It is a common knowledge that activism was strongly oppressed by the Soviet system and all activists were persecuted. In 1965-1974 about 80 people were convicted and sent to labor camps for involvement in national-independence movement in Armenia.[1] However, relatively little is known about how exactly activists were persecuted and punished in Soviet Socialist Republic of Armenia. The reason of persecution of activists in the USSR was generally because the system of Soviet Union was intolerant to open flow and exchange of information and was based on the repression and strong control over the society and any kind of demonstration based on political or other convictions. In order to have an effective control over the information flow, the USSR used strong mechanisms to prevent people spreading such information. The major punishment in any case of “disobedience’’ to the general rules in the USSR were exile and concentration or labor camps through which the Soviet leaders punished convicts by putting them under heavy physical labor. This means of punishment of convicts made the system of concentration camps economically self-supporting, which suggests the intention to convict as many people as ”needed”.[2] The labor camps were a vivid manifestation of totalitarianism and with strong institutionalized violence in these camps, the system tended to compel more people to the total regime.[3]

The case of Sirvard Avagyan

Inhuman degrading treatment and punishment was an indispensable part of concentration and labor camps, as the case of Avagyan shows, survival in these conditions was a huge challenge for the convicted. Sirvard Avagyan, who was convicted in 1982 for three years for defending social-economic rights of Armenia, writes in one of her letters: “I got fired from work several times, was put into psychiatry two times, even though I am completely healthy, then they arrested me and sent to the furthest camps, where they beat me to loss of consciousness, exhausted in the separate punishment room and tortured by hunger”.[4] According to Avagyan, she faced humiliation and mockery from the administration of the labor camp, which repeatedly threatened her to murder before her release.

The letter of Avagyan as an archival document is reliable, as it taken from Samizdat materials from OSA Archives and has a letter code, date and Avagyan’s address on it. In the letter she was seeking asylum in the USA, therefore her information was also checked in the White Papers of the USA, where a person with her name and age was found as a proof that her letter succeeded and currently she lives in the States.[5] Moreover, the same information can be crosschecked with the ‘Memorial Society Archive’, according to which Avagyan was convicted in 1982 for ”hooliganism” and ”defamation of the Soviet system”.[6] Another indication of the truthfulness of the incident is the letters from Avagyan’s friend Ivan Kovalyov[7] and her relative[8], which thoroughly describes all the violations and inhuman degrading treatment she had to face, after which she was released ”barely alive, blackened and thinner by 32 kilograms”.[9] Avagyan’s relative Rafayel Ohanyan in his letter describes how the guards in the camp ordered the other prisoners to beat Avagyan as much as they wanted whenever she claimed her rights or demanded anything.[10]

The Articles of the Criminal Code of Soviet Socialist Republic of Armenia, according to which the activists were accused and sent to concentration camps, were quite vague and uncertain as grounds of conviction. The Articles under which Avagyan was convicted were 206-1 “hooliganism” and 156 “defamation of the Soviet system”.[11] Article 206-1 did not provide any interpretation for “Hooliganism”, which was considered a crime against public safety, public order and public health”[12], and was so broad that USSR could easily accuse people under this article for any kind of “anti-Soviet” or human rights activities, as in the case of Avagyan, who was accused for merely being involved in the protection of social-economic and labor rights. In the Soviet context criminalizing ”defamation of the Soviet system” was a violation of freedom of expression, as it tended to convict anyone who may express any thoughts that did not comply with Soviet standards and values.

The case of Avagyan proves the practice of Soviet system not only putting a heavy labor burden on the convicts, but also subjecting them to torture and inhuman degrading punishment. The severity of these acts was a huge harm to convicted persons’ health and well-being. Although the Constitution of the USSR (1977) does not imply a provision on torture, however it still amount to a violation, as the USSR ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1973, which establishes that ”No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”[13], moreover ”[a]ll persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.”[14]

It is significant, that the majority of activists in Soviet Armenia continued their activism even after such punishment to seek independence and protection of rights. It can be inferred that such committed activism strongly contributed to gaining of independence in Armenia in 1991.

 

[1] “Two messages of Armenian dissidents with no date, but probably in summer of 1975” AC N2285, HU OSA 300-85-12 : 249 Samizdat: Armenia: Documents 1977-1978, Open Society Archives at Central European University, Budapest

[2] Galina Mikhaĭlovna Ivanova, Labor Camp Socialism: The Gulag in the Soviet Totalitarian System, 1953, page 186

[3] Ibid

[4] A letter to the President Reagan of the USA from Sirvard Avagyan, AC N°4907, HU OSA 300-85-12 : 249 Samizdat: Armenia: Documents: 1977-1978, Open Society Archives at Central European University, Budapest  

[5] Information about Sirvard Avagyan on the WhitePages of USA, accesed on 24 February, 2015 at: http://www.whitepages.com/name/Sirvard-Avagyan/Providence-RI/355y5yg

[6] Articles 206-1 and 156 of the Criminal Code of Armenian SSR, The list of convicted available by the link: http://www.memo.ru/history/diss/perecen/diss_01.htm

[7] An open letter “Indulgence” from Ivan Kovalyov, AC N:4355, 12-16.4.81, HU OSA 300-85-12 : 249 Samizdat: Armenia: Documents: 1977-1978, Open Society Archives at Central European University, Budapest 

[8] An application from the relative of Sirvard Avagyan, Rafayel Lyudvigovich Ohanyan, to the Minister of Inner Affairs of USSR Shelkov, AC N:4355, 17.03.1981 HU OSA 300-85-12 : 249 Samizdat: Armenia: Documents: 1977-1978, Open Society Archives at Central European University, Budapest 

[9] An open letter “Indulgence” from Ivan Kovalyov, AC N: 4355, 12-16.4.81, HU OSA 300-85-12: 249 Samizdat: Armenia: Documents: 1977-1978, Open Society Archives at Central European University, Budapest

[10] An application from the relative of Sirvard Avagyan, Rafayel Lyudvigovich Ohanyan, to the Minister of Inner Affairs of USSR Shelkov, AC N:4355, 17.03.1981 HU OSA 300-85-12 : 249 Samizdat: Armenia: Documents: 1977-1978, Open Society Archives at Central European University, Budapest 

[11] Victims of Political Terror in USSR, Memorial Archives

[12] The Criminal Code of Soviet Socialist Republic of Armenia

[13] ICCPR, Article 7 accessed on 24 February, 2015 at: http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx

[14] Ibid, ICCPR Article 10