The Armenian government embarked on an ambitious reform agenda, including tackling corruption and reforming the economic and justice sectors, however, investigations into past violence and excessive use of force by law enforcement remained limited, Human Rights Watch World Report 2020 stated.
According to the report, “violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, discrimination against and segregation of people with disabilities, and domestic violence persisted.”
“Armenia’s police have a long record of impunity for using excessive force to break up largely peaceful protests. Authorities revived an investigation into the 2008 deadly clashes between protesters and security forces, and in June 2019, charged a high-ranking official with murdering a protester while security forces were breaking up a demonstration.
“However, investigations into two episodes of excessive police force against largely peaceful demonstrators and journalists in 2016 and 2015 remained suspended. Authorities claimed they were unable to identify the alleged perpetrators,” the report said on accountability for law enforcement abuse.
What comes to environment, “in August, environmental protests against plans to restart construction on the Amulsar gold mine turned into confrontations between police and protesters after security officials barred them from demonstrating in a public park surrounding parliament. Police briefly detained six protesters on misdemeanor disobedience charges.”
The report also noted that “domestic violence persisted as a serious problem.”
“According to official data, during the first half of 2019, authorities investigated 331 criminal domestic violence cases, including 176 that were newly initiated. They brought charges in 209 cases and sent 45 cases to courts,” the source added. “but in most cases, authorities do not protect women and child survivors of domestic violence, jeopardizing their lives and well-being.”
According to them, Armenia has only one shelter for domestic violence survivors, “while there are plans to open another shelter, with an overall capacity of 10 to 13 people, Armenia falls far short of the Council of Europe recommendation of one shelter space per 10,000 people.”
“The Coalition to Stop Violence Against Women reported that 10 women had been killed by their intimate partners in the first half of 2019,” the report said.
“The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) had not been sent to parliament for ratification,” the report said.
As report noted, however, “Armenia made progress in transforming some residential institutions for children into community centers and supporting family-based care” and “Armenia aims to have fully inclusive education by 2025, whereby children with and without disabilities study together in community schools.”
However, “lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people often face harassment, discrimination, and violence.”
“Fear of discrimination and public disclosure of their sexual orientation prevent many LGBT people from reporting crimes. PINK Armenia, an LGBT rights group, documented at least 17 incidents of physical attacks based on sexual orientation or gender identity from January through August 2019,” report said. “In April, during a parliamentary hearing on human rights, a transgender activist, Lilit Martirosyan, took the floor to highlight the discrimination and violence transgender people face. A backlash followed her address, including hate speech and death threats directed at Martirosyan. Law enforcement refused to launch an investigation, citing lack of criminal intent.”
“It also recommended that the government ensure that groups that have legitimate interests could bring cases on behalf of an alleged discrimination victim.”
At the end of the report, the report also noted the UN and EU reports welcoming Armenian steps and reforms agenda, but noted that: “in October, the Venice Commission, a Council of Europe advisory body, issued an expert opinion countering harmful myths about the Istanbul Convention, and concluding that Armenia’s ratification of the treaty would not contradict its constitution.”
