Amnesty International Report 2017/18

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Amnesty International Report 2017/18

ARMENIA

Republic of Armenia

Head of state: Serzh Sargsyan

Head of government: Karen Karapetyan

Lack of accountability continued for the use 

of unnecessary and excessive force by 

police during protests in the capital, 

Yerevan, in 2016. The trials of opposition 

members accused of hostage-taking and 

other violent crimes violated the right to a 

fair trial. A human rights defender faced 

criminal charges. The parliamentary and 

Yerevan city council elections were 

accompanied by incidents of violence.

BACKGROUND

On 2 April, the ruling Republican Party won a 

parliamentary majority, in the first elections 

since the 2015 constitutional referendum 

approved the transition from a presidential to 

a parliamentary republic. Monitors from the 

OSCE reported that the elections were 

“tainted by credible information about vote-

buying, and pressure on civil servants and 

employees of private companies” to vote for 

the ruling party.

In November, Armenia and the EU signed a 

Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership 

Agreement, a looser form of co-operation 

than the Association Agreement which 

Armenia rejected in 2013 in favour of joining 

the Russian-led customs union.

IMPUNITY

There was limited accountability for the 

unnecessary and excessive use of force by 

police against largely peaceful anti-

government protesters in Yerevan in July 

2016, when hundreds of individuals were 

injured and arbitrarily arrested. Dozens of 

protesters faced criminal charges for 

allegedly violating public order and other 

offences. The criminal investigation into 

allegations of abuse of power by police 

officers did not lead to any criminal charges.

UNFAIR TRIALS

Members of the opposition group that 

occupied a police station in the run-up to the 

2016 protests stood trial on charges of a 

range of violent crimes, including hostage-

taking and killing of police officers. Several 

defendants reported being beaten in 

detention, while their defence lawyers 

reported that they themselves were subjected 

to pressure and harassment to obstruct their 

work.

Arayik Papikyan, Mushegh Shushanyan, 

Nina Karapetyants and other defence lawyers 

in the case complained that the detention 

facility’s administration prevented them from 

visiting the accused men and holding 

confidential meetings with them, and 

unlawfully confiscated and destroyed some of 

the case-related materials they were carrying. 

Several lawyers also reported being subjected 

to lengthy and intrusive security searches 

when arriving at court. Lawyers who refused 

to undergo searches were denied entry to the 

courtrooms and subjected to disciplinary 

proceedings by the Bar Association.

The lawyers also reported that, on 28 June, 

five defendants were forcibly removed from 

the courtroom, taken to the basement and 

beaten by several police officers while the 

court was in session. The defendants showed 

signs of ill-treatment, including bruises and 

scratches on their faces and legs, 

documented by prison medical staff. The 

police claimed these injuries were self-

inflicted when the defendants deliberately hit 

their heads and feet against walls and fences 

in protest. At the end of the year, 

investigations were ongoing into the 

allegations of the beatings and the 

harassment of the lawyers.

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

In January, court hearings commenced in the 

case against Marina Poghosyan, a human 

rights defender and director of the NGO 

Veles, known for exposing government 

corruption and providing legal aid to victims 

of human rights violations. She had been 

charged with extortion in 2015 after she 

alleged that former government officials were 

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Amnesty International Report 2017/18

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running a money laundering scheme. Local 

human rights defenders linked the trial to her 

work exposing corruption. On 30 April, 

Marina Poghosyan reported that a fake 

Facebook profile had been created under her 

name and used to send sexually explicit 

photos and videos to her contacts to smear 

her reputation.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

The parliamentary and Yerevan city council 

elections, in April and May respectively, and 

the preceding electoral campaigns were 

accompanied by isolated incidents of 

violence against journalists and others 

attempting to expose violations of the 

electoral process.

On 2 April, two journalists were attacked in 

Yerevan’s Kond neighbourhood while 

investigating allegations of vote-buying at the 

local Republican Party’s campaign office. 

Supporters of the Party took away one 

reporter’s video equipment as she was 

filming people leaving the campaign office. 

An investigation into the incident was ongoing 

at the end of the year.

ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL 

RIGHTS

The CERD Committee raised concerns over 

the absence of data on the enjoyment of 

economic, social and cultural rights by 

minority groups, refugees and asylum-

seekers. It also raised concern over the lack 

of information available on small minority 

ethnic groups – such as the Lom (also known 

as Bosha) and the Molokans – and requested 

that the authorities collect data on economic 

and social indicators disaggregated by 

ethnicity, nationality and country of origin.

AUSTRALIA

Australia

Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by 

Peter Cosgrove

Head of government: Malcolm Turnbull

The justice system continued to fail 

Indigenous people, particularly children, 

with high rates of incarceration, reports of 

abuse and deaths in custody. Australia 

maintained hardline policies by confining 

people seeking asylum in offshore 

processing centres in Papua New Guinea 

and Nauru, and turning back those 

attempting to reach Australia by boat. In 

October, Australia was elected to the UN 

Human Rights Council, attracting calls for 

improvement of its human rights record, 

including cutting all ties to the Myanmar 

military.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS

Indigenous children were 25 times more 

likely to be imprisoned than non-Indigenous 

children.

Leaked footage exposed abuses of children 

in prison in the Northern Territory, including 

tear gassing, restraints, choking and solitary 

confinement. In response, a Royal 

Commission into the Protection and 

Detention of Children in the Northern 

Territory was established and reported on 17 

November.

An independent review of youth detention 

centres in Queensland released in April 

found abuses including solitary confinement, 

use of dogs to intimidate, missing CCTV 

footage, and children at risk of self-harm 

being sedated and hogtied. Further alleged 

abuses emerged in Victoria, New South 

Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and 

Western Australia.

Indigenous adults were 15 times more likely 

to be jailed than non-Indigenous adults. At 

least eight Indigenous people died in police 

custody.

The government did not adopt a national 

plan to ensure Australia meets its obligations 

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