During the democratic developments in our country in the months of April and May, citizens of Armenia, through demonstrating their will had the opportunity to make fundamental changes in the country that directly affect each of us.
The peaceful conduct of the assemblies prevented large-scale clashes and violence during the period of civil disobedience.
All this is recorded in the 2018 annual report of the Human Rights Defender.
The Human Rights Defender’s round-the-clock activities recorded violations in the Police's activities.
In particular:
- There have been gross violations in upholding the minimum rights of persons deprived of their liberty during proceedings related to the administrative offences (including access to lawyer and doctor, etc.). There are serious issues in the legislative system with regard to administrative arrest and apprehension, and a fundamental review is needed.
- The apprehended and arrested persons were kept in police units illegally, namely longer than prescribed by law. In some instances, this was explained by insufficient logistic and human resources, but this may not be considered to be a justification and should be excluded.
- Administrative measures applied against peaceful protesters, including administrative arrests and apprehensions were disproportionate. In fact, they should have been aimed at eliminating any unjustified interference with the freedom of peaceful assembly, rather than isolating the participants from the location of demonstrations.
- There were gross violations of children’s rights within the framework of proceedings related to the administrative offences in the police units, due to the lack of specific procedures for the treatment of children and for the deprivation of their liberty.
- In many cases, administrative arrests were applied with the intend to implicate the person in the criminal case proceedings and prolonging their presence at the police unit thereof. This is an impermissible approach and should be eliminated. In fact, "administrative arrest - presenting a person with a status of witness to the preliminary investigative body - criminal-procedural arrest" mechanism was used to evade criminal-procedural requirements.
More details are available in the Defender’s annual report.