Introduction
HRW assesses Armenia’s human rights record as uneven
Human Rights Watch (HRW) published its annual global human rights report on 4th February 2026. According to CivilNet, the watchdog assessed Armenia’s human rights record as consistently “uneven”, combining progress on some reforms with significant unresolved concerns.
While acknowledging government efforts on anti-corruption and rule-of-law reforms, HRW highlighted shortcomings in investigations into alleged police abuse, concerns over judicial independence, and what it described as the excessive use of pre-trial detention. The report also criticised a June 2025 law granting police access to CCTV footage, warning that, despite amendments softening earlier proposals, risks to privacy remain, particularly regarding facial recognition technologies.
On media policy, HRW raised concerns over the creation of a “Public-Benefit Media Environment” fund, echoing local criticism that it could enable preferential treatment of outlets and undermine editorial independence. It also flagged persistent gaps in protections for LGBTQI+ people, domestic violence survivors, and displaced ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh.
Freedom of peaceful assembly
Continued pressure on Iranian protesters in Yerevan
As previously reported by the CIVICUS Monitor, in January 2026, Iranians in Armenia began near-daily protests outside the Iranian embassy in Yerevan following a deadly crackdown on protests in Iran that began in December the previous year. Although Armenian authorities initially permitted the demonstrations, pressure on protesters increased following criticism from Iran’s ambassador to Armenia. After one rally was banned on 17th January and several protesters were temporarily detained, participants reported harassment by Armenian security services aimed at curbing the protests.
At the beginning of February 2026, Iranian national Reyhane Majidi, who had been residing in Armenia for several months, reported intimidation and pressure from Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) following her participation in the protests.
Majidi states that NSS officers arrived at her rented apartment without presenting official documentation and took her for questioning, where she was held for around four hours. She alleges that she was warned to stop criticising the Iranian authorities publicly and on social media or face deportation. She also claims officers accessed her phone, reviewed personal data, deleted critical posts, and gave her one week to leave Armenia voluntarily. She also stated that the officers joked about deporting her to Azerbaijan instead.
Although that deadline has passed, Majidi says she has received no written deportation order, while NSS representatives have reportedly continued to call her with warnings of forced removal if she does not leave. In response to a request for comment by the Armenian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), the NSS confirmed it had summoned Iranian nationals for questioning but did not specify the legal grounds. Civil society groups have condemned the case and called for an impartial investigation.
On 24th February, Iran’s ambassador to Armenia publicly thanked the Armenian authorities for “taking the appropriate steps” to curb protests outside the embassy.
Arrests at protests to demand release of businessman and opposition figure Samvel Karapetian ahead of June election
On 13th March, hundreds of supporters of businessman and opposition figure Samvel Karapetian gathered outside a court in Yerevan to demand his release from house arrest during a hearing on prosecutors’ request to extend the measure by another month. According to RFE/RL, the protest, organised by Karapetian’s Strong Armenia party, saw brief scuffles between demonstrators and security forces.
The Interior Ministry said three people were detained after some protesters reportedly ignored officers’ orders, while one of Karapetian’s lawyers claimed around 20 arrests were made.
Karapetian, a Russian-Armenian billionaire, was arrested in June 2025 after criticising Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s campaign against the leadership of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Authorities later charged him with calling for the violent overthrow of the government, as well as tax evasion, fraud and money laundering. Karapetian denies the allegations, describing them as politically motivated. In February, the Strong Armenia party announced that Karapetian would be its candidate for prime minister, challenging the ruling Civil Contract party and PM Pashinyan in the parliamentary elections scheduled for June 2026.
Activist charged with hooliganism for verbal altercation with parliament speaker during protest
On 26th March 2026, activist Mikael Markarian was charged with hooliganism following a verbal altercation with Armenian Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan near the parliament building in Yerevan. The incident occurred during a protest by relatives of soldiers missing since the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, who were demanding the publication of a parliamentary report on the conflict.
Markarian and fellow activist Arsen Vardanian were initially detained for allegedly failing to comply with police orders and were later fined before being released. The following day, Markarian was detained again and charged with hooliganism involving the use of information and communication technologies, an offence punishable by up to five years in prison.
Video footage from Markarian’s livestream showed an exchange of insults between the activists and Simonyan after the speaker declined to speak with them. Simonyan described the confrontation as a politically motivated provocation linked to the approaching parliamentary elections, while denying any dispute with the families leading the protest.
Other protests in February and March included demonstrations by residents of Yerevan's Komitas Park against unsafe living conditions and a protest alleging a biased investigation into a 2024 shooting of a man in Artashat.
Freedom of expression
Opposition-aligned journalist summoned for questioning over editorial
On 17th March 2026, Armine Ohanyan, editor-in-chief of the opposition-aligned newspaper Hraparak, was summoned for questioning by Armenia’s Investigative Committee in connection with a December 2024 editorial. The criminal proceedings were opened in January 2025, although Ohanyan said she only learned of them after being summoned for questioning more than a year later. It was initially reported that the investigation was initiated on charges of “public calls aimed at usurpation of power, violating territorial integrity, or violently overthrowing the constitutional order.”
According to reports, the editorial was subjected to linguistic and psychological expert examinations, which reportedly concluded that it did not contain calls for violence. After initially declining to comment, the Investigative Committee published a statement on 19th March announcing its intention to terminate the case. It also stated that the proceedings had concerned alleged public calls for violence rather than attempts to overthrow the constitutional order, as previously reported.
Ohanyan described the investigation as an attempt to intimidate and silence critical media. Opposition politicians also criticised the case, arguing that it reflected growing pressure on dissenting voices ahead of Armenia’s parliamentary elections.
Armenian Genocide Museum director steps down following pressure from PM
On 10th March, Edita Gzoyan resigned as Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute (AGMI), with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan later confirming that he had instructed her to step down. The decision followed Gzoyan’s presentation of several books to U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance during his February visit to the museum, including a volume on Armenian–Tatar massacres between 1905 and 1921, concerning inter-ethnic violence between Armenians and Azerbaijanis, then referred to as Tatars.
Pashinyan argued that the gesture contradicted the government’s foreign policy position that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is over and should not be revisited, describing it as provocative. Critics, however, noted that the book concerned historical events rather than the contemporary conflict.
The resignation triggered strong reactions in Armenia and abroad. More than a dozen genocide scholars condemned the pressure on Gzoyan and called for her reinstatement, while several members of the AGMI Board of Trustees, including its chair, genocide scholar Raymond Kévorkian, resigned in protest.
Armenia added to Council of Europe list of journalist jailers
In March 2026, Armenia was included in the Council of Europe Platform for the Safety of Journalists’ annual list of countries detaining journalists and media workers. As of 31st December 2025, the report recorded two detained media workers in the country: “Imnemnimi” podcast co-hosts Vazgen Saghatelyan and Narek Samsonyan, whose case was reported by the CIVICUS Monitor in a previous update.
Commenting on their case, Ashot Melikyan, head of the Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression, acknowledged that the podcast had featured insulting and offensive language but argued that the authorities’ response was disproportionate. He warned that lengthy imprisonment for speech-related offences risks damaging freedom of expression.
Boris Navasardyan, honorary president of the Yerevan Press Club, similarly criticised the measures as excessive and said the case raises concerns about political motivations, given the context of the upcoming parliamentary elections. Both experts argued that podcasters and other online content creators can be considered media actors, despite not being traditional journalists.
Also published in March, data presented by Journalists for the Future also pointed to multiple incidents impacting the safety and pluralism of media in Armenia. These include physical attacks, pressure from political actors and difficulties in accessing information. Overall, these developments suggest a deterioration in the media environment, even as Armenia remains considered relatively more open than other states in the South Caucasus.
Civil society condemns smear campaign against Nagorno-Karabakh refugee confronted by PM Pashinyan
In March, a group of Armenian civil society organisations issued a statement condemning what they describe as a growing wave of hatred and intolerance towards Armenians forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh, following an incident involving Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
The statement refers to a 22nd March 2026 encounter in the Yerevan metro, during which Pashinyan spoke with a woman from Nagorno-Karabakh while conducting a campaign activity. In the video footage of the encounter, which was circulated widely on social media, the Prime Minister can be seen raising his voice, making accusatory remarks regarding state support for displaced people, and using the term “runaways”, while continuing to film despite the woman’s request not to be recorded.
The organisations highlighted that the interaction triggered a broader online smear campaign against the woman, amplified by media outlets linked to the ruling party. They warn that such rhetoric contributes to polarisation, re-victimisation of displaced people, and legitimisation of hate speech in society, particularly in the pre-election period. The statement calls on authorities to refrain from inflammatory rhetoric and ensure accountability for hate speech.