did not refer him to the general hospital of the detention facility, and as a result, Voskanyan died on October 24. On 30 December 2010, criminal proceedings were instituted against Doctor M. on account of medical negligence.

On 30 August 2011 the investigator decided to terminate the criminal proceedings and stop Doctor M.’s prosecution for absence of corpus delicti.

Advocate K. Tumanyan, delegated by Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor, lodged an application with the European Court of Human Rights on the ground of violation of Article 2 of the Convention. The ECHR upheld the application taking into account the expert panels’ unanimous opinion about the defective medical treatment administered to S. Voskanyan. The Court finds that the domestic authorities, being aware of Voskanyan’s infection, did not fulfil their obligations. The Court further finds that the authorities failed to conduct a complete detailed investigation into S.Voskanyan’s death case, and holds that there has been a violation of Article 2 of the Convention.

Click here to read the full judgment.