Rights defenders condemn suppression of peaceful protest actions in Yerevan

The commitment of the Armenian authorities to the forced suppression of peaceful protest actions can become a new dangerous reality for the Armenian political environment. This opinion was voiced by the human rights organization "Freedom House". Any use of violence against peaceful protesters is unacceptable, state activists of the Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF).

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 17, supporters of the "Constituent Parliament" captured the building of the police patrol-and-post service (PPS) regiment, and managed to keep it till July 31. On July 29, rebels' supporters held a march, which was dispersed by the police cordon, which had been set up near the captured building. As a result, on July 30, 55 marchers and four policemen were hospitalized. Some journalists were also injured during the dispersal of the march.

"We are concerned about alleged human rights violations, namely Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, in connection with the alleged disproportionate use of force by law enforcers against participants of peaceful demonstrations," announces the statement made by Ane Tusvik Bonde, HRHF's Regional Manager for Eastern Europe and Caucasus.

The Armenian authorities have demonstrated their commitment to the forced suppression of demonstrations, including peaceful ones, and that represents a new dangerous reality of the Armenian political environment. This was stated by Ani Karapetyan and Yelen Agekyan, a researcher and an analyst of the human rights organization "Freedom House", respectively.

The activists have emphasized that the two-week seizure of the police regiment building in Yerevan has indicated an unexpected public support for the protest against the current political regime; however, the protest movement still failed to meet the expected level of mobilization of the population.

The feeling of hopelessness has pushed members of the armed group to attempt to change the status quo in Armenia on the background of the authoritarian tendencies of the power. This was noted by Ani Karapetyan and Yelen Agekyan in their article published on the "Freedom House" website.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.