A delegation of leading human rights advocates from around the world has arrived in Armenia on a fact-finding mission, international lawyer Robert Amsterdam said in a post on Facebook.
According to Amsterdam, the Ministries of Justice and Internal Affairs, the Constitutional Court, and the Civil Contract party declined to meet with the international experts.
“This refusal already speaks volumes about the real state of democracy in Armenia,” he wrote.
Amsterdam said that during their research the delegation identified several concerning developments.
▪️ Politically motivated arrests and detentions targeting opposition figures, including Samvel Karapetyan, leader of the Strong Armenia party, as well as archbishops Bagrat Galstanyan, Mikael Ajapahyan, Arshak Khachatryan, and Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan. In some cases, he said, police used excessive and disproportionate force, along with prolonged and unnecessary pretrial detention.
▪️ Attempts to interfere with judicial independence, including through the Supreme Judicial Council, which Amsterdam said resulted in some judges being removed from office, apparently for political reasons. He also alleged signs of political bias in the appointment of judges handling cases against opposition figures.
▪️ Overuse of vaguely worded articles of the Criminal Code to criminalize speech-related offenses, such as “hooliganism” or “calls to overthrow the government.” According to Amsterdam, these provisions have been used against members of parliament, opposition figures and media outlets.
▪️ The apparent use of the judiciary and security structures by the government against political opponents.
