Armenian Human Rights Defender appealed to Police with a call not to violate fundamental rights of citizens detained during protest actions

ARMINFO
Armenia – May 5 2022

ArmInfo.. As a result of the monitoring conducted by the Office of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia, a number of violations were revealed by representatives of law enforcement agencies during the detention of participants in opposition protest  actions that took place on May 3 and May 4.

According to the press service of the Armenian Human Rights  Defender's Office, its employees provided advisory assistance to 32  detainees, registering violations by the Police. Cases of violations  of fundamental human rights were identified, including cases of  forcible identification of people through unauthorized access to  personal data – mobile phones. The defenders specifically warned the  Police about the inadmissibility of such unlawful measures that  grossly violate the fundamental rights of citizens. These rights,  emphasized in the Office, have priority importance before police  officers carry out their duties and police officers must refrain from  committing obvious violations of these rights.

Also, cases of disproportionate physical force were again recorded.  In particular, in personal conversations with persons taken to the  Nor Nork Police Department, it was recorded that during the arrest,  police officers used violence against the detainees, inflicting  physical injuries on the mind, using swearing. The police pushed the  detainees, dragged them along the ground, roughly pushing them into  police cars. Misbehavior of police officers was also noted.

It is noted that the Office of the Human Rights Defender intends to  consistently conduct a detailed investigation of each of the  registered violations.

At the same time, the monitoring of the media and social networks  conducted by the Office of the Human Rights Defender revealed  manifestations of intolerant and offensive behavior towards the  Police officers themselves.