PACE envoy disappointed with democratic progress

Hammarberg explicitly warns that he will adopt a critical stance

by Armen Hakobyan

Published: Saturday November 29, 2008

Thomas Hammarberg, Council of Europe Commissioner of Human Rights. Photolure.

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Yerevan - It is becoming evident that Armenia will not be able to circumvent discussions by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the state of democracy in the country and the events of March 1 during the assembly's January session. This became more obvious after Thomas Hammarberg, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, spoke at a press conference in Yerevan about his impressions during a November 20-22 visit to Armenia.

"The Parliamentary Assembly will have its next meeting at the end of January. The issue of Armenia is on the agenda. Though the Parliamentary Assembly is independent also from me, I believe that what I testify will have some importance for their conclusion when it comes to possible sanctions, which would mean that the parliamentary assembly delegation from this country would be deprived of their right to vote. The deadline is not today but the time is fairly short. It may be that there will be some movement from the government to take some of the actions that I have asked for in order to make it easy for the Parliamentary Assembly to take some decision," Mr. Hammerberg said told journalists.

He began the press conference by saying he had two things to say - one good and the other one not so good. The Human Rights Commissioner started with the good news by welcoming the establishment of a fact-finding group of experts for the March 1 events. Mr. Hammarberg noted that the fact that the members of the group of experts represent different political parties is of great significance and that they enjoy complete freedom, they are specialists and experts and this was very important for their work. He said that he had already met with the members of the group and would be meeting with them once again after the press conference. He believes that the group of experts will be successful in its activities if they enjoy the full support of all strata in society.

"I have been advised of some information, which calls into question the constitutionality of this group. There is some suspicion that this group may not be accountable to the National Assembly's ad hoc committee of the March 1 events. But I believe that it is very easy to resolve these issues if there is dedication and willingness; if there is within the group an atmosphere of cooperation and as for all those outside the group for them to understand that this is fundamentally important so that the work of the group is successful and so that there will be an honest and impartial report prepared by the group," emphasized Mr. Hammarberg. He also noted that the activities of the group will not be easy in this polarized atmosphere; some believe that they might not even succeed in the task. However, the factors mentioned by Mr. Hammarberg instills hope that the group might be successful if they are supported by all sides.

With regard to the bad news, Mr. Hammarberg noted that the aim of this visit was to speak about the prisoners and the ongoing court cases. "When I prepare my report shortly, I will be forced to be critical of the developments - to be more clear, of the lack of developments. I will be critical of the cases that have already gone to court and of that more important Case of the Seven. I don't think that the investigation and those cases were prepared in a professional manner," announced Mr. Hammarberg.

He went on to say that he considers it absolutely unacceptable that Armenia's National Security Services (NSS) published transcripts of telephone conversations between the accused with their family members or politicians. Apart from making the contents of those private conversations public, law enforcement bodies have also published other documents proving that the NSS carried out secret recordings as early as February 20, based on a court order.

"According to the rule of law of the country, this was totally unacceptable," said Mr. Hammarberg.
He will give his final opinion on the Case of the Seven after the indictment has been prepared and he has gone through it. The fact that the defendants have been imprisoned for eight months "without clear evidence that they are guilty of the charges," is also another source of concern.

During this visit, Mr. Hammarberg met with six of the accused in the Case of the Seven (he was unable to meet with Hakob Hakobian, member of the National Assembly as he had been transferred to a prison hospital). However, another 28 people who consider themselves political prisoners not only refused to meet with Mr. Hammarberg, but announced a one-day hunger strike in protest the "bureaucratic methods" of the Council of Europe. Moreover, when Mr. Hammerberg visited the Vardashen penitentiary, the above mentioned prisoners welcomed him with chants of "Freedom to the political hostages," "We welcome objective and diligent Mr. Hammarberg" and " We welcome just-minded Hammarberg."

Mr. Hammarberg told journalists that he had received credible reports that pressure was also exerted on witnesses to ensure that their testimonies comply with the direction of the investigations. He said that he has been briefed about one or two cases where witnesses have been pressured and pursued after they had withdrawn their preliminary testimonies. "These methods are unacceptable in a society that believes in human rights," he said.

In the March 1 criminal case against member of parliament Miasnik Malkkhasian's chauffeur Arman Shahinian, 18-year-old Karen Hayrapetian from Hartavan village, who was mentioned as a witness, announced in court that the testimonies were not his as he had not given or written them. Moreover, he announced that during the military draft, prosecuting inspectors approached him and forced him to sign blank papers. After the announcement, a criminal case was filed against Mr. Hayrapetian for perjury. He is currently doing his military service.