News

ARMENIA: Will new alternative service law end defiance of Council of Europe?
As Armenia prepares the fourth version of its Alternative Service Law, first adopted in 2004, Justice Minister David Harutyunyan has told Forum 18 News Service that the draft now being prepared will "very soon" be sent...
ARMENIA: Nearly 50 Jehovah's Witness and Molokan prisoners of conscience
Numbers of religious prisoners of conscience in Armenian jails continue to increase, despite a January 2004 promise to the Council of Europe to free all conscientious objectors and introduce a genuinely civilian...
Kocharian Pledges Major Progress In Human Rights Protection
Armenia’s Office of the Human Rights Defender formally resumed its activities on Monday, with President Robert Kocharian saying that it should do a better job under a new ombudsman loyal to his administration. The work...
European Parliament Strongly Condemns Azerbaijan's Destruction of the Djugha Armenian Cemetery
February 16, 2006 The European Parliament today overwhelmingly adopted a resolution condemning the Azerbaijani government's destruction of the Armenian cemetery in Djulfa, a unique archaeological treasure located in the...
Violence in the Ranks: Army conscript says he was raped by comrades
A conscript in the Armenian Army has come forward with charges that he was raped by fellow soldiers, including an officer, while serving at a post in the Nagorno Karabakh border village of Talish. Last week Narek...
"Azg" Editor-In-Chief Sees No Prospects of Development of Armenian Press
"If the press hasn't regressed, it at least stamps at place." Hakob Avetikian, the Editor-in-Chief of the "Azg" daily estimated in this way the state of the Armenian press at the February 17 meeting at the National...
Kocharian Adviser Elected Ombudsman
The National Assembly elected a longtime aide to President Robert Kocharian as Armenia’s new human rights ombudsman on Friday in a second vote in just over a week that reaffirmed its loyalty to the head of state. Armen...
<b>Vahe Grigoryan was released last night</b>
Vahe Grigoryan was released last night at around 19:00.The Court of Appeals made the decision to change the preventive measure towards attorney Vahe Grigoryan yesterday. Until then, a number of human rights...
Opposition Demands ‘Transparent’ Vote On Ombudsman
The opposition minority in the Armenian parliament demanded on Thursday additional safeguards against a possible manipulation of the National Assembly’s second attempt to elect the country’s new human rights ombudsman...
Human Rights Lawyer Set Free, For Now
A human rights lawyer, who was controversially arrested last October after helping evicted residents of Yerevan sue the Armenian government, was unexpectedly released from a maximum-security prison late on Wednesday....