https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Armenia   
      
   Human rights in Armenia   
      
   From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia   
      
   Human rights in Armenia tend to be better than those in most former Soviet   
   republics and have drawn closer to acceptable standards, especially   
   economically. Still, there are several considerable problems. Overall, the   
   country is classified "partly free"    
   by Freedom House, which gives it a score of 46, falling two points below   
   Bangladesh and one point above Honduras.   
      
   Political freedom   
      
   Since the ouster of Levon Ter-Petrossian as president, political freedom has   
   seen some improvement. Ter-Petrossian's administration saw constitutional   
   change that secured more power for the president than the parliament. He also   
   banned nine political    
   parties (including, notably the Armenian Revolutionary Federation).   
   Ter-Petrossian's semi-autocratic style of governing and his gradualist   
   approach to solving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict led to his ousting and the   
   succession of Robert Kocharyan as    
   presid   
      
      
   Economy and human rights   
      
   Corruption remains a problem as of 2009, according to U.S. Department of   
   State.[3]   
      
      
   Women   
      
   Reporting domestic abuse causes resistance from the police, courts and   
   society. It is often seen as a 'taboo' to speak out against domestic abuse.   
      
      
      
   Police brutality   
      
   There have been reports of police brutality and arbitrary arrests carried out.   
   Beatings and torture of detainees before trial is used to obtain confessions   
   or information. Demonstrations against the government have been dispersed with   
   force, and    
   opposition leaders have been detained. Abuse is common in the army and is   
   suspected as the cause of many suspicious deaths.[5]   
      
      
   Incidents   
      
   On May 12, 2007, Levon Gulyan, who was called to the police as a witness to a   
   murder case, died in the Police Main Department of Criminal Investigations   
   after allegedly being beaten to death and thrown out a window by Hovik   
   Tamamyan, the First Deputy    
   Chief of the Police Main Department of Criminal Investigations.[6] Police say   
   that Gulyan slipped and fell down the first floor while trying to escape   
   police custody. A preliminary forensic medical examination by forensic   
   specialists from Denmark and    
   Germany states that Gulyan's death was the result of fatal injuries that   
   included fractures of the skull, thorax, spine and ribs. According to   
   ArmeniaNow, "murders committed inside the police are not disclosed."[7] In a   
   letter addressed to the Head of    
   Police, the Executive Director of the International Helsinki Federation for   
   Human Rights (IHF) cited suspicions on the police explanation of Gulyan's   
   death and mentioned that torture and ill-treatment by the police remain   
   serious problems in Armenia, as    
   noted also by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture in its 2004   
   report on Armenia.   
      
   A partial list compiled by ArmeniaNow names 11 others who suspiciously died   
   while under police custody.   
      
      
   2008 Armenian presidential election protests   
      
   A series of mass protests were held in Armenia in the wake of the Armenian   
   presidential election of 19 February 2008. Mass protests against alleged   
   electoral fraud were held in the capital city of Yerevan and organised by   
   supporters of the unsuccessful    
   presidential candidate and first President of the Republic of Armenia, Levon   
   Ter-Petrosyan. After nine days of peaceful protests at the Opera Square, the   
   national police and military forces tried to disperse the protesters on 1   
   March.[10] The protests    
   began on February 20, lasted for 10 days in Yerevan's Freedom Square, and   
   involved tens of thousands of demonstrators during the day and hundreds   
   camping out overnight. As a result, 10 people were killed. Despite the urges   
   of the government to stop the    
   demonstrations, the protests continued until March 1. On the morning of March   
   1, police and army units dispersed the 700-1,000 persons who remained   
   overnight, beating them with truncheons and electric-shock devices. As of   
   March 4, many protesters are    
   still missing. Since March 1, Ter-Petrosyan was placed under de facto house   
   arrest.   
      
   Freedom of expression and of the media   
      
   Main article: Media of Armenia   
      
   While the media has a degree of independence, the freedom of press in Armenia   
   is limited. Some independent channels, such as A1+, Noyan Tapan, and Russian   
   NTV, have had their frequencies taken away by the government. Journalists   
   covering a demonstration    
   against President Robert Kocharyan were attacked when police intervened to   
   detain the protestors.   
      
   In January 2011, the Committee to Protect Journalists – international media   
   watchdog – criticized the Armenian government for maintaining a tight grip   
   on the country’s broadcast media and accused them of routinely harassing   
   local journalists    
   challenging them.[17] According to the CPJ report, new amendments to Armenian   
   broadcasting law in 2010 positioned President Sarkisian "to maintain control   
   over the country's docile television and radio stations, most of which were   
   owned by pro-government    
   politicians and businessmen."[17] The report also claims that the Armenian   
   police officers “routinely harassed, assaulted, and arrested journalists”   
   in 2010. “Prosecutors regularly colluded in this practice by failing to   
   investigate police officers,   
    even filing charges on occasion against journalists who protested abuses, CPJ   
   research showed.   
      
      
   Television   
      
   Other than the Gyumri-based GALA, virtually all Armenian TV stations,   
   including the Yerevan-based national networks, are controlled by or loyal to   
   the government. The only major private network that regularly aired criticism   
   of the government was    
   controversially forced off the air in 2002.   
      
   In 2010, the Armenian government passed a set of controversial amendments to   
   Armenian law on broadcasting that enables government regulators to grant or   
   revoke licenses without explanation, as well as impose programming   
   restrictions that would confine    
   some stations to narrow themes such as culture, education, and sports.[17] The   
   Committee to Protect Journalists suggested that these amendments are primarily   
   aimed at keeping the independent TV station A1+ off the air. It also pointed   
   out that GALA TV,    
   another, functioning independent broadcaster based in Gyumri, will be taken   
   off the air in 2015 because of the amendments.[17] Both A1+ and GALA TV failed   
   to win new licenses in supposedly competitive tenders administered by the   
   National Commission on    
   Television and Radio in late 2010.   
      
      
   2008 State of Emergency   
      
      
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