1. Freedom of Media

a. Armenian Media Again Rated ‘Not Free’ By U.S.
Watchdog

[29.04.2004]

The Armenian media has been rated “not free” by a renowned U.S. human rights
organization for the second consecutive year.

The New York-based watchdog Freedom House put Armenia in a lowly 135th place in
its latest global press freedom rankings of 193 nations released on Wednesday.
They were all assessed on a 100-point negative scale gauging economic and
political pressures on media as well as the legal environment in which they
operate.

Armenia was assigned a score of 64 along with four other nations, including
Singapore and the Central African Republic.

Freedom House did not immediately release separate reports on Armenia and most
of the other countries surveyed to elaborate on its findings, promising to make
them public soon. The watchdog cited “the government’s repeated use of security
or criminal libel laws to stifle criticism” and the closure of the independent
A1+ television when it downgraded the status of the Armenian media from “partly
free” to “not free” last year.

Georgia thus remains the only South Caucasus state where the press is “partly
free,” according to Freedom House. Azerbaijan again fared even more poorly than
Armenia, sharing 156th place with Guinea and Kyrgyzstan.

The study claims a “substantial worldwide decline” in press freedom in 2003.
“Fewer and fewer people throughout the world have uncensored and unfettered
access to information about their own countries,” the executive director of
Freedom House, Jennifer Windsor, said in a statement.

The situation with press freedom in Armenia also prompted concern from the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). “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,” it said in a resolution on
Wednesday.

The PACE urged the Armenian authorities to “create fair conditions for the
normal functioning of the media” and in particular reopen A1+.

By Anna Saghabalian

You can download the text of Freedom House global press freedom ranking
here



http://new.csi.am/eng/index1.php?goto=news&id=1665

b. Pro-Opposition Editor To Run Private TV

26.04.2004

The editor of a daily newspaper sympathetic to the Armenian opposition confirmed
on Monday reports that he has accepted an offer to manage a private television
station made by its new pro-government owner.

Aram Abrahamian of the “Aravot” daily told RFE/RL that he agreed to take over as
director general of the Kentron TV because he was given a blank check to ensure
a “free, unrestricted and impartial” coverage of events in Armenia.

The surprise news follows the channel’s unexpected sale by its previous owner,
businessman Gurgen Arsenian. Arsenian, who also leads a small pro-presidential
party represented in parliament, has not yet commented on his motives.

Abrahamian revealed that Kentron’s buyer is Murad Guloyan, a little-known
businessman and lawmaker representing Prime Minister Andranik Markarian’s
Republican Party (HHK). “He has no political interests or ambitions,” the editor
said. “For him this just a business and this is how I perceive mass media.”

Kentron was set up by a government-linked entertainment company in early 2002
shortly before being controversially awarded a broadcasting frequency used by
A1+, the sole major channel that often aired reports critical of President
Robert Kocharian. The closure of A1+, condemned by domestic and international
media groups, is widely believed to have been politically motivated. The
Armenian authorities have refused to lift the de facto ban despite repeated
calls by the Council of Europe.

Like all other major private networks, Kentron has been supportive of Kocharian
and critical of his political opponents. However, the channel’s news coverage
has become more objective and balanced in recent months. Its difference from the
other TV stations was particularly visible during this month’s opposition
demonstrations in Yerevan.

Abrahamian, whose newspaper has harshly criticized Kocharian throughout his
presidency, denied that the decision to put him at the helm of Kentron is aimed
making the reopening of A1+ less urgent in the eyes of the international
community. “If anyone tries to impose anything on me I will immediately resign,”
he said.

Kentron will suspend its broadcasts for two weeks and will resume its work with
a different name, Aravot TV. Abrahamian will continue to edit the eponymous
newspaper.

By Hrach Melkumian


http://new.csi.am/eng/index1.php?goto=guest&id=42

2. International and Local Organizations about the Situation in
Armenia

a. Honouring of obligations and commitments by
Armenia

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)

28.04.2004

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:

Honouring of obligations and commitments by Armenia

Provisional edition

Resolution 1374 (2004)

b. Human Rights Watch
Calls On Armenian Government to Investigate Excessive Use of Police Force


[29.04.2004]

On Wednesday, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) held an
urgent debate on Armenia, calling on the government to investigate abuses and to
create “fair conditions for the media,” and warned the government that if no
progress on this by September, the PACE may “reconsider the credentials of the
Armenian delegation.” PACE also called on the opposition to work within the
country’s constitutional framework.

In early April, Armenia’s political opposition united in mass peaceful protests
to force a “referendum of confidence” on President Robert Kocharian and to call
for his resignation. The government responded with mass arrests, violent
dispersals of demonstrations, and raids on opposition party headquarters.
Hundreds were detained, many for up to 15 days, and some were tortured or
ill-treated in custody.

“The Armenian government is repeating the same sorts of abuses that called into
question the legitimacy of last year’s election and sparked the protests in the
first place,” said Rachel Denber, acting executive director of Human Rights
Watch’s Europe and Central Asia division. “The cycle of repression must end.”


Excessive police force, particularly at a nonviolent opposition rally on the
night of April 12, caused dozens of injuries among demonstrators. The Human
Right Watch briefing paper, based on an investigation in Armenia in mid-April,
documents this violence and other abuses. Human Rights Watch found that some of
the worst injuries at that rally were caused by stun grenades, which inflicted
deep wounds in many protesters. Police also beat journalists and confiscated
their cameras.

The opposition protests derived from the government’s failure to redress the
deeply flawed 2003 presidential election won by Kocharian, the incumbent. At
that time, the authorities detained about 250 opposition activists and
supporters in an attempt to intimidate and disable the opposition in advance of
the vote. The Armenian Constitutional Court subsequently recommended that the
government hold a referendum of confidence. The government rejected the
recommendation, while the opposition insisted that the referendum be held.

In its report on the 2003 presidential election, the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) found the vote to be “marred by serious
irregularities,” owing to “a lack of sufficient political determination by the
authorities to ensure a fair and honest process.”

“Armenia has to address the underlying causes of the opposition’s
demonstrations,” said Denber. “A first step would be to implement the
recommendations made by the OSСE following the 2003 elections.”

Human Rights Watch also called on the Armenian government to investigate the
excessive use of police force on the night of April 12, and to cease the use of
stun grenades and electric-shock equipment for the control of nonviolent public
demonstrations.

Armenia’s international partners—including the European Union, the United States
government, the OSCE and the Council of Europe—should closely monitor the
situation and condemn any new abuses that occur, Human Rights Watch said. In
particular, the United States and the European Union should closely monitor any
security-related funding, particularly for crowd-control equipment, to ensure
that it does not fuel human rights abuses.

Human Rights Watch urged the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers to put
the ongoing crisis in Armenia on the agenda of its upcoming ministerial meeting
and to call on the Armenian government to take urgent measures to comply with
its obligations as a member of the Council of Europe.


http://new.csi.am/eng/index1.php?goto=news&id=1663



c. OSCE ‘Deeply Concerned’ About Armenia Beatings


[29.04.2004]

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe expressed Thursday
concern at “an alarming lack of progress” in bringing to justice the
perpetrators of the recent physical attacks on opposition politicians,
journalists and a human rights activist in Armenia.

“There is a need for an urgent, efficient and fair investigation of these cases,
resulting in the prosecution of the perpetrators in accordance with the law,”
Ambassador Vladimir Pryakhin, head of the OSCE’s Yerevan office, said in a
publicized letter to Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian.

Pryakhin referred to the beatings over the past month of Armenian Helsinki
Association chairman Mikael Danielian, a leading member of the Artarutyun
alliance, Victor Dallakian, and another prominent opposition figure, Ashot
Manucharian. He also mentioned the attacks on journalists who covered opposition
demonstrations in Yerevan earlier this month.

“Ambassador Pryakhin expressed his regret that the investigation of these
incidents and of the attacks against journalists during the demonstrations on 5
and 13 April had not progressed and no offender had yet been held accountable,”
an OSCE statement said. “At the same time, the Office is also concerned and
follows closely the investigation of the cases of violence, intimidation and
detentions following the recent demonstrations in Armenia.”

Manucharian’s beating, carried out in broad daylight on April 22, was the most
severe of the violent incidents. The veteran politician, who remains in hospital
in serious condition, suffered a fractured jaw and was knocked unconscious by
unknown assailants. An eyewitness described them as burly men with shaven heads.


The description fits the appearance of about two dozen thugs that tried to
disrupt an opposition rally in Yerevan on April 5. Law-enforcement officers
looked on as they attacked journalists and smashed cameras that filmed the
trouble. The police themselves beat up four journalists during the brutal
dispersion of another street protest on the night from April 12 to 13.

Manucharian’s associates say the violence was orchestrated by the Armenian
authorities, a charged denied by President Robert Kocharian at the weekend.
Kocharian had earlier said he instructed Prosecutor-General Aghvan Hovsepian to
identify and punish Danielian’s attackers.

However, nobody has been arrested or charged in connection with any of these
incidents so far.

By Emil Danielyan


http://new.csi.am/eng/index1.php?goto=news&id=1664

d. Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee visits
Armenia

[27.04.2004]

A delegation of the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture
and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) recently carried out a
three-day visit to Armenia. The main purpose of the visit, which began on 20
April 2004, was to collect information concerning the treatment of persons
deprived of their liberty in the course of or following the recent
demonstrations in Yerevan.

The delegation interviewed numerous persons who had been deprived of their
liberty in connection with the above-mentioned demonstrations. Most of these
persons had been released by the time they were interviewed. The others were
interviewed by the delegation at Kentron penitentiary establishment and at
Temporary detention centre of the Yerevan Department of Internal Affairs.

The CPT's delegation consisted of Eric SVANIDZE, a Georgian lawyer, Marija
DEFINIS GOJANOVIC, a Croatian forensic doctor, and Borys WÓDZ of the Committee's
Secretariat.

In the course of its visit, the CPT's delegation held discussions with Davit
HARUTYUNYAN, Minister of Justice, Hayk A. HARUTYUNYAN, Head of the Armenian
Police, and Aghvar HOVSEPYAN, General Prosecutor.


http://new.csi.am/eng/index1.php?goto=news&id=1658

e. For Defense of Political Prisoners

[30.04.2004]

A public discussion on pursuits of Opposition members and supporters and release
of political prisoners took place in the Multifunctional Center of Public
Relations in Gyumri. “Asbarez” Club of Gyumri journalists informs this.

The participants referred to March 28 meeting in Gyumri and the events
following. The arrests, including the one of Colonel Ashot Zaqaryan, Artcakh War
fighter and Chair of “Erkrapah” Volunteer Union of Gyumri were condemned.

An initiative group of “Gyumri Social Board for Defense of Ashot Zaqaryan and
Political Prisoners” was set up.

”We call upon all the people of wisdom to raise protest and to demand the
Armenian Authorities to stop pursuits and arrests for political convictions”,
the board statement says.


http://new.csi.am/eng/index1.php?goto=news&id=1666



3. Freedom of Assembly

Armenian Parliament Passes Law on Meetings

[28.04.2004]

The National Assembly of Armenia passed the Law "On the Procedure for Holding
Gatherings, Meetings, Manifestations, and Demonstrations" on April 27. The law
was passed in the third reading with 62ayes , 3 nays and with 5 abstentions.

90% of proposals forwarded after the first reading were adopted, said Minister
of Justice David Arutyunian, who presented the law.

Natalia Vutova, representative of the Council of Europe Secretary General in
Armenia, expressed her distinctly negative opinion about the draft law a few
days ago.

The draft law conflicts with Article 11 of the European Convention, which
secures the right to freedom of assembly. Responding to it, the Armenian
minister of justice stated that Ms Vutova's opinion was based solely on the
decision of a commission of experts regarding the first variant of the draft
law.

The opposition deputies required that the debates about the draft law be
postponed until their return to the parliament. Opposition factions of the bloc
of political forces Justice and the National Unity party have been boycotting
plenary sessions of the National Assembly since February 3.

4. The use of administrative arrest as a tool of
political repression.

[28.04.2004]

Aramazd Zaqaryan stoped hunger strike.

On 28 April the member of political council of "Republic" party
Aramazd Zaqaryan stoped hunger strike.



5. Ombudsman

Ombudsman Leaved People Unprotected

[30.04.2004]

On April 23 Ombudsman Larisa Alaverdyan refused to take action on the
application by Griselda Ghazaryan, wife of Academician Rafael Ghazaryan. Mrs.
Ghazaryan in the application describes the barbarities towards her son and her
at April 13.

”Taking into account that ombudsman doesn’t consider the appeals under the 10th
article of the Law on Ombudsman in case other state body or official can settle
the raised issue”, Mrs. Alaverdyan wrote in her decision over “not considering
the appeal”.

According to Alaverdyan, Prosecutor of Arabkir, Qanaqer-Zeytun Communes must
engage in the application of Griselda Ghazaryan.


http://new.csi.am/eng/index1.php?goto=news&id=1667



6. Political negotiations

Puppet Coalition Is Unable To Hold Negotiations

[27.04.2004]

After their meeting with the ruling coalition, the opposition representatives
Victor Dallakyan and Arshak Sadoyan said they had ceased all political
negotiations with it as the authorities displayed no good will to fulfill at
least two of the opposition demands.

The first one related to people’s right for free traveling within the country
was ignored today, as roads leading to Yerevan, where the opposition rally will
take place, were clogged by armored vehicles and armed policemen.

The second proposing to postpone discussion of the bill on protest actions,
rallies and marches in parliament is also ignored.

Dallakyan said they will reject any negotiation with the coalition unless the
authorities fulfill the opposition demands.

Arshak Sadoyan pointed out that the coalition could have let people heading to
Armenian capital for the rally to reach the destination, if it is not a puppet
in the illegitimate president’s hands and has powers, as it keeps saying.


http://new.csi.am/eng/index1.php?goto=news&id=1661