A riot police officer installs barbed wire as others block the street towards the Presidential Residence to prevent a march of anti-government protesters, supporters of the armed group who have been holed inside a police station, in Yerevan, Armenia, Saturday, July 30, 2016. Armed members of an opposition group barricaded inside a police station in Armenia’s capital shot an officer dead on Saturday, police said. (Hrant Khachatryan/PAN Photo via AP)
During the three days following the capture of the Patrol Service Regiment in Yerevan on June 17, 2016 an unprecedented number of arrests, detentions, and beatings as well as the obstruction of the free movement of citizens and activists by the police were reported.
Peace Dialogue NGO calls for an immediate end to illegal arrests, apprehensions, and beatings of civilians by police or any encroachment on human rights and further, that the authorities take all appropriate actions to find and punish those guilty of this arbitrariness.
- We urge law enforcement agencies to rule out the use of weapons, act according to the law, and resolve the situation surrounding the seizure of the Patrol Service Regiment exclusively by peaceful means and negotiations.
- We call on International organizations carrying out programs aimed at police reforms in Armenia to monitor the activities of the police and give appropriate assessment to their unlawful activities.
Peace Dialogue NGO
