Police Are Behaving Outside the Frame of the Law: What Could Happen During Opposition Rallies

The parents of dead soldiers, who were subject to violence by the police during a peaceful protest in front of the Presidential Palace on February 11, were told at the police that the officers present had acted properly and “could have used their batons as well,” said Gohar Ohanjanyan, mother of  late Tigran Ohanjanyan, during a Media Center discussion today. According to the woman, they wished to meet with Police Chief Vladimir Gasparyan, however after they received such an answer from a police representative named Hakobyan, they decided to leave the building.

Referring to the incident on February 11, Defense of Rights Without Borders NGO president Haykuhi Harutyunyan said that no such law can be cited to justify the police for hauling demonstrators from one sidewalk to another. “The republic’s president made a statement just a few days earlier about fighting against violence, eliminating illegalities, and the will to fight against all types of violations that appear. I don’t think we’ve had a more obvious and appropriate case lately where these words could be turned into action,” said Harutyunyan, adding that those who made the command needed to be held accountable. 

During the discussion, Helsinki Committee President, human rights defender Avetik Ishkhanyan expressed conviction that because the command giver and punisher was the same person, no police officer would be held responsible. “You think that police officers are violent from birth? No. This was a command,” said Iskhanyan.

Speaking of the police actions during the protests in recent years, the human rights defender noted that the situation had become tense especially after 2013; while the peak was reached when the Russian president visited Armenia, when hundreds of people were detained. 
Ishkhanyan said that such behavior was probably the result of a political orientation.

“Armenia was relatively restrained in regards to human rights, because Europe’s opinion was very important. Probably, one of the reasons for the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) membership is that these those values are entirely missing from those states,” said Ishkhanyan. According to him, another reason is the current situation in Ukraine; “When the civilized world’s attention is on a hot spot, they don’t take into consideration the law and act violently.”

According to Ishkhanyan, both Armenian and international law state that if a demonstration is peaceful, even if it’s restricted, the police do not have the right to intervene, but rather have to be the peace keepers of the peaceful protest.

The human rights defender expressed concern over the opposition rallies in the coming days, noting that if during simple public demonstrations, which do not present any threat to the authorities, the police behave outside the frame of the law, then the opposition rally can result in serious consequences, including the existence of political prisoners.