We, the civil society organizations, express our deep concern about the continuous development of SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) processes in Armenia, which is increasingly taking on more dangerous manifestations, endangering democracy and people's constitutional rights in the Republic of Armenia.

From January 31 to February 10, 2025, a social strike carried out by employees of Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine CJSC (ZCMC) was accompanied by the dismissal of 8 participants from their jobs.

After certain negotiations between the combine and the strikers, the strike was terminated, however, the dismissed employees were not only not reinstated to work, but in May 2025, ZCMC filed a lawsuit with the Court of General Jurisdiction of First Instance of Syunik Region of the Republic of Armenia against 8 citizens who participated in the strike from January 31 to February 11, 2025, and were dismissed from work for that reason, demanding compensation for damages allegedly caused to the company in the amount of 4,758,480,000 (four billion seven hundred fifty-eight million four hundred eighty thousand) Armenian drams.

The court satisfied ZCMC's motion to apply interim measures for securing the claim, and on May 20, 2025, a ban was placed on the property of these citizens.

We consider it important to emphasize that demanding such an amount from these 8 ordinary citizens (approximately 594,810,000 Armenian drams per each person) we consider as an intention to destroy the viability of these citizens. Such lawsuits are capable of having negative consequences and serving as a deterrent and silencing mechanism (chilling effect) for society and particularly for workers, so that they do not speak out about violations of rights and problems arising in labor relations.

The right to strike is one of the important rights in all civilized and democratic countries. Moreover, it stands at the foundations of social justice and democracy. Strikes, as such, occur more often in cases where a sufficient culture of dialogue has not been established in the employer-employee sphere, while spontaneous strikes occur when unions are not sufficiently independent.

All this is even more concerning when the Government of the Republic of Armenia is the co-owner of the company that filed the lawsuit.

SLAPP is applied particularly in states with authoritarian governance and is condemned by democratic states, international democratic institutions, and human rights organizations. The European Union and the Council of Europe have adopted directives and recommendations and urge partner and member states to develop legislation to counteract SLAPP processes, which in the case of the Republic of Armenia, as we see, is imperative and urgent (EU directives, CoE recommendations).

The continuous development of SLAPP processes in the Republic of Armenia does not fit into the logic of the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement and is an obstacle to Armenia's aspirations for rapprochement and integration with the European Union, which are already legally enshrined.

We, the civil society organizations, declare that the presented situation poses a threat to democracy and human rights protection in the Republic of Armenia, and we demand from the Government of the Republic of Armenia, as co-owner of ZCMC:

  • Ensure that the lawsuit filed against the combine's employees is withdrawn.
  • Provide a comprehensive solution to the issues raised by ZCMC strike participants and present a public report on this matter.
  • Reinstate the dismissed citizens to their former positions.
  • Undertake work to develop and implement legislation to protect citizens from SLAPP processes in the Republic of Armenia.

Signatory Organizations:

  1. "Centre for Community Mobilization and Support" NGO
  2. "Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center" NGO
  3. "Human Rights Research Center" NGO
  4. "Journalists for Human Rights" NGO
  5. "Rights Protection Without Borders" NGO
  6. "Green Armenia" NGO
  7. "Helsinki Group of Spitak" NGO
  8. "Union of Informed Citizens" NGO
  9. "Democracy Platform" Foundation
  10. "Communities Finance Officers Association" NGO
  11. "Healthy Hrazdan" civic initiative
  12. "Healthy Environment" NGO
  13. "New Horizons" NGO
  14. Helsinki Citizens' Assembly Vanadzor
  15. "Youth Civic Center" NGO
  16. "Armash" Rural Communities Support and Development Center NGO
  17. "Shoghik Union" Social-Educational NGO
  18. Democracy Development Foundation
  19. "Europe in Law" NGO
  20. "MITK" Educational-Youth Initiative NGO
  21. "Freedom of Information Center of Armenia" NGO
  22. "Center for Policy Studies" NGO
  23. "Success Lady" NGO
  24. "Consumer Advisory Center" NGO
  25. "EcoLur" Informational NGO
  26. "Armenian Forests" Environmental NGO
  27. "Public Control" NGO
  28. Chemical Safety Coalition