Arbitrary arrest and subsequent release of several environmental rights defenders

ARM 001 / 0519 / OBS 045.1

Arbitraryarrest

Armenia

August 14, 2020

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership ofFIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received newinformation and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation inArmenia.

New information:

TheObservatory has been informed by reliable sources about the arbitrary arrestand subsequent release of several environmental rights defenders, includingMses. Ani Khachatryan, a member of the Armenian Environmental Frontcivic initiative, Nina Karapetyants, head of the Helsinki Associationfor Human Rights, Zaruhi Hovhannisyan, coordinator of the Coalition toStop violence against women and Messrs. Ara Karagyozyan, lawyer andmember of the Helsinki Association for Human Rights and Levon Galstyan, memberof the Armenian Environmental Front, in Amulsar and Yerevan.

Thesearrests are related to the blockade that has been held for the past two yearsby environmental activists against the construction of a gold mine by closedjoint-stock company Lydian Armenia in Amulsar, Vayots Dzor region, around 170km south of Yerevan (see background information).

Accordingto the information received, on August 10, 2020, nine environmental activists,including women’s rights defender Ms. ZaruhiHovhannisyan, were arrested during a peaceful gathering in front of theParliament in Yerevan for “not obeying police orders” (Article 182 of theCriminal Code of the Republic of Armenia). This administrative offense ispunishable by a fine of around 50.000 AMD (approximately 88 Euros). Theactivists had gathered to express their support to the protests that had takenplace in Amulsar since August 4, 2020[1]. They were taken tovarious police stations of Yerevan and released three hours later.

Inthe afternoon of August 6, 2020, about a dozen of people, includingMs. Nina Karapetyants and Mr. Ara Karagyozyan, who were participating in apeaceful picket in Yerevan in support of the protests in Amulsar, were arrestedby the police, including Ms. Nina Karapetyants and Mr. Ara Karagyozyan[2].They were all releasedafter administrative proceedings were conducted at various police stations overaccusations of “not obeying policeorders”.

Onthe same day in the evening, another protest by a group of environmentalsupporters took place in Yerevan. The police detained around 20 environmentalactivists who were peacefully demonstrating on bicycles, as well as Mr. LevonGalstyan who was filming the arrests. They were released within three hours afteradministrative proceedings were conducted over accusations of “not obeyingpolice orders”.

OnAugust 5, 2020, Armenian police forces cracked down on the local population andenvironmental activists opposed to the construction of the gold mine inAmulsar, leading to the arbitrary arrest of many protesters, including Ms. AniKhachatryan. The activists were placed under administrative arrest and chargedwith “not obeying police orders”. Theywere released within three hours.

OnAugust 4, 2020, a massive mobilisation of peaceful protestors began at theblockade point in Amulsar following the removal by the security companycontracted by Lydian Armenia of wagons that had been installed by theactivists. This mobilisation led to acts of provocation and violence on theside of the private security company and the arrest of several peacefulprotesters by the police.

TheObservatory expresses its deepest concern over the arbitrary arrest of Mses.Ani Khachatryan, Nina Karapetyants, Zaruhi Hovhannisyan and Messrs. AraKaragyozyan and Levon Galstyan, as well as several other protesters defendingtheir rights and the environment, as it seems to be only aimed at sanctioningtheir legitimate human rights activities. The Observatory is also concernedabout the escalation of police violence in Amulsar and urges the Armenianauthorities to put an end to police brutality and to guarantee the right toprotest.

Background information:

Approximately 400 mines, of which 22 are metal, areexploited in Armenia. All mining sites are close to inhabited areas and waterresources, raising numerous issues in terms of health, water and food safetyand environment.

In2007, the mining company Lydian Armenia CJSC, subsidiary of LydianInternational, started its operation of exploration and feasibility for a goldmine extraction project in Armenia. In 2014 the company was granted a mininglicence and in 2016 it started the construction works for the extractionproject in the Amulsar region.

Since 2012, experts and activistshave been denouncing the negative impact of mining operations in Amulsar onhealth and the environment and since 2018 residents blocked the access to themine and asked the suspension of the project. In response, Lydian Armeniastarted a vigorous campaign to silence all critics, including human rightsdefenders.

In November 2018, approximately3,000 citizens from the Jermuk enlarged community, in which Amulsar issituated, signed a petition to stop the project, and on December 18, 2018, theCouncil of Jermuk Community took the decision to develop Jermuk Community as anenvironment friendly economy and prohibit metal mining on its territory. Thegovernment commissioned an international audit of Lydian’s environmental impactassessment which concluded that the said assessment was flawed.

On November 16, 2018, Lydian Armenia filed a civil law complaint beforethe Court of General Jurisdiction of Kotayk against Ani Khachatryan (Court case No. ԿԴ3/1445/02/18) for spreading ‘slandering information’ after she wasregularly posting information online concerning the situation of the Amuslarmine project. Lydian Armenia asked Ms. Ani Khachatryan to pay one million Dram(approximately 1,870 Euros) in compensation for undermining its businessreputation. On December 6, 2018, theMinistry of Justice ordered Ms. Ani Khachatryan not to disseminate informationnegatively impacting Lydian Armenia’s reputation and ‘not reflecting thereality’. The trial is ongoing.

Lydian Armenia also filed other civil law complaints against nearly 20other activists for defamation. In December 2018, it filed a complaint againstMs. Nazeli Vardanyan, who is a lawyer and leader of the Armenian ForestNGO, for criticising the Amulsar project and accusing the company of havinghidden relations with some authorities. Ms. Vardanyan was never notified in a due manner of the hearings and thetrial was completed without her presence or that of the defence. On June 11,2020, the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yeveran upheld the lawsuit filed byLydian Armenia. Ms. Vardanyan has appealed this ruling for blatant abuse of herright to defend herself.

On August 10, 2018, Lydian Armeniafiled a defamation complaint before the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdictionagainst Mr. Levon Galstyan, for criticising its operations inpublic interviews, on Facebook statuses and on the Armenian EnvironmentalFront’s webpage (Court Case No. ԵԴ/16785/02/18). The trial is ongoing.

In March and April 2019, LydianArmenia also filed a defamation complaint against Messrs. Shirak Buniatyan(Court case No. ԱՎԴ2/0560/02/19) and Edmon Aghabekyan (Court case No.ԱՎԴ2/0551/02/19) for questioning the legitimacy of operations conducted byLydian Armenia in a Facebook post and at a public gathering. The company also asked them to pay one million Dram (approximately1,870 Euros) in compensation for undermining its business reputation. The trialis ongoing.

In addition, since 2018, the samedefenders have also been regularly targeted by a smear campaign on socialmedia. Fake Facebook accounts have been publishing approximately 40 videomaterials discrediting Mr. Levon Galstyan. Offensive sexist posts have been published on Facebook against Msses.Ani Khachatryan and Tehmine Yenokyan, a journalist, describing them as‘loose women’, ‘made pregnant by activists’ and so on. In April 2019, LevonGalstyan, Tehmine Yenoqyan and Ani Khachatryan applied to different courts toseek remedy for insulting materials published on Facebook against them. On May3, 2019, a video made up to discredit Ms. Nazeli Vardanyan’s professionalskills as a lawyer was circulated through a fake Facebook page named ‘Green andClean’, which was subsequently closed down by Facebook due to reports by usersthat the page was offensive and defamatory. Only Tehmine Yenoqyan's case hasbeen completed with her partially winning the suit as her claim for slander wasrecognised, but not the amount of compensation. She appealed the verdict.

Furthermore, Ms. Tehmine Yenoqyan filed anothercomplaint to the police on September 6, 2018 in relation to video and photomaterials containing abusive comments, circulating on Facebook, and based onthe video surveillance of her house in Gndevaz village. The police opened acriminal investigation, which led to the identification of two individuals inrelation to the camera surveillance and the fake Facebook accounts, who areconnected by working relations with Lydian Armenia. The case was then closed bythe Vayots Dzor Regional Prosecutor’s office. Ms. Tehmine Yenoqyan thenrequested the Ararat and Vayots Dzor District Court of General Jurisdiction toconsider the case, but the Court rejected her claim. Ms. Tehmine Yenoqyanappealed this decision before the Appeals Court and the trial is ongoing.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities in Armenia, urging them to:

i. Guarantee, in all circumstances, the physicalintegrity and psychological well-being of Mses. Ani Khachatryan, NinaKarapetyants, Zaruhi Hovhannisyan and Messrs. Ara Karagyozyan and LevonGalstyan, as well as all environmental rights defenders in Armenia and protectthem against persecution and reprisals;

ii. Put an end to all acts of harassment, including at thejudicial level, against Mses. Ani Khachatryan, Nina Karapetyants, ZaruhiHovhannisyan and Messrs. Ara Karagyozyan and Levon Galstyan, as well as allhuman rights defenders and local activists in Armenia and ensure that they are able tocarry out their activities without hindrance;

iii. Conform in all circumstances to the provisions of theDeclaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted on December 9, 1998 by theUnited Nations General Assembly, in particular its Articles 1 and 12.2.;

iv. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rightsand fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rightsinstruments ratified by Armenia.

Addresses:

· Mr. Armen Sarkissian,President of the Republic of Armenia, Email: press@president.am ;

· Mr. Nikol Pashinyan,Prime Minister, Email: nikol.pashinyan@gov.am ;

· Mr. Rustam Badasyan,Minister of Justice, Email: info@moj.am ;

· Mr. Vahe Ghazaryan,Chief of Police, Email: press@police.am ;

· Mr. Artur Davtyan,Prosecutor General, Email: info@prosecutor.am.

Please also write to the diplomatic missions or embassies of Armenia in yourrespective country as well as to the EU diplomatic missions or embassies inArmenia.

***

Paris-Geneva, August 14, 2020

Kindly inform us of any action undertakenquoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory for the Protection of HumanRights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and the WorldOrganisation Against Torture (OMCT). The objective of this programme is tointervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rightsdefenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights DefendersMechanism implemented by international civil society.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergencyline:

· E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org

· Tel and fax FIDH + 33 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 4355 18 80

· Tel and fax OMCT + 41 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29

[1] See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNsPLvKzahw&feature=emb_logo

[2] During the protest, participants respected all the required rulesregarding the Covid-19 pandemic (like wearing masks and standing far from eachother).