We demand that the draft law on emergency legal status be withdrawn from circulation - Announcement

On March 30, 2020, an extraordinary sitting of the National Assembly was convened ,on the initiative of the Government of the Republic of Armenia, the agenda of which was the Draft Law of the Republic of Armenia on Amendments to the law on emergency legal status (hereinafter: Draft).

We highly appreciate the Government's steps to protect the health and life of the population, but none of these issues are addressed in this project. Emergency measures by the state should not depart from the principles of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. The draft contains a number of problematic regulations that create disproportionate and unnecessary restrictions on the protection of personal data, privacy and family life, freedom of communication and privacy rights.

Let us note that in a state of emergency there already exist restrictions on the right to free movement. The principle of proportionality requires that preference be given to less intrusive solutions, taking into account the specific pursued purpose. The introduction of additional oversight mechanisms could disrupt the entire human rights system and have irreversible consequences for the function of democratic institutions.

The Council of Europe and the European Union have already highlighted the issue of protecting personal data during the fight against new coronavirus disease (COVID-2019).

Questions arise as to what security mechanisms and measures will be used to prevent leaks of personal data and third party access to such data. One of the issues is also where personal data will be stored. There is no link between the personal data being processed and the purpose set. And the question arises as to how appropriate it is to control the number and duration of calls, and anything that has nothing to do with mobility.

Unlike GPS, location data is very low precision, so the benefits of using it are highly questionable. That is to say, collecting this data would be of no use in the fight against the virus. In addition, the toolkit used to process this data is quite expensive and requires large state budget expenditures. So we urge not to waste money on crediting and processing ineffective data.

The absence of any effective, applicable mechanism for recording, preventing, and abusing the proposed limitations may not only lead to uncontrolled human rights violations, failing to achieve the intended aim of preventing the coronavirus epidemic, but may also make people's lives and safety more vulnerable.

We consider the project to be a gross violation of personal data protection, privacy and family privacy, freedom of communication and privacy in a state of emergency and demand that it be removed.

At the same time, we urge the Government to invest all possible resources and efforts in identifying the scope of possible contact with the infected and enforce their isolation, and to increase population testing, which is the most effective means of properly and timely detecting the cases.

Open Society Foundations-Armenia,

Peace Dialogue NGO,

Helsinki Citizens' Assembly Vanadzor office