Armenia

Proposed amendments to “On the Legal Regime of Martial Law” would grant the government, under martial law, the power to block websites, social media and apps, and shut down the internet across Armenia.

Press groups call on both states to abide by their obligations under International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law to protect journalists in situations of conflict and tension.

The recently amended martial law prohibits the publication of reports criticising the actions of the government, officials and local bodies. It also gives increased power to the police to hand out fines, freeze assets and request removal of content from media outlets.

The suspension and even sacking of police officers, especially such senior figures, was dramatic and could be a sign that there will be accountability for what happened on July 29, when police violently dispersed a crowd of protesters.

Unidentified men and police punch, kick and use wooden clubs to beat journalists and protesters, as protests in Armenia reach their third week.

Police in Armenia used force to disperse a largely peaceful protest on June 23, 2015, raising concerns about potential human rights violations.

On 23 June 2014, journalists were attacked by police as they waited outside a police station in the Yerevan district of Kentron for the release of protesters arrested earlier in the day.

Human Rights Watch documented attacks against five activists in three separate incidents in the past three weeks. In each case, unidentified men in civilian clothes set upon individual demonstrators late at night after they left protest sites in Yerevan.

As Armenia prepares for a presidential election on February 18, the international community should direct its attention to a recent proposal by a presidential advisory body that—if implemented—would drastically increase government control over civil society in the country.

Hovhannes Ishkhanyan could be sentenced to up to two years in jail for his short stories about hazing rituals and abuse in the army.

Following a string of journalists denied entry, RSF reaffirms the need for journalists to be free to cover matters as sensitive as the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, while reminding the authorities that “compiling blacklists of journalists for exclusion is both unacceptable and ineffective.”

The disproportionate damages being demanded threaten the newspapers’ survival and create a climate that encourages self-censorship.

Immigration authorities at the Zvartnots International Airport refused to issue visas to four reporters with the Finnish public broadcaster YLE, and forced them to leave the country.

A1+ television station’s application for a broadcast licence has been denied for the 13th time, despite an ECHR ruling that previous denials violated freedom of expression.