Rights defenders criticize bill on shadowing residents of Armenia

By majority of votes, the Armenian MPs have adopted, in the first reading, the bill allowing to follow, during the state of emergency caused by the epidemic, the citizens' travels through special applications on mobile phones, as well as to analyze the calls made by them. Human rights defenders have treated the bill as inefficient and able to negatively affect the authorities' image.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 26, a 72-year-old coronavirus patient died in Armenia – it was the first case in the country. By March 30, the number of those infected with coronavirus in Armenia reached 482 people.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) of Armenia has initiated amendments to the law on the state of emergency, which suggests, for the time of emergency, to introduce a shadowing system over citizens, including by using special applications on smartphones. On March 30, 57 MPs voted for the amendments in the first reading, 24 MPs were against and one abstained from voting, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports referring to the live broadcast of the session on the Parliament's YouTube channel.

The MoJ's initiative has faced rights defenders' criticism.

Amendments to the law on the state of emergency will be of no help in preventing the spread of coronavirus, but on the contrary, there are risks of voluntarism, Nina Karapetyants, the head of the Helsinki Assembly of Armenia, believes.

Arthur Sakunts, a rights defender and the head of the Vanadzor office of the above Assembly, believes that the adoption of the amendments will affect the authorities' rating. "Amendments to the law are contrary to the principles of human rights and freedoms. Restricting travels is sufficient for preventing the spread of the coronavirus, while the amendments are absolutely inefficient. This is an absurd initiative that will lead to a decrease in authorities' legitimacy," Mr Sakunts told the "Caucasian Knot".

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 31, 2020 at 04:43 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.