1. PACE. Honouring of obligations and commitments by Armenia

a. Armenia: Investigate Abuses in Political Crackdown

Armenian authorities must investigate abuses committed in the
government’s recent crackdown against the political opposition, Human Rights
Watch today said in a briefing paper that provided new details on the mass
arrest and police violence against opposition supporters.

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.


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b. Authorities Have No Intention to Fulfill Their CE Commitments


[07.05.2004]

Republic party came up with a statement Friday pointing out facts of Armenian
Constitution and PACE 1374 resolution violation by Armenian authorities.

In a clear breach of the Constitution and the PACE above-mentioned resolution,


Yerevan Municipality refused to authorize peaceful rally;

On May 4, roads to Armenian capital were blocked in a bid to prevent people from
attending the rally;

New arrests were made;

Political prisoners’ motions to release them from pre-trial detention were
denied;

Media outlets were bared from operating.


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c. Natalia Vutova Speaking at News Conference


[07.05.2004]

On Friday, the CE Special Envoy in Armenia Natalia Vutova, speaking at a news
conference in Yerevan, said there was nothing surprising, when the CE member
countries put their domestic troubles on PACE floor, and this has never been
considered as treason in any of 45 member countries, but Armenia.

Speaking on the PACE recent resolution on situation in Armenia, Vutova found it
irrelevant to speak about the opposition’s or the authorities’ defeat or
victory. The resolution calls on both sides to start a dialogue, she said
invoking Human Rights Convention’s provision of freedom of speech.

It was noted that, contrary to Venice Commission experts’ negative opinion,
Armenian authorities did adopted the law on rallies, demonstrations and marches.


“We will continue to negotiate with the authorities for amending the law. It
must be based on Human Rights International Convention”, she said.

Responding to some Armenian officials’ attempts to play down the significance of
the resolution, because, as they say, it is grounded on facts obtained from
unreliable sources, Vutova said the CE is always verifying the information
given.


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d. Armenian Authorities Remain Defiant over CE’s Demands

[03.05.2004]

Justice parliamentary fraction MPs say the opposition rally scheduled for
Tuesday will be held in Yerevan despite it isn’t authorized by the municipality.


The Justice Secretary Victor Dallakyan said at today’s news conference the
municipality, ignoring the CE calls, keeps on denying authorization of
opposition peaceful rallies.

Not a single European institution can announce election invalid, he said and
quoted the head of the PACE delegation Lord Russell-Johnston as saying Armenian
people should decide by themselves whether to recognize election or not.

Republic party leader Aram Sargssyan added that people had already decided not
to recognize these rigged elections and the opposition would reach the goal of
ousting Robert Kocharyan from office by using its constitutional rights.

He also said he expected no progress in the authorities’ uncompromising stance.
It seems the CE demands will remain on paper, he said.


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e. Parliament Vice-Speaker Admits Council Of Europe Setback

[03.05.2004]

Deputy parliament speaker Tigran Torosian admitted on Monday that the resolution
on the political situation in Armenia adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe (PACE) last week weakened official Yerevan’s standing in
the prestigious human rights organization.

In remarks contrasting with the buoyant mood of other senior Armenian officials,
Torosian said that the PACE’s threat to impose sanctions on the Armenian
authorities for their heavy-handed crackdown on the opposition pushed them “one
step or half a step back.” “Our position after the January resolution was very
good and favorable,” he said of the PACE’s previous statement that reviewed
progress in the fulfillment of Armenia’s membership commitments.

The January document made an overall positive evaluation of the three-year
process. The 45-nation assembly decided to again discuss the situation in
Armenia at its spring session amid the most bitter yet confrontation between
President Robert Kocharian and his political opponents. Its resolution warns
that the PACE will consider stripping its Armenian members of their voting
rights unless Kocharian’s administration respect citizens’ freedom of movement
and assembly, releases individuals detained for their participation in the
recent opposition rallies and investigates all “human rights abuses” by next
September.

The criticism was downplayed by Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian late last week.
He said the PACE “pulled the rug out from under the opposition’s feet” by
refusing to endorse its calls for a referendum of confidence in Kocharian and
stating that his controversial reelection last year was “validated” by
international observers.

But Torosian said he believes that the PACE reaction has left no losers and
winners in Armenia. “Some people are trying to attribute ludicrous victories and
defeats to themselves or their opponents. That is not a place to win or lose,”
he told a news conference.

The stern rebuke appears to have been primarily addressed to the opposition
leaders who have been buoyed by the PACE criticism of the government. They
reiterated this view on Monday.

Aram Sarkisian of the Artarutyun alliance went as far as to describe the
resolution as an “ultimatum” to Kocharian. “All the calls are directed to the
authorities,” he said, adding that the opposition regards the PACE stance as an
endorsement of its campaign for Kocharian’s resignation.

Shavarsh Kocharian, an Artarutyun lawmaker who attended the PACE session in
Strasbourg, argued that the assembly did not speak out against the referendum
either.

The opposition leaders reaffirmed their decision to hold what some of them have
said will be a “decisive” demonstration against Kocharian on Tuesday. They
refused to specify what exactly they will tell supporters to do. Sarkisian did
not rule out the possibility of another opposition march towards the
presidential palace in Yerevan.

The first such march was violently broken up by police on the night of April 12
to 13. More than a hundred protesters were seriously injured or arrested by
security forces.

Meanwhile, Yerevan’s presidentially appointed mayor, Yervand Zakharian, was
likely to again refuse to sanction the opposition protest. “We will discuss [the
opposition application] and probably turn it down,” he told reporters.

Zakharian again claimed that the opposition rallies “hamper the city’s normal
socioeconomic development.” Asked about the PACE’s call for the authorities to
lift all “unjustified restrictions” on them, he argued that the Yerevan
municipality has given permission for several public gatherings in the last few
days. None of those gatherings was organized by the opposition, however.

By Ruzanna Khachatrian, Hrach Melkumian and Shakeh Avoyan


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2. Freedom of speech

a. Armenia Is Badly In Need Of Freedom of Speech

[03.05.2004]

If Armenia wants to become truly democratic country it needs freedom of speech,
especially in struggle against corruption, the head of World Bank’s Armenian
office Roger Robinson said at the discussion dedicated to International Freedom
of Speech Day held Monday in Yerevan Press Club.

The Club Chair Boris Navasardyan said to put into practice freedom of speech
principle many issues, such as A1+ Company problem, should be reconsidered and
solved.

Astkhik Gevorgyan, the head of the Journalists’ Union, said Cooperation in the
Name of Open Society organization came up with a statement Monday demanding law
enforcement authorities to track down perpetrators of last month’s violence and
prosecute them to the full extent of the law. There is also demand in the
statement to remove articles 135,136 and 318 from Penal Code.

The fact that A1+ TV Company has been repeatedly denied broadcasting license
proves that Armenian Radio and Television National Commission isn’t guided by
principles of impartiality and justice.


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b. Two Press Enemies and No Friends

[03.05.2004]

Armenian National Press Club held Monday annual traditional ceremony of
announcing names of press foes. Two persons – president Kocharyan and head of
parliamentary commission on culture, science and education Hranush Hakobyan -
are given press foe title this year.

This is the third time Robert Kocharyan has been “awarded” the title, this time
for adopting the Mass Media Law and for turning blind eye to violence against
journalists.

Hranush Hakobyan earned the title for her contribution to the law adoption, for
misleading MPs and suppressing international experts’ opinion.

Nominees for press friend title were National Assembly member Victor Dallakyan
and the Justice Union. However, there were not enough votes cast for these
candidacies.


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c. Armenian Journalists Mark World Press Freedom Day

[03.05.2004]

About one hundred journalists, human rights campaigners and opposition
politicians marched through central Yerevan on Monday to mark World Press
Freedom Day, denouncing the continuing ban on Armenia’s top independent
television and recent violence against reporters.

The rally went ahead even though its organizers claimed to have received no
formal permission from the municipality. The city’s mayor said earlier in the
day that he sanctioned it. “It is strange indeed to fight for the restoration of
rights guaranteed by the country’s constitution,” said Nikol Pashinian, editor
of the “Haykakan Zhamanak” daily critical of the Armenian authorities.

“We have seen a major retreat in freedom of speech in the last three years,”
said Boris Navasardian, chairman of the Yerevan Press Club.

“The number one reason is that pluralism is absent from our television air,” he
added, referring to the independent A1+ channel controversially stripped of its
broadcasting license two years ago.

Among the protesters was A1+ director Mesrop Movsesian and his employees who
have managed to remain afloat by producing programs for provincial TV stations,
publishing a newspaper and maintaining a news site on the Internet.

The reopening of A1+ was one of the demands to the Armenian authorities made by
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe last week. The de facto ban
on A1+ was a key reason why the New York-based watchdog Freedom House described
last week the Armenian media as “not free.”

Navasardian also pointed to the recent attacks on Armenian journalists covering
opposition protests in Yerevan. The violence has been widely blamed on
government loyalists and police officers.

“We have received no indications from investigative bodies that those cases will
be solved,” Navasardian said.

The National Press Club, a more radical media group, used the occasion to
declare President Robert Kocharian “the enemy of the press” for the third
consecutive year. In a statement, it noted the authorities’ failure to punish
the perpetrators of those attacks and accused Kocharian of “encouraging the
atmosphere of impunity.”

By Karine Kalantarian


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

Persecution of dissenters.

a.
Arrests Continue

[04.05.2004]

After the rally-march policemen «kidnaped» several people, taking part in
opposition rally. 10 participants of the peaceful rally and march were taken to
police departments.

«Hanrapetutyun» party and Armenian People's party are trying to find out the
place their «missen» «brothers-in-arms» are held.


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b. Larissa Alaverdyan About the Incident with Grisha Virabyan

[04.05.2004]

Recently Armenia’s Ombudsman Larissa Alaverdyan with the staff has visited
Artashat City to consider the circumstances over the incident with Grisha
Virabyan. It’s the third visit of the staff to Virabyan. The first was made the
accident day.

Mrs. Alaverdyan met Ararat Region Prosecutor, Police Head, Artashat City Police
Head and the investigator for Grisha Virabyan’s case.

The facts obtained made Alaverdyan insist that in Police Virabyan suffered
actions, which are labeled in the international right as “brutal or disgracing
treatment“.

Virabyan was taken to the municipal police healthy. Then he was moved to
hospital and operated for the injuries received in Police.

Larissa Alaverdyan announced she expects for impartiality of the investigation
results where the requests of “European Convention of Human Rights and Basic
Freedoms” will be provided.

She also promised to watch the process for calling those beating Virabyan to
account.


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c. Criminal Proceedings Instituted On Fact of Attack
on Armenian Journalists during Opposition Rally

[06.05.2004]

On the basis of the article "for hooliganism" of the Criminal Code of Armenia
criminal proceedings are instituted on the fact of attack on journalists in the
course of a rally held by the National Unification opposition party April 5. As
reported by the Press Service of the Police of Armenia, at present the
investigation bodies are trying to identify the persons, who beat journalists
and broke audio and video equipment.


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4. Freedom of movement

Travel To Yerevan Again Blocked Ahead Of Opposition Rally

[04.05.2004]

The Armenian authorities appeared to have again restricted provincial residents’
access to Yerevan ahead of a major opposition rally on Tuesday, setting up
police roadblocks around the city and effectively cutting it off from at least
one major region.

Commuters from the southern Ararat region were unable to enter Yerevan in the
afternoon as the movement of buses and minibuses ground to a halt under the
watchful eyes of police officers. Scores of them were deployed on the approaches
to the Armenian capital in the morning.

Despite the unusually strong police presence on the roads, public transport
communication between the city and the rest of the country seemed largely
unimpeded in the morning. But in Artashat, a town 35 kilometers south of
Yerevan, and elsewhere in Ararat the situation began to change by early
afternoon.

Commuter minibuses, the principal means of public transport in Armenia, stopped
leaving Artashat for Yerevan from around 1 p.m. local time, leaving dozens of
people stranded at the local bus station guarded by several police officers.
Some of them had already boarded an old bus which due to head for Yerevan.

“They don’t let me go,” its elderly driver told RFE/RL. “I have a daily plan [of
tax payments], I don’t know how I am going to raise the money. They just don’t
let us work.”

“On my way into Artashat they told me not to go back [to Yerevan],” the driver
added. “If I do go back they’ll impound the bus.”

Those inside the bus were also angry and frustrated. Most of them were women.
“We have jobs in Yerevan, how are we going to get there?” asked one of them. “If
we miss a single day of work they will pay us 4,000 drams ($9) less. But we have
children to support.”

Another woman said, “Do they think they can save the president by closing the
roads? We are sick and tired of this.”

Meanwhile, the minibuses returning from Yerevan were refusing to take any
passengers and stood empty on the station’s car park.

A police officer at the scene claimed that he is doing his routine job of
“maintaining public order” as he was asked for comment by an RFE/RL
correspondent. The officer then promptly approached two plainclothes men sitting
in a nearby car with tinted glass. One of them immediately got out of the car
and tried to eavesdrop on the reporter’s conversations with local residents.

There were police posts even on a narrow country road connecting villages that
lie between Artashat and Yerevan. An officer at one of them said they are only
looking for several cars allegedly stolen in the area the previous night. “There
have never been so many car thefts here in a single night before,” he said.

The traffic on the road was largely one-way in the afternoon with buses seen
only speeding away from Yerevan. A driver shuttling between Yerevan and another
Ararat town, Masis, said the police let him through because his van was empty on
its way into the capital. A similar story was told by a minibus driver from
Vedi, about 30 kilometers further to the south.

However, the situation appeared different in some other parts of the country
with buses seen entering Yerevan from the central Kotayk province as well as the
northern Shirak and Lori regions at least by 3 p.m. local time. Drivers arriving
from there said the police stopped them and inspected their passengers on the
highways.

“They have eased the transport restrictions since the first opposition rallies
[in early April],” a representative of a bus company in Abovian, about 15
kilometers north of Yerevan, said in the morning. He said the company received
no orders to remove its minibuses from the route later in the day.

The Armenian authorities have routinely blocked the Yerevan roads over the past
month in an apparent attempt to reduce attendance at the opposition rallies. The
practice was implicitly criticized by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe which urged Yerevan to “guarantee freedom of movement within Armenia”
in a resolution adopted last week.

By Emil Danielyan and Hrach Melkumian


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5. Freedom of Information

The Decision of the Court in Favour of HCA Vanadzor Office

[04.05.2004]

On April 30, 2004, there was court case between the HCA, Helsinki Citizens`
Assembly-Vanadzor Office versus the Vanadzor municipality.

The trial was about the refusal of the municipality to release copies of the
community councillor’s resolutions over 2002 – 2003, which was demanded by the
HCA Vanadzor Office.

With the decision of the court at the first trial the parties came to an
agreement.

The municipality agreed to present 2,614 resolutions of the community
councillors in 2002 – 2003. However, the costs of releasing this information was
valued 2.6 million drams. With the appeal of HCA Vanadzor Office the trial
continued.

On April 30, 2004 during the trial the two parties presented their claims. The
aim of the demands of the HCA Vanadzor office are creating transparency for
community activities.

The representation of the municipality grounded its refusals saying that part of
the demanded resolutions contains classified information which could not be
published. The lawyer of HCA Vanadzor Office remarked that it would be possible
to conceal illegal transactions under the pretext of “state, official, bank,
trade secrets” “of the law on freedom of RA Information”. Listening to the
objections of the two parties, the court sentenced in favour of the appeal of
the HCA Vanadzor Office against the Vanadzor municipality.

By decision of the court, the municipality is obliged to give the demanded
information according to all the terms of “law on freedom of RA Information”.
Thus the court proved its support for transparent local governance.


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6. Other ivents

Armenia Elected To UN Commission for Human Rights

[05.05.2004]

May 4 Armenia was for the second time elected to the UN Commission for Human
Rights. To note, the elections to this influential structure are held once a
three-year term. First time Armenia was elected to the Commission in 2001.


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