Freedom of association
Debate on the law "On Volunteer Work"
In May 2023, the Armenian Parliament organised debates on the content of the law "On Volunteer Work". The draft law, which was the subject of public debate in which civil society also participated, is innovative and contains provisions that were previously absent from Armenian legislation. Experts from Transparency International's Anti-Corruption Centre (TIAC) participated in these debates and proposed recommendations to address the challenges faced by volunteers, civil society organisations and public institutions. If the new law is passed, it will create a legal mechanism to protect the rights of volunteers and recognise their experience as professional experience.
Freedom of peaceful assembly
Protests in Yerevan and abroad over the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh
In June, the Armenian Youth Federation - Youth Organisation of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (AYF-YOARF) held several demonstrations in Washington, D.C., in support of the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh, a breakaway state internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but populated primarily by ethnic Armenians.
In recent years, the region has experienced multiple escalations of conflict, including the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, which ended with a ceasefire agreement in November 2020. Despite the ceasefire, skirmishes continued, leading to significant clashes in 2022. By the end of 2022, the situation for Armenians in the region deteriorated further due to a blockade of the Lachin Corridor by so-called environmental activists. As previously reported by the CIVICUS Monitor, this blockade, which began in December 2022, disrupted the flow of goods into Nagorno-Karabakh, leaving the Armenian population without access to food, medicine and fuel. Although the protests were ostensibly organised by environmental activists concerned about "illegal" mining in the region, they were widely perceived as orchestrated by Azerbaijani authorities, with reports suggesting that the group consisted mainly of officials, disguised military personnel, and representatives of state-controlled civil society organisations.
In response, the Armenian community abroad organised demonstrations to draw attention to the humanitarian crisis. The AYF-YOARF organised a series of actions for almost a week, culminating in a march from the Azerbaijani Embassy to the Armenian Embassy in the United States, where participants chanted slogans such as "Stop the genocide in Artsakh". The protesters called for a boycott of Turkish and Azerbaijani products by private companies and public institutions. Turkey, an important supporter of Azerbaijan in the region, was also a target of these protests.
In addition to actions abroad, activists from the Armenian Revolutionary Foundation also gathered in front of various diplomatic missions in Armenia to make the same demands. Protesters gathered outside the European Union, French, Russian and US missions.
Lawyers protest police violence in Armenia
Lawyers in Armenia organised a strike on 26th June 2023 to protest against police violence, including the excessive use of force by law enforcement authorities against protesters during peaceful demonstrations and the ill-treatment of their clients in detention. The strike disrupted the operation of the courts and disrupted hearings.
According to Radio Free Europe’s Armenian service, one lawyer claimed to have been the victim of police violence while defending a client. The lawyer, Karen Alaverdian, claims to have been subjected to “undue physical force” after trying to stop several officers from kicking and punching his client. The law enforcement authorities denied the allegations and claimed that the lawyer had instigated the altercation. Other human rights defenders reported similar cases of ill-treatment of their clients by the police. The Armenian Bar Association called for a thorough investigation into the incident.