Resolution 1620 (2008)¹

1. On 17 April 2008, the Parliamentary Assembly adopted Resolution 1609
(2008) on the functioning of democratic institutions in Armenia. In this
resolution, the Assembly set out four concrete requirements for the resolution
of the political crisis that ensued after the Presidential election in Armenia:

1.1. to revoke, in line with the recommendations of the European Commission for
Democracy through Law of the Council of Europe (Venice Commission), the
amendments made, on 17 March 2008, to the Law on Conducting Meetings,
Assemblies, Rallies and Demonstrations;

1.2. to initiate immediately an independent, transparent and credible inquiry
into the events on 1 March 2008 and the circumstances that led to them;

1.3. to release all persons detained on seemingly artificial and politically
motivated charges who did not personally commit any violent acts or serious
offences;

1.4. to initiate an open and serious dialogue between all political forces in
Armenia on the reforms demanded by the Assembly in paragraph 8 of the Resolution
with regard to the political system, electoral process, freedom and pluralism of
the media, freedom of assembly, independence of the judiciary and police
behaviour.

2. In Resolution 1609 (2008), the Assembly considered that Armenia’s credibility
as a member of the Council of Europe was put into doubt as long as these
conditions were not met and therefore resolved to consider the possibility of
suspending the voting rights of the Armenian delegation to the Assembly at the
opening of the June 2008 part-session, if no considerable progress on the
requirements was made by then.

3. The Assembly welcomes that, in the immediate aftermath of the adoption of
Resolution 1609, several high-level representatives of the authorities,
including the President of the Republic and the Speaker of the National
Assembly, publicly expressed their political will and intention to comply with
the requirements of the Assembly.

4. As regards compliance by the authorities with the demands set out in its
Resolution 1609, the Assembly:

4.1. welcomes the adoption of the Law on Amending and Supplementing the Law on
Conducting Meetings, Assemblies, Rallies and Demonstrations in line with Council
of Europe standards and considers that the requirement of the Assembly in this
respect has been met by the authorities;

4.2. reiterates its demand that freedom of assembly should also be guaranteed in
practice in Armenia. It therefore insists that the Armenian authorities should
ensure that no undue restrictions are placed on rallies organised by the
opposition in compliance with the law on Conducting Meetings, Assemblies,
Rallies and Demonstrations, especially with regard to the venues requested. In
this respect, it welcomes that the opposition rally of 20 June 2008 took place
unimpeded;

4.3. welcomes the constitution, albeit at a very late stage, of an ad hoc
committee within the National Assembly of Armenia “to conduct an inquiry into
the events of 1 and 2 March 2008 as well as the causes that lead to them”;

4.4. welcomes the possibility for the inquiry committee to invite national and
international experts to participate in its work, which should increase the
credibility of its investigations;

4.5. considers that, as a result of the recent constitution of the inquiry
committee, the Assembly cannot evaluate, at this moment, the criteria of
independence, transparency and credibility. It also notes that the format and
composition of the inquiry committee do not per se guarantee its independence
and impartiality and therefore its credibility in the eyes of the Armenian
public. The Assembly therefore considers that the following conditions should be
met:

4.5.1. as a rule, the committee should aim at a consensual decision-making
process in its working methods and voting should be used only as a last resort,
in particular as regards the subjects the committee wishes to investigate and
persons it wishes to hear. The working methods applied by the National Assembly
Working Group on the Reform of the Election Code, which as a rule takes its
decisions on the basis of a consultative vote, should be seen as an example for
the functioning of the inquiry committee;

4.5.2. the terms of reference of the committee should clearly state that it has
the right to investigate the circumstances that led to the events of 1 March
2008, as well as the right to investigate the events in its immediate aftermath,
especially as regards the detention of opposition activists and the charges that
were brought against them;

4.5.3. the Human Rights Defender should be invited ex officio to participate in
the work of the committee with the right of a consultative vote;

4.6. calls upon all political forces to participate constructively in the work
of the inquiry committee;

4.7. welcomes the recent developments with regard to the release of persons
seemingly detained on artificial and politically motivated charges who did not
personally commit any violent acts or serious offences. However, it considers
that progress on this issue is not sufficient enough to ensure that the
requirement of the Assembly is fully met. In addition the Assembly considers
that:

4.7.1. the cases still under investigation should be closed or promptly brought
before courts to ensure the right to fair trial within a reasonable time in
compliance with the case law of the European Court of Human Rights;

4.7.2. the cases under Articles 300 and 225 of the Criminal Code should be
dropped unless there is strong evidence that the accused have personally
committed acts of violence or ordered, abetted or assisted to commit them;

4.7.3. a verdict based solely on a single police testimony without corroborating
evidence cannot be acceptable;

4.7.4. the National Assembly should take into account the negative opinion of
the Venice Commission on the proposed amendments to Articles 225, 2251, 301 and
3011 of the Criminal Code.

4.8. welcomes the series of initiatives taken by the authorities to initiate a
dialogue on the reforms demanded by the Assembly;

4.9. highlights that the modus operandi of the National Assembly Working Group
on the Reform of the Election Code could be an example for the dialogue on other
reforms demanded by the Assembly;

4.10. urges all political forces to seize the opportunity given by the
authorities to enter into an open, constructive and serious dialogue on the
reforms demanded by the Assembly;

4.11. as regards compliance by the opposition with the demands set out in its
Resolution 1609 (2008), the Assembly”:

4.11.1. regrets that not all opposition forces have recognised the
Constitutional Court’s decision, which confirmed the results of elections as
announced by the Central Electoral Commission;

4.11.2. regrets that also as a result of the decision of part of the opposition
to boycott the dialogue with the authorities, participation of the opposition in
the formulation of these initiatives has been somewhat limited.

5. The detention and conviction of opposition supporters in relation to the
events of 1 March 2008 will be a point of contention that will continue to
strain the relations between opposition and authorities and could hinder the
conduct of a constructive dialogue on the reforms needed for Armenia. The
Assembly urges the Armenian authorities to consider all legal means available to
them, including amnesty, pardons and dismissal of charges with respect to all
persons detained or sentenced by a court in relation to the events of 1 and 2
March 2008, with the exception of those who have personally committed acts of
violence or ordered, abetted or assisted to commit them or those who committed
other serious criminal offences, as an expression of good will in order to
foster confidence in the society and dialogue between all political forces.

6. The Assembly recalls that there is a need for a pluralistic electronic media
environment in Armenia and, referring to the decision of the European Court of
Human Rights concerning the denial of broadcasting license to A1+, calls on the
licensing authority to now ensure an open, fair and transparent licensing
procedure, in line with the guidelines adopted by the Committee of Ministers of
the Council of Europe on 26 March 2008 and with the case law of the European
Court of Human Rights.

7. The Assembly welcomes the progress achieved by the Armenian authorities in
addressing the demands of the Assembly expressed in Resolution 1609. However,
despite the political will expressed by the authorities, this progress is at
present insufficient to meet the requirements outlined in the resolution.

8. While regretting the delay in implementing the concrete measures to comply
with its demands, the Assembly acknowledges that the time given to the Armenian
authorities was short. The Assembly therefore decides to review at its January
2009 part-session the extent of Armenia’s compliance with the requirements made
in Resolution 1609. If the requirements mentioned in Resolution 1609, as well as
those set above in paragraphs 4.2, 4.5, 4.7 and 6 are not met by then, the
Assembly will consider the possibility of suspending the voting rights of the
Armenian delegation to the Assembly at the opening of its January 2009
part-session.

9. The Assembly invites:

9.1. the Secretary General of the Council of Europe to speed up the procedure
for the appointment of a new Special Representative of the Secretary General of
the Council of Europe (SRSG) in Yerevan and to liaise on a permanent basis with
the inquiry committee through the SRSG’s Office in Yerevan;

9.2. the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe to contribute to
the participation of international experts in the work of the inquiry committee
of the National Assembly into the events of 1 and 2 March 2008 and the
circumstances that led to them, should the conditions regarding independence,
transparency and credibility be met. The Assembly invites the Human Rights
Commissioner to inform the Monitoring Committee, at its meeting in September
2008, on the progress regarding the inquiry committee as well as the release of
detainees.

10. The Assembly will continue to follow closely the situation in Armenia on the
basis of information provided by its Monitoring Committee, in particular as
regards progress in the fulfilment of the above-mentioned conditions.

¹ Assembly debate on 25 June 2008 (24th Sitting) (see Doc. 11656,
report of the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by
Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee), co-rapporteurs:
Mr Colombier and Mr Prescott). Text adopted by the Assembly on 25 June 2008
(24th Sitting).