A/HRC/41/41/Add.4 B. 1. Challenges and good practices Management of assemblies 44. The proper management of assemblies requires the protection and enjoyment of a broad range of rights by all the parties involved. Those who take part in assemblies have a number of protected rights, including the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, expression, association and belief; participation in the conduct of public affairs; bodily integrity, which includes the rights to security, to be free from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and to life; dignity; privacy; and an effective remedy for all human rights violations (A/HRC/31/66, para. 8). 45. The powers of the police to impose restrictions on assemblies, including spontaneous and urgent assemblies, is governed by the law on assemblies and the law on the police of 2001. Government decree No. 151-N of 11.01.2007 “on approving the procedure for police patrol service” and other normative and departmental acts, provide legal grounds for law enforcement action. 46. The Special Rapporteur agrees that over time, the action of law enforcement officials has improved in the management of assemblies throughout the country and that during the massive demonstrations in April and May 2018, a good level of dialogue and negotiations between the police and the organizers or participants were observed. 47. In that regard, the Special Rapporteur notes that a course entitled “Clarifications on the law on freedom of assembly and the powers of the police during assemblies” is taught at the professional development department of the Police. He was also informed that the management of assemblies is a programme that is regularly offered by the legal department of the police academy to middle-level and senior groups of police officers, community police and other officials. In addition, lectures, seminars, group discussions and analyses of case scenarios related to the right to freedom of assembly are also offered, with the aim of developing negotiation and persuasion skills and thereby limiting the use of physical force, “special means” and firearms. 48. According to the law on the police, special means are part of the police gear used in case officials need to use coercive measures against those engaged in assemblies when a certain level of violence is perceived. They include rubber truncheons, cartridges with rubber bullets, diversionary flash and acoustic means, means to dismantle barriers and to forcibly stop people and vehicles, electroshock weapons, triggered spark dischargers, service dogs, water cannons and armoured vehicles, which are used under the criteria established by order No. 09-N of 20 April 2012 of the Minister of Health. 49. The Special Rapporteur was informed that in some instances, the police limited the exercise of this right, putting an end to peaceful demonstrations without reasonable cause by forcibly taking participants to police stations or by dispersing them or their leaders using disproportionate force. In addition, he received allegations of a disproportionate police presence at some assemblies and the presence of plain-clothes police officers during peaceful gatherings. 50. For instance, during the 2015 protests against higher electricity bills, known as the Electric Yerevan Movement, the Special Rapporteur learned that the police used water cannon and beat protesters with truncheons and shields or suffocated them by using their arms. He also learned that they forcibly arrested over 200 protesters and assaulted over a dozen journalists who were present at the site and destroyed their equipment, including cameras and mobile phones. 51. The Special Rapporteur also heard allegations of unprecedented and disproportionate use of force during the assemblies held in July 2016. The police reportedly used flash grenades and acoustic flash grenades against the protesters, reporters, and individuals who were not participants but passers-by and residents of nearby buildings. As a result of the violence and clashes and the application of special means during the assemblies, in particular in the Sari Tagh neighbourhood, 72 individuals, including police officers and children, sought medical assistance in health-care facilities. 7