Azernews.Az

By Sabina Idayatova

Amnesty International negatively assessed the state of human rights protection in Armenia in its annual report.

Touching upon President Serzh Sargsyan-led Republican Party`s victory at the parliamentary elections on May 6, 2012, the report said that while freedom of expression, assembly and movement were largely unrestricted around the election, widespread vote buying as well as instances of pressure on voters were recorded.

The people expressing opinions perceived as unpatriotic or anti-nationalist faced widespread public hostility and occasionally violence, the observers said. Police and local authorities appeared at times to be colluding in the attacks. They also failed to properly investigate or to publicly and unequivocally denounce such acts.

The next clause in the report was "explosions in Yerevan gay bar" on May 8, 2012, when a surveillance camera recorded two strangers throwing firebombs through the window.

"However, police reportedly only arrived at the scene 12 hours later to investigate the attack. Two young men were arrested as part of the investigation, but were bailed shortly afterwards by two MPs for the nationalist Armenian Revolutionary Federation -Dashnaktsutyun party (ARF). They condoned the attack, saying it was in line with "the context of societal and national ideology". Eduard Sharmazanov, spokesperson for the ruling Republican Party and Parliament Deputy Speaker, was quoted justifying the violent attack in local newspapers," the report says.

The authors of the report also noted that on October 3, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture published a report following their visit to Armenia in December 2011. It stated that "virtually none of the recommendations made after previous visits as regards the detention of lifers have been implemented".

The report also noted that the poor conditions at Kentron Prison in Yerevan made it unsuitable for lengthy periods of detention. The Committee found that the detention conditions of life-sentenced prisoners held at Kentron amounted to inhuman treatment.

The last part of the report concerned more than 30 men serving prison sentences for refusing to perform military service.

"Alternative civilian service remained under military control. On November 27, the European Court of Human Rights, in its fourth decision against Armenia on conscientious objection, found that Armenia had violated the rights of 17 Jehovah's Witnesses in the case of Khachatryan and Others v. Armenia. The Court found that the rights of the Jehovah's Witnesses to liberty and security, as well as the right to compensation for unlawful detention, had been violated. They faced criminal charges and detention because they had left their alternative service when they realized that they were under military control," the report says.

Violations of religious freedom in Armenia were also cited in the annual report of the State Department released on May 20.

The report emphasizes that the government's tendency toward the religious freedom have not been changed significantly during the year. However, there are cases of discrimination based on religious affiliation.

"The members of religious minorities were subjected to social discrimination and intolerance, including in the workplace. Many media outlets have demonstrated bias against religious minorities," the report says.

The paragraph on mass media emphasized that many in the media continue to characterize minority religious groups as "sects."