With a regular letter from May 2, 2022 I informed Mr. Matteo Mecacci, the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights about the police operations against our citizens implementing
their constitutional right to peaceful assembly and the violations of human rights. I alarmed that the police were literally beating the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, unfortunately there were injured protestors, also a bruise reported, the journalist Lia SARGSYAN lost her consciousness during the police crackdown, also other injured journalists reported, which is really unacceptable.
I requested Mr. Mecacci to have a relevant reaction to the decline in democracy in Armenia. According to the reply letter, freedom of peaceful assembly is a key component of the OSCE’s human dimension commitments and is guaranteed by a number of international and regional human rights treaties. Law enforcement must always aim to facilitate assemblies through dialogue, negotiation and other forms of communication. The use of force should always be a last resort and must always be lawful, necessary and proportionate to the circumstances.
Mr. Mecacci sums up: “In line with its mandate, ODIHR monitors the respect of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly in the OSCE region, and will continue to observe relevant developments in Armenia. ODIHR values its co-operation with the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, and we are grateful for any relevant information that you provide”.
Taguhi Tovmasyan,
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