Announcements
Pashinyan grapples with political prisoner controversy
Harutyunyan should be released and acquitted, but he should be addressing his pleas to Armenia’s general prosecutor instead of the prime minister, said Arthur Sakunts, chair of the human rights group Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor. “What he is asking of Pashinyan is completely illegal,” Sakunts told Eurasianet. “The general prosecutor can file a petition to the court. The only thing that government can do is to change the detention regime,” he said.
Statement on the preconditions for holding free and fair elections
We call on the heads of CEC and CTR to reconsider the expediency of their participation in the respective commissions and be dismissed to regain public trust in the elections.
Statement: We demand from the RA National Assembly to form an ad hoc ethics committee in accordance with the established procedure and to discuss the conduct of the Vice President of the RA National Assembly
Finding the discriminatory attitude towards persons with disabilities and the speculation of intellectual impairments inadmissible, we demand from the RA National Assembly to form an ad hoc ethics committee and to discuss the conduct of the Vice President of the RA National Assembly.
STATEMENT: We stand ready to support the newly-formed Government in overcoming the existing challenges and shall remain committed to the core principles and agenda of our work
We shall continue to focus on the most relevant and pressing issues, including among others human rights, the fight against corruption, the independence of the judiciary, and the development of a free and competitive economy.
Statement on Preconditions for Fair Elections
In order to ensure free, competitive and transparent elections in line with democratic standards, there is a need for legal arrangements to ensure democratic levers and free competition, executive authorities that will not abuse the administrative resource, a CEC staff that will organize the process in accordance with law, an NCTR staff that will ensure competitive broadcast, heads of criminal investigation and investigative bodies that will effectively fight against electoral violations, as well as independent courts that will solve electoral disputes in a fair way.
URGENT APPEAL TO INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND DEMOCRATIC STATES
We call on international organizations and countries that promote democratic values and systems to support the struggle of the Armenian people for a better future.
Take a step against the establishment of authoritarian governance: The statement of 36 organizations and individuals
Guided by the conviction that citizens, exercising the power that constitutionally belongs to them, have the right to stand against non-democratic processes at any time, we express our support for the civil disobedience movement and protest actions taking place in Yerevan and other cities of the Republic of Armenia these days.
Alert on the unlawfulness of the questioning of detainees
In police stations, most of the detainees “obtain” a status of a witness without notice and are questioned in the framework of the aforementioned case despite the fact that they have never been notified of the need to appear and give testimony on the given case.
Statement on Persecutions against Protesters
Taking into consideration the available videos from the scene as well as the peaceful behavior demonstrated by protesters up to now, we state that criminal prosecution against them is unacceptable and unlawful.
Statement on Protesters Deprived of Freedom Unlawfully
We hereby condemn the grave violation of the peaceful protesters’ right to freedom and inviolability as well as the right to freedom of assembly and demand to immediately cease the peaceful protesters’ persecution and release the protesters deprived of freedom.
We demand fair and effective investigation of hate crimes
We, the members of the undersigned organisations, express our deep concerns about the above-mentioned hate crimes as well as the unfair and biased investigation of these incidents by Armenian authorities. We demand full and unbiased investigation and conviction of the predators.