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===== Armenia =====
{{main|Human rights in Armenia}}
[[2008 Armenian presidential election protests|A series of mass protests]] were held in [[Armenia]] in the wake of the [[2008 Armenian presidential election|Armenian presidential election]] of 19 February 2008. Mass protests against alleged electoral fraud were held in the capital city of [[Yerevan]] and organised by supporters of the unsuccessful presidential candidate and first President of Armenia, [[Levon Ter-Petrosyan]]. After nine days of peaceful protests at the Opera Square, the national police and military forces tried to disperse the protesters on 1 March.<ref name="COEReportMar20">[https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1265025&Site=CommDH&BackColorInternet=FEC65B&BackColorIntranet=FEC65B&BackColorLogged=FFC679 "Report by the Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr Thomas Hammarberg, on his special mission to Armenia, 12 – 15 march 2008"], Council of Europe, March 20, 2008.</ref> The protests began on February 20 February, lasted for 10 days in [[Freedom Square, Yerevan|Yerevan's Freedom Square]], and involved tens of thousands of demonstrators during the day and hundreds camping out overnight. As a result, 10 people were killed. Despite the urges of the government to stop the demonstrations, the protests continued until March 1 March. On the morning of March 1 March, police and army units dispersed the 700–1,000 persons who remained overnight, beating them with truncheons and [[Electroshock weapon|electric-shock devices]].<ref name="ArmNowMar1Noon">[http://www.armenianow.com "Protestor on scene tells of melee"], ArmeniaNow.com, March 1, 2008</ref><ref name="HRW1">[http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/03/02/armeni18189.htm "Armenia: Police Beat Peaceful Protesters in Yerevan"], [[Human Rights Watch]] (NY), March 2, 2008.</ref><ref name="ArmLibMar1a">[http://www.armenialiberty.org/armeniareport/report/en/2008/03/FFAB3C6D-A75D-4E48-B0D6-5D3A83069160.ASP Ter-Petrosyan ‘Under House Arrest,’ Rally Broken Up], [[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]], March 1, 2008. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123052730/http://www.armenialiberty.org/armeniareport/report/en/2008/03/FFAB3C6D-A75D-4E48-B0D6-5D3A83069160.ASP |date=November 23, 2008 }}</ref> As of March 4 March, many protesters are still missing.<ref name="ArmLibMar4b">[http://www.armenialiberty.org/armeniareport/report/en/2008/03/D816B1BC-CAE4-47EF-9A5B-E55169ADE4BC.ASP "Human Rights Watch Demands Probe Into Armenian Crackdown"], Armenia Liberty ([[RFE/RL]]), March 4, 2008. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090412005838/http://www.armenialiberty.org/armeniareport/report/en/2008/03/D816B1BC-CAE4-47EF-9A5B-E55169ADE4BC.ASP |date=April 12, 2009 }}</ref> Since March 1 March, Ter-Petrosyan was placed under ''de facto'' house arrest.<ref name="COEReportMar20"/><ref name="ArmLibMar1a"/><ref>[http://www.eurasianet.org/armenia08/news/030108.shtml "Armenia: At Least 2 Dead in Yerevan Violence, as Kocharian Declares State of Emergency"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080903224655/http://www.eurasianet.org/armenia08/news/030108.shtml |date=2008-09-03 }}, Armenia: Vote 2008 (EurasiaNet.org), March 1, 2008.</ref>
===== Belarus =====
{{main|Human rights in Russia}}
Russia has partaken in some questionable acts, such as replacing elected governors with appointed ones and [[Censorship in Russia|censoring the press]], claiming many of these measures are needed to maintain control over its volatile [[Caucasus]] border, where several rebel groups are based. ''The Economist''`s [[Democracy Index]] classified Russia as a "hybrid regime" in 2007,.<ref name="economist.com"/> Since then
Russia was downgraded to an [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]] regime, which the report attributes to concerns over the [[2011 Russian legislative election|December 4 December legislative election]] and [[Vladimir Putin]]'s decision to run again in the [[2012 Russian presidential election|2012 presidential election]].<ref>"Democracy index 2011: Democracy under stress". Economist Intelligence Unit. 14 December 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2011.</ref> 2015 [[Democracy Index]] showed the same result.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Democracy Index 2015|url=http://www.yabiladi.com/img/content/EIU-Democracy-Index-2015.pdf|access-date=2021-01-04}}</ref>
==== Former Yugoslavian states ====
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