According to the 2024 Report on Human Rights Practices released this week, while the Constitution and law in Armenia prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention and provides for the right of any person to challenge the lawfulness of their arrest or detention in court, the Armenian government did not always observe these requirements.
The report cites human rights lawyers as also stating that “court detention decisions were unpredictable, with different restrictions placed on defendants in similar circumstances.”
It is noted in the report that there were credible reports about government officials employing practices like torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.
The U.S. State Department report cites the local NGO community as expressing concern regarding allegations that members of the security forces tortured or otherwise abused individuals in their custody with impunity.
“Officials often investigated allegations of torture under charges of abuse of power, leading to lighter punishments,” the report notes, reminding that last year the Court of Cassation ruled that investigative bodies had not effectively investigated allegations of torture and noted that lower courts had failed to properly take into consideration the lack of investigation when deciding judicial cases.
The U.S. State Department report singles out two cases. One concerns allegations of torture by police in a 2022 case involving one citizen forcibly detained and allegedly subjected to violence while staging a peaceful protest. The report says prosecutors rejected an initial report indicating torture could have occurred, prompting the victims to seek judicial recourse.
“[Trial court judge Masis] Melkonyan stated the decision not to initiate criminal prosecution violated the victims’ rights and hindered an effective investigation into the torture allegations,” the U.S. State Department report says, adding that according to human rights activists, perpetrators of police abuse often remained in their positions or, in some cases, were promoted.
The other case concerns antigovernment activist Samvel Vardanyan, whom unknown individuals subjected to violence when he was being transported by police in a car.
“Masked individuals in plain clothes then allegedly dragged Vardanyan out of the car, knocked him to the ground, cursed, threatened, beat, abused, and humiliated him before throwing him back into the car,” the report states, adding that the Investigative Committee launched an official investigation into the incident.
The report also dwells on noncombat deaths in the army, stressing that according to civil society organizations and victims’ families, the practice of qualifying many noncombat deaths as suicides at the onset of investigations made it less likely abuses would be uncovered and investigated.
The report also reminds the cases of two persons who allegedly jumped to their deaths from windows while in police custody in April and July 2023, saying that no officers had been charged by the end of 2024.
“The government took limited credible steps to identify and punish former and sitting government officials who committed human rights abuses. There was no reported progress on government investigations of alleged abuses committed by armed forces or individuals during hostilities in 2020,” the report says.
In the Freedom of the Press section the report says that “the government generally respected this right, with some exceptions.”
“Journalists at times were subjected to violence, harassment, or intimidation by authorities or those acting on behalf of authorities,” it notes, citing the NGO Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression as reporting an increase in the number of cases of physical violence against journalists during the second quarter of 2024 against a backdrop of political protests in the country.
“Journalists, particularly those from independent media outlets, reported facing significant pressure and threats both online and in person for their coverage of high-level government corruption and for posing questions aimed at holding government officials accountable,” the report says, reminding that in its May 3, 2024 World Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders noted antimedia rhetoric from political elites, who accused journalists of “corruption” and of “serving” their adversaries, fostering “a climate of intolerance that impeded the work of reporters in the country.”
At the same time, the report says there were some significant positive changes regarding the government’s commitment to human rights in Armenia in 2024. In particular, it says, the government increased the legal age for marriage to 18, eliminating exceptions for certain instances of child marriage. Also, the report notes, the government and the ombudsperson “promptly responded to the single anti-Semitic incident in the country, providing sharp and public condemnation of antisemitism in any form.”