Law enforcement impunity in Armenia; officials’ use of government resources to maintain the political dominance of the ruling RPA combined with the use of economic and political power by the country’s elite to enrich supporters and corrupt the law enforcement and judicial systems; and limited judicial independence are pointed out in the report placed on the official website of the U.S. Department of State as most significant human rights problems in Armenia during the year.
The report also contains remarks over the July protests in Yerevan.
The report cited significant police interference in 29 cases, including arrests, violence, and forcible removal of participants from one venue to another. The report also questioned the arbitrary interpretation by police of freedom of assembly laws as well as police methods, such as giving orders or instructions to participants without an accompanying justification or reason and then charging them with resisting a “lawful demand” when they did not comply.
Analysts at the U.S. Department of State also noticed that print and broadcast media lacked diversity of political opinion, and most television outlets reflected government views. «Self-censorship was a problem. Police reportedly targeted journalists at citizens’ protests,» they said in their report.
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