Soon it may be illegal to sit... at all, anywhere in Armenia

UPDATE: On May 29, Vardges Gaspari was taken into police custody (from RFE/RL, Arm. only). I have not yet seen any more information of his further detainment or release, though there were initial assurances by police that he would be released quickly.



With the completion of the underground parking lot under Liberty Square, the Square itself is now open, has been open, for a few days.
And on May 28, a small group of opposition activists, including Vardges Gaspari (known for his sit-ins) and Tigran Arakelyan (both former political prisoners), Vladimir Karapetyan of HAK and others of the HAK youth, chose to express their basic and supposedly 'protected' rights of freedom of speech, expression, and gathering.

But that is not protected in Armenia. And especially not in Liberty Square.

Just how scared must this regime be, that it seems within minutes not only police, but red berets, had swarmed around those sitting, and had starting not only arguing, but grabbing, pushing and shoving those seated and walking around. There are two videos that I've seen (a1plus and rfe/rl).

The number of police and red berets that are present is unbelievable. And the more people sit, the more the police and red berets become agitated, trying to remove them, and even trying to provoke the protesters, with grabbing, twisting and shoving. One segment shows a police officer repeatedly pushing Tigran Arakelyan, whose clearly visible hands are not even near the policeman. When they threaten to arrest Vardges Gaspari, he offers them his wrists - they clearly don't know what to do with that response, and later, he lays down, holding his protest sign to his chest. The police and red berets are unable to actually explain WHY they are trying to remove the protesters, unable to answer what law is being breached by having individuals sit on the ground, except for one time, when a red beret says "because it is an 'action' [political action or act]".

Vladimir Karapetyan points out to one of the police, that one month ago, we gathered, and there were no problems. We gathered, many people, and there was no problem. The policeman is completely confused, and says when? April 6, Karapetyan answers. Which of you [police] were here? Not a single one of you, because you were at home, with your families and children. And everything was normal, calm. Because there were no police. The response: a moment of a befuddled blank look, and then back to... You have to leave this area.... Back to playing the broken record they're ordered to... For those who don't remember, that's when FIDH was in Yerevan, and ended up joining the peaceful protest.

I watched the video, and wondered, where oh where is my Bazaz? I thought maybe he was trying to hide in the shadows, until I paid closer attention. Early in the a1plus segment, Vladimir Karapetyan gets shoved by someone, and then says "Mr. Melkonyan..." And, in fact, it is he, my Bazaz, stomping around like a rooster who has had too much coffee, ordering the removal of this person, shoving that person, yelling at this policeman, grabbing another protester... more stomping, and ordering of more backup ("Get ten people and come over"), and more stomping.

Bazaz, jan, no brown suit (that you were wearing that day), or black, or grey, or even pink, can mask your essence, can hold back your true feelings, so you may as well wear your army fatigues or police uniform. But, if you're going for a new look, may I suggest a pink silk shirt with white cuffs and collar, I hear it is all the rage in Yerevan these days.

Some basic arithmetic might help

A week or two ago there was an HAK statement regarding the 180 degree turn police took while the FIDH conference was going on. In an attempt to make the police and authorities of Armenia appear to have a developed sense of Human Rights and Democracy, the demonstration and march had a minimal police presence, with no provocations or violent actions. But what it really highlighted boils down to simple arithmetic (maybe some basic algebra is involved):

(1) Police + demonstrators = demonstration + altercations/violence
(as 2 years of demonstrations have shown us)

(2) Demonstrators = demonstration + (- altercations/violence)
(quantity negative/lack of altercations and violence)

If we do the subtraction, we are left with

(3) Police = altercations/violence

But is this really the case? Is this mathematical finding true? Let’s add some recent and past events. I won’t list them, but just a quick stroll through any of the papers or blogs, or Human Rights reports for that matter, shows what seem to be endless lists of police and red berets beating, punching (with brass knuckles at times), pushing, kidnapping, and opening fire on demonstrators. In addition to Levon Gulyan’s apparently curious and accidental death while in police custody, now there is the case of Vahan Khalafyan, who somehow obtained bruises and knife marks on his body and two (assumed) fatal stab wounds to his belly, also while in police custody. His friends were luckier, and were only beaten and threatened with sexual assault. Now, Police Chief Alik Sargsyan said right away that this was suicide, and that there was absolutely no torture involved (how he knew so quickly is unclear). As Alik Sargsyan pointed out, why would you torture someone if they have already confessed (see hnazarian). But just yesterday a policeman was arrested for possibly forcing him to commit suicide (which is just nauseating – see unzipped). Police presence alone is associated with violence. Now, the police themselves don’t understand why anyone would have this impression, as Bazaz so kindly pointed out (see my last post).

So independently of the equations above, we arrive at:

(4) Police=Altercations/Violence

We could even add on a little here. As HAK pointed out, the police are basically the minions of the oligarchs and authorities. And what do the bosses of the police do when left to their own? The same thing. Take last weekend – two gangs basically had a shoot-out. But they weren’t just any gangs, they were actually members of two different political parties. And according to at least one source, it seems at least one high up government official was there too, though it is being denied. And this most recent skirmish was not the only one. So, as the police are actors of the authorities, it makes sense that:

(5) Authorities=Altercations/Violence

And in the end it all fits together. Whether we subtract out equation (2) from equation (1) and get (3), or look at (4) and (5) which were arrived at independently with independent data, we arrive at the same conclusion. It is the police presence, the actors of the authorities, which bring violence. Not the demonstrators, not the
marches.

Not that we didn’t all know this already. The manipulative and violent tactics of the current regime, as well as the desperate measures it is willing to take to buy time while they are in their current quagmire. Unfortunately, it is Human Rights and Democracy in Armenia, and most importantly, the people of Armenia , who have paid the price thus far.

And many in the West who purport to stand for Human Rights and Democracy, used this to their own political ends, and supported and trusted Sargsyan. But now they know the truth firsthand. The top story on rfe/rl today is "Armenia Stall Turkey Deal."

I wonder what comes next…

N.B. But, according to Oskanyan, the main problems in Armenia are the economic and political monopolies. Not lack of Human Rights, Police Violence, or any of that. Wow. At least mention it in there, somewhere, Mr. Oskanyan.

On self-restraint, sitting on concrete, and lay-ins

While the FIDH conference was happening, the police tried to behave themselves. They managed to do so on the first day, though they didn't do as well on the second. I imagine folks like Bazaz were bursting at the seams to just go beat up someone, or at least something. But, for those two days, or at least the first one, he just wasn't around. Which may be the only way someone like him can resist abusing and attacking peaceful protesters, by just not being around them.

Soon after, Pashinyan's appeal regarding the January Parliamentary seat election went back to court. Of course, he wasn't allowed to be there - that would just be a crazy idea. Pashinyan's supporters were outside, and it seems the police who were there were probably using one of their new "techniques" to keep the peace: they kept repeating that they were trying to keep things calm, and didn't want disruptions, and wanted people to move onto the sidewalk. Sounds good, right? Except that they weren't making any disturbance, and were ALREADY on the sidewalk.

For those who watch the web videos, the face and voice of former political prisoner Vardges Gaspari has become quite familiar. He is quite impassioned, and can often be seen chanting even when others have stopped. And I remember at least one occasion where he staged his own lay-in - he just lay right down on the ground amongst the protesters, refusing to move. And this is just what he did outside of Pashinyan's case just last week, with a huge picture of Pashinyan draped on top of him, refusing to move.

I think that, for many reasons, people just have no idea what to do with this. Sitting, much less laying, on the street in Armenian culture is very, very, odd - its just not done. Next time you are in Armenia, sit on the pavement -people will walk past you and just look at you like you're absolutely crazy. And having a man, especially an older man, laying on the street makes many, as can be seen in the videos, very uncomfortable, apart from what he is yelling and why he is doing it.

The police are in an even tougher spot when he does this. Because they too feel uncomfortable with the site, but they also know they're supposed to do something about it. But what? What do you do with someone lying down on the ground?

And that is exactly the point. Sit-ins, or lay-ins, are a great way to make life peacefully difficult for those who want to harass or beat you. It is civil disobedience at its best.

[photo from Aravot]