Over 100 people were injured, including at least 10 journalists, as Armenian police officers misused crowd-control weapons against unarmed demonstrators outside their Parliament building on June 12th, 2024. Inside Parliament, security guards targeted and forcibly removed clearly identified journalists, potentially violating the constitutionally protected right to freedom of the press.
Context
Through the summer of 2024, over 30,000 rallied in Yerevan, Armenia’s capital city, for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation. Led by archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, the “Tavush for the Homeland” movement demonstrations began in response to Pashinyan’s decision to cede control of four Armenian villages to Azerbaijan, with whom Armenia has had a longstanding conflict.
Weapon Deployment
On June 12th, police reportedly used an unprecedented 25 stun grenades against protesters. According to the Union of Informed Citizens (UIC) programme director, Daniel Ionnasyan, 20 of the grenades were used against those who were ‘retreating, fleeing, and providing support to the wounded.’ No evidence of warnings for the stun grenade deployment has been found.
Stun grenades, also known as disorientation devices, are crowd-control weapons used to create a sense of disorientation and panic through acoustic and light effects. The use of these weapons can cause temporary blindness and loss of hearing, shrapnel-related injuries, internal trauma, burns, respiratory damage, and death. The OHCHR’s Guidance on Less-Lethal Weapons, which states that the use of stun grenades directly against a person would be unlawful, was violated on June 12th when at least three journalists were hospitalized after being directly hit by these weapons.
The UIC also found that the authorities illegally used the more powerful and unregulated version of the stun grenade, Zarya-3, which was not on the Armenian Ministry of Health’s list of authorized crowd control equipment until 14 days later, on June 26th. The Health Ministry confirmed on June 12 that at least 57 people were or had been hospitalized with shrapnel wounds which experts say could have been caused by Zarya-3 but not Zarya-2. One of the injured protesters had three of his fingers amputated as a result. As of June 2025, the Armenian authorities still had not confirmed the type of stun grenades used on June 12th.
Attacks Against Observers and Members of the Press
Armenian police officers and Special Forces targeted and severely injured several members of the press. Among them was ABC Media Reporter and commentator, Abraham Gasparyan. Eyewitness accounts say that six Special Forces officers pointed to him and ordered others to “pull him in front of the cameras.” Around twenty officers then proceeded to beat and strip Mr. Gasparyan naked, even after he lost consciousness while telling him that he “should die.” Mr. Gasparyan was diagnosed with multiple concussions, lacerations, and rib fractures.
Three other journalists were hospitalized after being hit directly by stun grenades, and another broke his leg while fleeing from a blast. One protester, Esayi Karamyan, suffered an amputation of an entire hand and severe damage to his other hand after picking up a stun grenade to prevent others from stepping on it.
Complaints/updates
Human Rights Watch, the International Press Institute (IPI), Amnesty International, and the Armenian Bar Association (ABA) have all filed reports against the Armenian government and its law enforcement agencies for the use of excessive force. In its report, the ABA noted that the use of stun grenades on June 12th appears to have constituted a violation of the right to peaceful assembly, which is protected by the Armenian Constitution, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the European Convention on Human Rights, to which Armenia is a party. Several press freedom organizations, including Reporters Without Borders, Yerevan Press Club, and the Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression, have called for independent investigations of June 12th’s events and for accountability to be brought to those responsible for harm.
Prime Minister Pashinyan and Armenia’s President Vahagn Khachatursyan have continued to defend the State’s actions on June 12th and criticize the protestors’ actions. As of April 2025, no Armenian officers had been indicted for the legality of police response.
To learn more about stun grenades, visit Lethal in Disguise’s page on disorientation devices. To read more case studies on the use of stun grenades in protests, click here.
Case study by INCLO intern Devyn Van Boven, April 2025.
