Tweet
HUMAN RIGHTS CONDITION ESSENTIALLY WORSENED IN 2008 IN ARMENIA, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE REPORT READ
Noyan Tapan
http://www.nt.am/news.php?shownews=1012558
F eb 27, 2009
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 27, NOYAN TAPAN. On February 25, the U.S. Department
of State published its annual report on human rights, according to
which the condition of human rights essentially worsened in 2008 in
Armenia. Radio Liberty reported this.
According to the report, the Armenian authorities and their
representatives committed many human rights violations, especially
connected with the presidential elections and suppressing the actions
of protest following them. "The authorities did not permit the citizens
to exercise their right to freely change the government, and the
citizens were arrested and imprisoned for their civil activity. The
authorities used force, sometimes with a lethal outcome, to disperse
the political actions of protest. The authorities used persecutions
and bureaucratic methods to intimidate their political opponents and
to take revenge on them. The Police beat those being under preliminary
arrest and in some cases did not provide a normal process.
The National Security Service and the Police were not punished for
their actions," the report read.
The Department of State mentioned that the February 19 presidential
elections were held in the country with considerable shortcomings,
and on March 1-2 the authorities used force to disperse the dense
crowd of demonstrants challenging the process and results of the
elections, 10 people died in consequence of the conflicts between
the demonstrants and the security forces.
Report's section Political Prisoners and Convicts, in particular, read:
"Nearly 100 out of 150 persons arresed in the periods preceding and
following the March 1 political acts of violence were kept for rather
a long time and 100 were accused of committing crimes. Some of them
were accused of "seizing the power" or committing "mass disorders"
having wide definitions.
The authorities refute presence of political prisoners and affirm
that it was the political opposition that planned the post-electoral
acts of violence making an attempt to seize the power with violation
of the Constitution. According to the political opposition, 59
people were imprisoned in late 2008, whom the opposition considers
"political prisoners." This part of the document in detail touches
upon investigation and trials on cases filed on post-electoral events.
In the section Freedom of Expression and Press the Department of
State recorded: "Freedom of expression and press is guaranteed by
the Constitution. Nevertheless, in practice the government did not
respect these rights. Cases of violence, intimidation, self-censorship
to press continued during the whole year. This section in detail
enumerated facts of limitation of freedom of expression and press,
infringements upon journalists and media.
Noyan Tapan
http://www.nt.am/news.php?shownews=1012558
F eb 27, 2009
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 27, NOYAN TAPAN. On February 25, the U.S. Department
of State published its annual report on human rights, according to
which the condition of human rights essentially worsened in 2008 in
Armenia. Radio Liberty reported this.
According to the report, the Armenian authorities and their
representatives committed many human rights violations, especially
connected with the presidential elections and suppressing the actions
of protest following them. "The authorities did not permit the citizens
to exercise their right to freely change the government, and the
citizens were arrested and imprisoned for their civil activity. The
authorities used force, sometimes with a lethal outcome, to disperse
the political actions of protest. The authorities used persecutions
and bureaucratic methods to intimidate their political opponents and
to take revenge on them. The Police beat those being under preliminary
arrest and in some cases did not provide a normal process.
The National Security Service and the Police were not punished for
their actions," the report read.
The Department of State mentioned that the February 19 presidential
elections were held in the country with considerable shortcomings,
and on March 1-2 the authorities used force to disperse the dense
crowd of demonstrants challenging the process and results of the
elections, 10 people died in consequence of the conflicts between
the demonstrants and the security forces.
Report's section Political Prisoners and Convicts, in particular, read:
"Nearly 100 out of 150 persons arresed in the periods preceding and
following the March 1 political acts of violence were kept for rather
a long time and 100 were accused of committing crimes. Some of them
were accused of "seizing the power" or committing "mass disorders"
having wide definitions.
The authorities refute presence of political prisoners and affirm
that it was the political opposition that planned the post-electoral
acts of violence making an attempt to seize the power with violation
of the Constitution. According to the political opposition, 59
people were imprisoned in late 2008, whom the opposition considers
"political prisoners." This part of the document in detail touches
upon investigation and trials on cases filed on post-electoral events.
In the section Freedom of Expression and Press the Department of
State recorded: "Freedom of expression and press is guaranteed by
the Constitution. Nevertheless, in practice the government did not
respect these rights. Cases of violence, intimidation, self-censorship
to press continued during the whole year. This section in detail
enumerated facts of limitation of freedom of expression and press,
infringements upon journalists and media.