How were protest waves suppressed in Armenia in different periods? 

The leader of the “Tavush for the Motherland” movement, Bagrat Archbishop Galstanyan, considered what happened at the Baghramyan-Demirchyan intersection on June 12 as unprecedented, declaring: “What happened on June 12 was beyond understanding, comprehension and expectations. During the entire existence of Armenia, there was no such repression on people who assembled peacefully.”

Archbishop Bagrat made this announcement during the assembly in Baghramyan avenue on June 13.

Reminder: on June 12, when countering the demonstrators who were carrying out a protest at the Baghramyan-Demirchyan intersection, the police forces used special measures, in particular, stun grenades. As a result of police operations, 101 citizens were wounded, including journalists. The government claims that the police used proportionate force to stop the attack of the protesters, while the opposition condemns it, stating that the police acted on the basis of an illegal decision.

Fact Investigation Platform has collected the facts and presents episodes from the past of independent Armenia showing how the waves of people’s protests were suppressed at different times. The study shows that it is not at all the case that “in the entire period of Armenia, there were no repressions to this degree on people who assembled peacefully”, as claimed by Archbishop Bagrat.

In September 1996, Baghramyan avenue was blocked again, the reason, according to the opposition, was the rigged presidential elections. Presidential candidate Vazgen Manukyan demanded the annulment of Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s victory. Following his demand, when entering the building of the National Assembly, the candidate Vazgen Manukyan told the people assembled in Baghramyan: “If I don’t return in 15 minutes, come after me.” And so it happened. The people followed him, as a result the bars of the Parliament were broken, there was an attack on the special forces, the President and Vice President of the National Assembly were beaten up. The people were dispersed with water cannons, shots aimed at the air and batons.

The next blockade of Baghramyan took place on April 12, 2004. Dissatisfied with the results of the 2nd round of the presidential elections that took place almost a year ago (in the Robert Kocharyan-Stepan Demirchyan contest, according to official data, Kocharyan won), the dissatisfied people demanded to execute the Constitutional Court ruling, according to which the  confidence referendum should be held one year after the presidential elections. Stepan Demirchyan led the people’s march from near Matenadaran to Baghramyan Avenue on April 12. Kocharyan’s government cleared the avenue of protesters that night with violent police methods, hundreds of people were arrested, and the avenue was already free for traffic at dawn.

According to various sources, on that day, 4 water cannons and 5 special vehicles laying barbed wire, more than 1000 policemen and soldiers were brought to the presidential residence. A special operations squad was stationed in the territory of the presidential office armed with batons, shields, and automatic rifles firing rubber bullets. The street lighting of Baghramyan Avenue was turned off at exactly midnight. In the night of April 13, at 2:00 a.m., policemen and soldiers armed with batons, using explosives, tear gas, tasers, water cannons, and firing rubber bullets, attacked the protesters on Baghramyan Avenue.

Vazgen Manukyan, comparing it with what happened in 1996, said, “In 1996, the people attacked the National Assembly, they were shot, we had many wounded, etc. Yesterday was a completely peaceful demonstration, some of you were present there and you saw that the people were really dancing and rejoicing while waiting for the resignation of Robert Kocharyan. What happened was a military operation.”

The next attack on peaceful protesters was in the early morning of March 1, 2008, when, according to Robert Kocharyan, who was still in office at that time, “Freedom Square was cleared with the use of police operations.” The police used batons and tasers in Freedom Square. According to Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s headquarters, at that moment, 4,000 citizens peacefully spent the night in the square protesting against the results of the elections held on February 19, when Serzh Sargsyan was elected President according to official data.

Later on March 1, the center of Yerevan resembled a battlefield, in which, in addition to the police, some units of the army also participated. Kocharyan declared a state of emergency. On March 1, 2008, as a result of police shootings and force, 10 casualties were recorded, hundreds of citizens were taken to hospitals. The consequences of police brutality were so terrifying that, according to witnesses, it was possible to see body parts and bullets in different parts of the streets.

The next operation against peaceful protesters in Baghramyan Avenue was on June 23, 2015. There have been protests in Yerevan since June 19 against the increase in electricity tariffs. The initiative named “Electric Yerevan” demanded the President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, to cancel the decision of June 17, 2015, of the Public Services Regulatory Commission with respect to the increase in the price of electricity in the territory of Armenia. On the morning of June 23, at around 5:30, the RA police used water cannons against the peaceful demonstrators, and dispersed the peaceful assembly of young people with the help of special operations squad. As a result of the operations, hundreds of citizens were hospitalized and detained. During those events, 22 journalists and cameramen were injured.

Exactly one year after these events, on July 29, 2016, the events of Saritagh took place, when the police dispersed the demonstration using special measures and used violence against journalists. The operations of the police were led by Levon Yeranosyan, the Deputy Chief of Police of RA at that time, and Ashot Karapetyan, the Chief of Police of Yerevan. One of the victims recalled that in the evening of July 29, 2016, in Saritagh, the police threw stun grenades among the protesters, and used special measures violating the mandatory requirement not to throw grenades among people.

From the middle of April, 2018, there were actions of disobedience in the whole territory of Armenia, streets and roads were blocked. They were most pronounced in Yerevan. Since April 13, Pashinyan and his supporters had blocked France Square. In the morning of April 16, the protesters failed to block the streets leading to the National Assembly. For such attempts, the police detained dozens of protesters, concentrating large forces on Baghramyan Avenue. The police installed barbed wire. On that day, the situation between the demonstrators and the police forces became tense. As a result of the stampede and the stun grenade used by the police, Pashinyan and 6 policemen were wounded.

The movement led by Pashinyan was increasingly becoming crowded, the actions of disobedience were persistent. On April 22, the special forces of the police arrested three members of the National Assembly: Nikol Pashinyan, Sasun Mikayelyan, and Ararat Mirzoyan. On April 23, the 11th day of the public uprising, Serzh Sargsyan resigned.

During the years of Pashinyan’s rule after 2018, there have been various protests in Armenia, and the largest was the protest action that took place on November 10 after the 44-day war in 2020, when protesters opposing the tripartite statement signed after the war and demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister attacked the government building, breaking windows and property, then the National Assembly, as well as stormed the government residence. Ararat Mirzoyan, President of the National Assembly at that time, was brutally beaten in the area adjacent to the government’s private residences.

On April 22, 2022, the parliamentary opposition forces launched the “Resistance” movement in Armenia. “This is a sacred struggle, this is a struggle for the sake of Artsakh and Armenia, therefore, we have no room to retreat, we have no alternative, we go till the end and win. We are starting,” Ishkhan Saghatelyan declared. Streets were sporadically blocked in Yerevan, but these actions were short-lived. The police regularly detained the participants of the actions. On June 3, protesters demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister were near government residential houses, where the police formed a wall.

At some point, there was a clash between the protesters and the police, as a result, the police detained 11 activists and used stun grenade launchers. The Ministry of Health announced that as of 23:00 on June 3, 50 people had approached different medical centers following the incident. 34 of them were police officers, and 16 were civilians.

Hasmik Hambardzumyan