Restrictions on the Freedom of Assembly Under State of Emergency Cannot Be Absolute

On July 31, the results of an online discussion held between the Human Rights Defender and civil society organizations on the topic of "Freedom of Assembly in the Context of the State of Emergency Declared Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic" were summarized and sent to the government.

Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan noted during the discussion that the legal burden on the state is greater during a state of emergency. Every restriction must be necessary, lawful, and proportional to the specific situation, in this case, aimed at preventing the coronavirus.

The justifications for human rights restrictions cannot be of the same volume as those at the initial stage of declaring a state of emergency. In other words, the longer the state of emergency lasts, the greater the legal obligation of the state to substantiate the limitations on human rights.

The prohibition on the freedom of assembly is enshrined in a government decision, despite being constantly mentioned as implemented by the order of the chief of police. Our visits to the police show that in each case, the participants of gatherings are removed from the site by being subjected to administrative detention for the offense of "failure to comply with a lawful order of a police officer." The existing legislative regulations, in turn, create legal difficulties for the police. Due to the lack of clear legal regulations, the police seem to have become the legal victims of these days' legislative frameworks, lacking clear legal guidelines for their actions,” Arman Tatoyan stated.

The monitoring results from the Human Rights Defender’s Office have shown that despite the absolute ban on gatherings, the police practically remove participants from the site in several cases while not doing so in others.

Participating in the discussion were: Avetik Ishkhanyan, Chairman of the Helsinki Committee of Armenia, Daniel Ioannisyan, head of the “Informed Citizens” NGO, human rights defender Zara Hovhannisyan, co-founder of the “Legal Way” NGO Ruben Melikyan, Executive Director of the “Against Legal Arbitrariness” NGO and the first human rights defender of Armenia Larisa Alaverdyan, Boris Navasardyan, President of the Yerevan Press Club, Artak Kirakosyan, President of the “Institute of Civil Society” NGO, Armen Alaverdyan, Executive Director of the “Unison” NGO, Gayane Grigoryan, head of the programs department of the “Agate” NGO, and Tatevik Garibyan, a representative of the Eurasia Foundation, as well as Nikolay Hovhannisyan.

The participants emphasized the importance of implementing effective actions to prevent the new coronavirus, but noted that, on the other hand, the restrictions on the freedom of assembly should not be absolute. Moreover, practice shows that ensuring an absolute ban on the freedom of assembly is impractical and leads to unreasonable differentiated situations, creating difficulties for both people and the police.

The proposals from the participants of the discussion were sent not only to the government but also to the Ministry of Justice.