YEREVAN. – Armenian law enforcement agencies and the government shouldn’t use their duty to maintain public security and order as a means to frighten the citizens.

U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills told the aforementioned at the meeting with the Acting Head of EU Delegation Andrea Chharupova and Chairman of Helsinki Committee of Armenia Avetik Ishkanyan.

According to the Ambassador, during the recent two weeks Armenia underscored the importance of those organizations, which are dealing with issues related to the human rights defense and monitoring, the Helsinki Committee being one of them.

Both Helsinki Committee and the Embassy are deeply concerned about the use of non-proportional force by the police against the protestors, as well as reliable information on targeting the journalists carrying out their work during the days of Erebuni police station seizure, Ambassador Mills noted.

The Embassy is also concerned about the fact that the mass manifestation of detaining the citizens exercising their freedom to speak and hold peaceful assemblies is continuing. The same happened Sunday night,  when 25 protetsors were detained by the police for unknown reasons, the Ambassador noted.

For his part, Avetik Ishkanyan briefed the foreign officials on the work implemented by the Committee, especially the results of the assembly monitoring during the recent two-three weeks, as well as the received alerts and steps taken in direction of complaints.

Ishkanyan also expressed concern about the violence against the protestors and journalists, persecutions against Founding Parliament radical opposition group members, political activists and their supporters, as well as cases of inappropriate restriction of their rights.