The Armenian authorities should allow peaceful demonstrations to take place, release those detained during recent demonstrations, immediately investigate any reported human rights abuses that took place and create fair conditions for the media, the Assembly said today following an urgent debate on the situation in the country. If no progress is made on these demands by the opening of the September session, the parliamentarians resolved to to reconsider the credentials of the Armenian delegation. However, they also called on the opposition to achieve its goals within the constitutional framework. Both sides should engage in a peaceful dialogue without preconditions, they stressed.
Here is the adopted text:

Provisional edition



Honouring of obligations and commitments by Armenia



Resolution 1374 (2004)^[1]


 

1.         Since the end of March 2004, a
series of protests were organised by the opposition forces in Armenia, calling
for the holding of a “referendum of confidence” in President Kocharian. The
possibility of such a referendum was first mentioned by the Armenian
Constitutional Court following the presidential elections in February and March
last year. The Constitutional Court later clarified its proposal and the
authorities qualify the opposition demands and protests as an attempt to seize
power by force.

2.         The demonstrations, while
announced, have not been authorised by the authorities who threatened their
organisers with criminal prosecution. Following the demonstrations on 5 April,
the prosecutor general opened criminal investigations in connection with the
rally of the opposition parties against several members of the opposition and
many more were arrested. On the same occasion, several journalists and
politicians were beaten up by unknown persons while the police were standing by
taking no action.

3.         New demonstrations took place
on 9, 10 and 12 April in Yerevan. In the early morning of 13 April, the security
forces violently dispersed some 2000-3000 protesters who were attempting to
march towards the presidential palace, calling for President Kocharian’s
resignation. The police reportedly used truncheons, water cannons and tear gas,
causing dozens of injuries. A number of protesters were arrested, including
members of parliament, some of whom are members of the Assembly, and some were
allegedly mistreated during their custody by the police. The security forces
also assaulted and arrested several journalists who were covering the opposition
rally.

4.         The tensions in Armenia
continue to run high; new protests are planned for the week of 26 April. For the
time being, there seems to be little room for dialogue between the authorities
and the opposition, even if some offers have been made and some members of the
ruling majority – and notably the Speaker of the Armenian parliament – have
begun criticising the heavy-handed crackdown on demonstrators.

5.         With regard to the conduct of
the authorities, the Parliamentary Assembly recalls that its actions are
contrary to the letter and the spirit of the recommendations formulated in its

Resolution 1361 (2004) adopted last January. It is particularly concerned
with the fact that:

i.          arrests, including on the
basis of the Administrative Code, ignored the demand to immediately end the
practice of administrative detention and change the Administrative Code used
as a legal basis for this practice;

ii.          the authorities refused to
authorise opposition rallies for reasons not permitted under the European
Convention on Human Rights. Moreover the new draft law on the procedure of
conducting gatherings, meetings, rallies and demonstrations, currently in the
parliamentary procedure, was evaluated as excessively restrictive by experts
of the Venice Commission;

iii.         persons detained during the
recent events were reportedly subjected to ill-treatment by police and
security forces, in spite of Assembly’s demands to take resolute and more
active steps to remedy misconduct by law enforcement officials;

iv.         freedom of expression
continues to be seriously curtailed and several acts of violence against
journalists, which took place during the recent events, were carried out or were
allowed to happen by the police and security forces.

6.         With regard to the conduct of
the opposition, the Assembly stresses that they should do their utmost to avoid
any future violence.

7.         As to their demands for the
holding of a “referendum of confidence” and the resignation of President
Kocharian, the Assembly stresses that:

i.          both the presidential, and
the parliamentary elections which followed in May last year were severely
criticised by the international community, including by the Assembly
delegations. The electoral process as a whole had not complied with
international standards and the irregularities observed notably included
biased media coverage, detention of opposition proxies and campaign staff,
falsification of results, intimidation of observers as well as generally
inadequate performance of the elections administration.

ii.          although the fraud, in
spite of its magnitude, did not decisively change the outcome of the elections
nor invalidate their final results, in its report on the honouring of
obligations and commitments by Armenia, adopted in January 2004 (Resolution
1361), the Assembly expressed profound disappointment at the conduct of the
elections and called for a thorough investigation into electoral fraud and an
end to the judicial impunity for those responsible for it.

8.         While insisting that the
Armenian authorities must fully comply with its recommendations concerning last
year’s flawed elections, the Assembly considers that the opposition, while
entitled fully to enjoy its constitutional right to peaceful assembly, should
strive to achieve its goals within the constitutional framework.

9.         The Assembly calls upon the
Armenian authorities to:

i.          allow peaceful
demonstrations and refrain from any further action which would legally, or in
practice, lead to unjustified restrictions to the freedom of assembly
guaranteed by the European Convention on human rights;

ii.          guarantee freedom of
movement within Armenia;

iii.         immediately investigate –
in a transparent and credible manner - the incidents and human rights abuses
reported during the recent events, including assaults of journalists and human
rights activists, and inform the Assembly of their findings and possible legal
actions against persons responsible;

iv.         immediately release the
persons detained for their participation in the demonstrations and immediately
end the practice of administrative detention and amend the Administrative Code
to this effect;

v.          take note of the fact that
the immunities of PACE members are valid during the whole year (PACE

Resolution 1325 (2003) and

Recommendation 1602 (2003)); accordingly it invites the competent Armenian
authorities to henceforth inform as soon as possible the President of the PACE
when Armenian members of that Assembly are prosecuted or detained;

vi.         create fair conditions for
the normal functioning of the media, notably as regards the issuing of
broadcasting licences to television companies, particularly to television
channel A1+;

vii.        send a written report to the
Assembly, before the opening of the June 2004 part-session, on the steps it
has taken with regard to sub-paragraphs 9.i to 9.vi.

10.        The Assembly calls upon the
authorities and the opposition to refrain from any action which may lead to
further violence and to engage in a dialogue without preconditions, with a view
to resolving the present conflict in accordance with Council of Europe standards
and European democratic practice.

11.        The Assembly believes that the
recent events have added a measure of urgency to its demands for Armenia’s full
and unconditional compliance with their obligations and commitments. It resolves
to instruct the Monitoring Committee to send its rapporteurs to Armenia to
present a report on the situation, particularly on the follow-up of the
recommendations set out in sub-paragraphs 9.i to 9.vi, as soon as appropriate,
and well before the opening of the September 2004 part-session.  If no progress
with regard to sub-paragraphs 9.i to 9.vi is made by the opening of the
September 2004 part-session, it resolves to reconsider the credentials of the
Armenian delegation in accordance with Rule 9 of the Rules of Procedure.

[1]
Assembly debate on 28 April 2004 (13^th Sitting) (see

Doc. 10163, report of the Committee on the Honouring of
Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe
(Monitoring Committee), Co-Rapporteurs: MM André and Jaskiernia). Text
adopted by the Assembly on 28 April 2004 (13^th Sitting).