On February 23, the EcoLur team met with the working group of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights dealing with issues related to the use of mercenaries at EcoLur Press Club.
The working group participants reported on the purpose of the visit to Armenia, which is to collect information, study and identify sources, causes, manifestations and trends in relation to mercenaries and security agencies who are employed by large private companies, and determine their possible impact on human rights. It was emphasized that they intend to work with all stakeholders to monitor the activities of private paramilitary and security companies and their impact on human rights.
In Armenia, the main interest is in the security guards hired by the mining companies. During the meeting, the participants addressed the clash between Lydian Armenia’s security guards on September 7, 2020 with the residents of Jermuk, who blocked the approaches to the Amulsar deposit, thus expressing their disagreement with the open-cast gold mining on Mount Amulsar, near the international resort of Jermuk and mineral sources.
The visit to Armenia in 2018 of the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, was also highly appreciated, who visited Vayots Dzor region and met with citizens fighting against Amulsar gold mine development project, and who recommended that the government conduct real consultation with communities to ensure business programs are in line with human rights principles.
Cases of actual cooperation between security guards and police have also been noted, such as when monitoring a cyanide tailing dump in Ararat, and vice versa, when the police prevented skirmishes from occurring, such as in Teghut.
February 24, 2023 at 16:14