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U.S. Department of State: Armenian authorities restrict religious freedom

Politics Materials 10 April 2011 16:25 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, April 10 / Trend /

Ethnic Armenian separatists, with Armenia's support, continued to control most of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and seven surrounding Azerbaijani territories, the U.S. Department of State report on human rights in Armenian for 2010 says.

The report says that citizens' right to change their government through peaceful elections was restricted due to repeated, significant flaws in the conduct of elections.

"Some members of the security forces continued to commit human rights abuses with impunity while under the direction of civilian leadership. During the year suspicious deaths occurred in the military under noncombat conditions, while hazing and other mistreatment of conscripts by officers and fellow soldiers, and a lack of accountability for such actions, continued," the report says.

"Police reportedly beat citizens during arrest and interrogation. Overcrowding contributed to a significant worsening of prison conditions," said in the report.

According to the report, authorities continued to arrest and detain criminal suspects without reasonable suspicion and to detain arbitrarily individuals due to their opposition political affiliations or political activities.

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 media, in particular television, continued to lack diversity of opinion and objective reporting; incidents of violence, intimidation, and self-censorship against and in the press continued, the report of the U.S. Department of State says.

Authorities continued to deny requests by opposition parties and other groups to gather or hold rallies at requested venues arbitrarily, sometimes providing alternative venues, and sometimes preventing persons from attending rallies. Authorities and laws restricted religious freedom. Corruption remained a problem, with authorities taking limited measures to curb it, said in the report.

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