ARF Canada Central Committee condemns the disproportionate use of force by the RA police against citizens

On May 27, the police forces serving the current authorities of the Republic of Armenia, in violation of democratic laws, used disproportionate brutal force against protesting citizens who were holding civil disobedience gatherings against the regime for ceding the sovereign border areas of Armenia to the enemy.

The practice of abusing the people by using disproportionate force contradicts the basic principles of democracy, and the course of such violence is a serious blow to the democratic foundations of our state.

The right of civil disobedience, the right of freedom of assembly, the right of freedom of movement, the rights of speech, conscience, and freedom are the main components of democracy, which this regime is obliged to respect, the same regime that came to power by trumpeting the values of democracy.

Today, the shocking facts of the violation of the basic rights of Armenian citizens are spread on social networks with videos, where we clearly see the use of disproportionate force against the protesters by the police and the arbitrary arrests of protesters. We are even witnessing scenes of disproportionate brute force and repression against the member of the RA National Assembly, who was granted immunity. In such cases, the government is obliged to criminally punish the law-breaking policemen.

The right to freedom of assembly is one of the fundamental rights of democratic societies. The practice of detaining hundreds of citizens using disproportionate force is against the basic principles of democracy.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Central Committee of Canada, with its organizational structure in Canada, strongly condemns the violent actions of the law enforcement bodies of the Republic of Armenia. We condemn this behavior of RA law enforcement bodies and we demand that the above-mentioned bodies respect the rights of the Armenian citizen enshrined in the RA constitution, the rights of the individual human being.

At the same time, we appeal to the international structures to address the violations of human rights in Armenia and take steps to stop the blatant violations of democracy in Armenia.

ARF Central Committee of Canada