Statement
About the situation with the right to freedom of assembly
On 27 November 2020, the Administrative Court of the Republic of Armenia (RoA) lifted the ban on organizing and conducting assemblies and strikes and on participating in them, which had been imposed by martial law. Later on, on December 2, the Armenian Government recognized the said ban as null and void.
While monitoring assemblies in November and December 2020, Helsinki Committee of Armenia noted numerous instances of disproportionate use of force and of brute force by the police against assembly participants and of unjustified forcible taking of assembly participants to police departments. On several occasions, assembly participants sustained injuries.
Police officers in venues of the observed assemblies did not for the most part wear any personal identification insignia or the said insignia were not visible because of additional items of the uniform. In some observed instances the police officers who were forcibly taking assembly participants to police departments, wore masks that completely covered their faces, thereby making their further identification virtually impossible. While forcibly taking assembly participants to police departments, police officers would usually target the de facto leaders of the assembly.
As an administrative measure, accumulation of a large number of police units at the assembly venue and in adjacent areas is disproportionate in and of itself, considering the fact that the assemblies that were held since November 11 were absolutely peaceful. During many assemblies, the number of police officers present at the venue exceeded that of the participants.
Helsinki Committee of Armenia urges the RoA Police to ensure strict compliance with the proportionality principle while taking administrative measures, to rule out interference with assembly participants by police officers who do not wear personal identification insignia and to refrain from forcibly taking assembly participants to police departments without good grounds.
HELSINKI COMMITTEE OF ARMENIA
