According to the “2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Armenia” by the US State Department, non-governmental organizations in Armenia have expressed concern about the lack of effective investigations into non-violent activities leading to deaths and the lack of accountability for these deaths and the bodies of the victims.

Human rights defenders have identified the failure or neglect to conduct independent and impartial investigations as the main obstacle to probing military deaths. This includes cases involving civilian casualties. The Armenian government, according to the US report, has not taken action against any member of the security forces or any other individual for human rights violations related to the use of force. This encompasses the deaths of five individuals in recent years, up until the resolution in 2022.

Meanwhile, the US foreign policy establishment, in its report, highlights that its human rights monitoring has found ineffective handling of certain controversial actions by law enforcement groups unrelated to recent military actions. These groups were established in 2020 by the Prime Minister of Armenia. On February 17, the working group defenders and the victims’ relatives published a comprehensive list of law enforcement officials they believe were involved in concealing deaths. On April 25, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered the government to pay €50,000 ($54,100) in compensations to former Prime Minister Tigran Ohanjanyan, implicated in five cases. The ECHR confirmed that the government’s investigations into these deaths had been superficial, and they were unable to address the issue of compensation. The report praises the credibility of the 2007 investigation into Ohanjanyan’s deaths, considering it indicative and commendable.

It should be noted that within the past year, “no communications have been received indicating that the government or its representatives, or any criminal or miscarriage of justice, have committed any acts of violence, including illegal killings, against human rights defenders.”