On December 11, 2018, during the police search operation, officers of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ochamchira District used automatic firearms while attempting to stop the pursued VAZ-2114 vehicle. As a result of the action, one of the passengers, a citizen of the Republic of Abkhazia Tsvizhba A.G., was wounded.

By opening fire from automatic weapons on the move, the employees of the Criminal Investigation Department have placed other passengers as well as bystanders under serious and unjustified threat.

According to the media reports, the officers tried to stop a pursued vehicle by aiming specifically at the tires. However, risks associated with firearms usage during vehicle operations are apparent. Such actions are dangerous, extremely problematic to conduct, and can result in serious injury to officers, suspects, or bystanders. Under these circumstances, a bullet piercing the passenger cabin was an unsurprising outcome.

Abkhazian legislation sets strict rules and regulations on the use of force and firearms by law enforcement officials.. Thus, Article 13 of the Law of the Republic of Abkhazia "On the Police" contains an exhaustive list of circumstances under which employees of the internal affairs bodies may be authorized to use firearms. It should be emphasized that in accordance with this article, representatives of law enforcement agencies had no right to open fire at a moving vehicle in order to stop it.

The ill-conceived actions of the officers of the Criminal Investigation Department, who have violated the principles of proportionality in the use of force and firearms are alarming.

Law enforcement officers must act within the legal limits of the lawful use of force during the arrest, in accord with the threat posed by an individual or group of individuals, which is dictated by the severity of the socially dangerous act committed, personal characteristics of the individual/s as well as the possibility of them using weapons.

It is unacceptable to neglect the content of Article 10 of the Law "On Police", which clearly states that a police officer must use reasonable force to effect an arrest or prevent escape, and depending on the severity of the crime at issue, must restrict such force to the minimum extent necessary.

It should be noted that “The highest moral meaning and a core aspect of an employee's service is the protection of human life, liberty and security as well as human dignity and inherent rights and freedoms of a person.” (part 2 of article 4 of the Code of Professional Ethics of an employee of the RA Internal Affairs Bodies).

We expect that the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia will take appropriate measures to respond to the incident. At the same time, in order to prevent violations of human rights and increase the responsibility of law enforcement officials, we consider it necessary to establish and implement effective procedures for investigating such incidents, in order to bring to justice those involved in the use of automatic firearms in improper circumstances.

In addition, to improve the level of law and order, we consider it rational to implement the use of a wider arsenal of non-lethal ammunition by law enforcement officers, which would be sufficient to incapacitate the suspects without causing harm to the persons or bystanders.

For the same reasons, we consider it important to equip law enforcement officers with all the necessary means of self-defense, in order to ensure their safety and reduce the need to use weapons of any kind.

Based on the information received by the Ombudsman, the described case is not the only one indicating disproportionate use of force by law enforcement officials. In connection with this incident and other cases of arbitrary or malicious use of force or firearms by law enforcement officials, we call upon the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Abkhazia to closely examine the progress of the investigation for this case, as well as the progress and results of inspections carried out by the District Prosecutor's Office for all similar cases.

Commissioner for Human Rights

A.G.Shakryl