By Heghine Buniatian
YEREVAN (Azatutyun.com) — The Armenian government’s bill for the mandatory installation of video surveillance systems with 24-hour police access throughout the capital, Yerevan, is unjustified and interferes with privacy and other rights, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday, October 31.
The bill, which passed its first parliamentary review in June, requires private entities in Yerevan to install surveillance cameras and provide police with live feed and access to recordings on demand.
“Widespread, indiscriminate video surveillance would inevitably lead to unjustified intrusions on privacy and cannot be defended as a measure necessary to improve public security in a democracy,” said Giorgi Gogia, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“Mass surveillance in public spaces would have a chilling effect on fundamental civil and political rights,” he added.
The systems in question collect personal data related to individuals’ identities, movements, and associations, and therefore should be subject to clear limitations to protect the right to privacy and other rights, Human Rights Watch said, stressing that a number of international bodies, including the UN Human Rights Committee, the European Court of Human Rights and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights have provided clear assessments on this issue.
