Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor

On April 16, 2024, Nikol Pashinyan, the prime minister of the RA at the 106th Anniversary devoted to the solemn meeting of the board, announced that, 

“The Police is one of the structures, but the main one that is said to be a power structure. But this does not mean that force is the primary tool of the Police. Contrarily, the force is the last tool of the Police. 

And indeed, the primary purpose of the Police must be to do anything, all possible and impossible measures so that there will be no need to use force. 

The protests that began three days later, which culminated on June 12 with the police using a special measure prohibited by law against the demonstrators on Baghramyan Avenue, proved the discrepancy between this statement and reality. 

In 2024, 155 cases of human rights violations were recorded based on the publications of the Media. In 2023, 122 cases were recorded. In 2022, the number of cases was 199. 

In 2024, the right to peaceful and unarmed assembly was violated the most (98 cases, or 63% of total cases). The second most frequently violated right was the right to be free from physical violence. It was violated in 91 cases (58.7% of total cases). The right to freedom and personal inviolability was violated in 81 cases (52.3% of total cases). 

The Republic of Armenia does not carry out measures directed to the prevention of the torture cases. Moreover, in 2021, the Special Investigative Service of Armenia was dissolved and the investigation of the torture cases was entrusted to the National Security Service, which was a step backward in terms of preventing violence in the system. According to Article 3 on “National Security Bodies” the “National Security Body is a subordinate body to the prime minister”. Thus, it can not be considered an independent and impartial body, therefore, the primary and most important criterion of the effectiveness of the investigation of torture cases cannot be ensured. In the years following this change, cases of torture recorded were initiated not under the articles of torture, but under the articles of abuse of official authority. In addition, if the cases of torture recorded until 2024 took place in police departments, then in March 2024, a case was recorded where police officers beat, insulted, and humiliated a person for several hours outside the police stations (near Arin Berd Street) to extract information. In April 2024, a case was recorded when, while transporting a citizen from the Investigative Committee to the detention center for detainees, the police officers parked the car and got out of the car under the pretext of taking care of personal needs. Next, 4-5 masked individuals approached the car, tortured and sexually humiliated the citizen. Such behavior of police officers gives grounds to raise a reasonable suspicion that the acts of torturing a citizen and degrading human dignity were ordered, which is absolutely unacceptable, and in addition to the perpetrators, both the accompanying police officers and the ones who ordered them should be held accountable. Meanwhile, 8 months after the incident, the accompanying police officers have not even been identified in the case of torturing a person.  

During 2020-2024, high-ranking Armenian officials praised the actions of the police in their statements and speeches, despite their illegal and illegitimate nature, as well as directed the actions of the police and the law enforcement system in general, and the process of investigations to be initiated. 

It is worth mentioning the assessment of Alen Simonyan, the president of the National Assembly. In 2022, he assessed the actions of using disproportionate force against citizens, hitting citizens on the head, and pulling their hair as "generally proportionate," and already in 2024, after the use of special measures by the police, he announced in the National Assembly that the Police "fairly used stun grenades."  

Such an assessment by NA President Alen Simonyan radically contradicts the assertion of Alen Simonyan, a participant in the 2018 demonstration who was injured by a stun grenade, that "the use of stun grenades should be banned altogether, they cannot be safe." 

During the use of special measures against the protesters, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia N. Pashinyan expressed gratitude from the National Assembly to all those police officers who are “right now fulfilling their duties as defined by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia” and assured that the most principled ones will receive a positive assessment of their work. The next day, the Prime Minister assessed the police’s response as “lawful and professional.” 

In addition, as the disproportionate use of force and the use of prohibited special measures by the police can not be assessed as professional as a result of which, 100 citizens got body injuries, the encouraging statements by high-ranking officials risk the process of the criminal case, leading it to the realm of impunity.  

The above-mentioned developments witness the encouragement for impunity in the legal system. The ongoing illegal and unlawful activities of the police are directed to the formation of fear among persons and preventing their participation in the meetings, and the positions of the high-ranking officials encourage such behavior. 

You can read the results of the media monitoring of human rights violations by the Police in 2024 HERE. 

The reference was prepared within the framework of the project “Enhancing the Effectiveness of Citizens' Rights Protection in Police Relations”. The project is implemented by Helsinki Citizens' Assembly-Vanadzor with the financial support of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. 

The opinions presented in the report are those of HCA Vanadzor and may not reflect the views of the funding organization.