Home / Video / Armenian Mass Media Study: Human Rights Offenses Most by the Police

Armenian Mass Media Study: Human Rights Offenses Most by the Police

Nine online media sites mentioned Armenian police the most as the offending party ih human rights related articles published between May 1 and July 25, according to findings of a study conducted by Socioscope NGO for eTV, a joint project of Epress.am and the Helsinki Association for Human Rights.The study was conducted among existing publications from nine Armenian websites (Epress.am, Tert.am, Lragir.am, News.am, Azatutyun.am, Hetq.am, Galatv.am, Aravot.am, iLur.am). Overall, 1,395 articles were published related to the human rights sector during the mentioned timeframe. The number of articles in the previous quarter [AM] was 1,524.

Of published articles, 23.4% mentioned the offending party as the police. Other offenders were Armenian courts and judges (14.9%), other Armenian government institutions (8.7%), and representatives of the Armenian business industry (7.6%).

According to the research, those who were affected most by human rights offenses were socially vulnerable groups: the elderly, women, poor people, unemployed, veterans, and people with disabilities. Articles related to these groups numbered at 331.

Many articles regarding violations of activists’ rights was also mentioned frequently, numbered at 185.

TABLE 1

Offender(s) identified in the article N %
Armenian ruling authorities or official Yerevan 98 7.0
Prime Minister, government, ministers with the exception of defense and interior      122 8.7
Police (investigators, SIS, NSS) 327 23.4
Justice Ministry, prison administration (penal institutions) 59 4.2
Prosecutor General 40 2.9
Armenian Defense Ministry, army officer personnel, military prosecutor 15 1.1
Representatives of the Armenian business industry 106 7.6
Representatives of education and science educational institutions 43 3.1
Ordinary Armenian citizens 27 1.9
Unknown groups (hooligans, etc.) 3 0.2
No offending party 263 18.9
Judges, the courts 208 14.9
Employers 32 2.3
Other 52 3.8
Overall 1,395  100 

As in previous months, this time too the media wrote most about human rights violations in Yerevan. There were 894 articles on human rights violations in the capital, comprising 64.1% of the study. 17.7% of the articles related to the entire territory of Armenia. The media referred to human rights violations in the province of Lori and Armavir the least, comprising only 7 articles or 0.5 % each.

TABLE 2

Geographic distribution of articles N %
All of Armenia 247 17.7
Yerevan 894 64.1
Lori 7 0.5
Tavush 8 0.6
Shirak 46 3.3
Aragatsotn 9 0.6
Kotayk 59 4.2
Armavir 7 0.5
Ararat 11 0.8
Gegharkunik 29 2.1
Vayots Dzor 25 1.8
Syunik 16 1.1
No territory mentioned 37 2.7
Overall 1,395 100

The fourth quarter full report available here [AM].