US State Department released report in Human Rights Practices on Armenia

US State Department has published its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011. There is a large part about Armenia in the report as well.  

“Armenia’s constitution provides for a republic with an elected head of state and a unicameral legislature, the National Assembly. In 2008 Serzh Sargsian became president after a significantly flawed election. The ruling coalition, led by Sargsian’s Republican Party of Armenia, continued to dominate the political system. Security forces reported to civilian authorities”, the summary of the report on Armenia says.

“The most significant human rights problems were limitations on citizens’ right to change their government, freedom of speech and press, and the independence of the judiciary. The government released the remaining six opposition members detained in connection with the 2008 clashes between security forces and protesters disputing the outcome of the 2008 presidential election. Since April 28 the government began permitting demonstrations and opposition rallies in previously restricted areas of the capital city, and all were held without incident, although demonstrators from outside of Yerevan at times were impeded in their attempts to travel to rallies. The media, in particular television, continued to lack diversity of political opinion and objective reporting. The government decriminalized libel and defamation but established high new civil fines that encouraged journalists and media outlets to practice self-censorship. The process used to switch from analog to digital television reduced media pluralism. Courts remained subject to political pressure from the executive branch, and judges operated in a judicial culture that expected courts to find the accused guilty in almost every case”, the authors of report consider.

Referring to the problems in Armenian Army, the report says: ”During the year suspicious deaths occurred in the military under non-combat conditions, while hazing and other mistreatment of conscripts by officers and fellow soldiers, and a lack of accountability for such actions, continued. Allegations of torture continued. Many prisons were overcrowded, unsanitary, and lacking in medical services for inmates”.

Corruption is also considered as a serious problem.

“Domestic violence remained a problem but largely went unreported to authorities. Human trafficking was a problem, but authorities made efforts to combat it. Persons with disabilities experienced discrimination in almost all areas of life. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons were subjected to societal abuse and discrimination by military and prison authorities. There were reports of forced labor. Workers’ rights were limited and existing labor laws weakly enforced.

Although the government took some steps to punish officials in the security forces and elsewhere who committed abuses, some members of the security forces continued to commit human rights abuses with impunity while under the direction of civilian leadership. A government-issued report on the deaths of eight civilians and two police officers killed in the 2008 post-election violence did not identify the individuals responsible for the deaths and largely justified the police response”, the summary concludes. Then the report refers to the each point in details. The whole text of the report can be found on the official web-site of the US State Department.