InternationalPACE Monitoring Committee recommends suspension of Armenian delegation’s voting rights
“Political prisoners exist in Armenia,” draft resolution says
Published: Friday December 19, 2008
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Yerevan - A committee responsible for monitoring Armenia's compliance with binding commitments to democracy and human rights, which it undertook upon joining the Council of Europe, has concluded that the country is holding political prisoners. The committee, meeting in Paris on December 17, decided to recommend that the voting rights of the eight-member Armenian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe be suspended.
In the aftermath of bloody post-election clashes on March 1-2 and a subsequent 20-day state of emergency, the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) on April 17 had adopted resolution 1609, calling for an end to politically motivated arrests, restoration of the freedom of assembly, and an independent investigation of the violence. Three months later, the assembly adopted resolution 1620, acknowledging some progress and giving Armenia additional time to comply.
While high-ranking officials in Armenia insist that the country has almost fully complied with the resolutions, PACE's Monitoring Committee on December 17 took a different view. It noted the "doubts" of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights "regarding the nature of the charges" and "the legal proceedings" against some individuals arrested in connection with the post-election unrest. It also objected to the almost exclusive reliance of prosecutors and courts on police testimony in several cases.
The committee drafted a resolution to be considered at the next session of PACE in late January.
The draft resolution acknowledges and welcomes the establishment of a fact-finding group of experts to inquire into the events of March 1-2. But the resolution would suspend the voting rights of Armenia's delegation to PACE until the authorities "have clearly demonstrated their political will to resolve" the issue of the prisoners.
The proposed resolution would conclude, "The Assembly finds it unacceptable that persons have been charged and deprived of their liberty for political motivations and that political prisoners exist in Armenia. Therefore, despite the positive steps taken towards the establishment of an independent, transparent and credible inquiry, the Assembly decides to suspend the voting rights of the members of the Armenian parliamentary delegation to the Assembly."
The so-called Mother Case in the March 1 investigation was set to begin on December 19 in a courtroom in the Shengavit district of Yerevan. Seven people, including Armenia's former foreign minister Alexander Arzoomanian and three members of parliament, stand accused of organizing mass riots and attempting to usurp state power.
Armenia's foreign minister continues to insist that the country has fundamentally complied with the points in the resolutions. The news of the committee's recommendations reached Yerevan while the foreign minister, Edward Nalbandian, was hosting foreign diplomats for a holiday party. The minister left his guests to call a hurried press conference to make a short announcement.
Mr. Nalbandian said: "The Monitoring Committee has made some unfavorable recommendations, but let me say that this is part of the process. Out of 80 members only 15 were present and only 10 voted in favor. The real decision will be made during the winter session of PACE and after the visit of the co-rapporteurs, George Colombier and John Prescott to Armenia."
Without going into details, the foreign minister said, "Perhaps there will be such developments in January that will provide the opportunity to reassess those recommendations and affirm that Armenia - and that is the truth as I have said during my last press conference - has implemented almost all the recommendations of resolution 1609 and 1620.
"Our position is that we continue with the reforms because that corresponds to the interests of our people and that is a conscious decision, and not because we are being given advice and being told what to do. Of course, we respect those structures in which we are members, we respect our responsibilities to those organizations. I believe that we are carrying out our responsibilities and we will continue to carry them out," Mr. Nalbandian said.
Former Speaker Tigran Torossian, who long served as leader of the Armenian delegation to PACE, told the Armenian Reporter that following the presidential elections in 2003, and the events of April 2004 (when the authorities dispersed a opposition rally with clubs, tear gas, and water cannons), Armenia was warned about possible sanctions; but an actual recommendation that the Armenian delegation be suspended is "unprecedented." Mr. Torossian said, "This is the first evaluation of everything that has taken place in Armenia. Strasbourg knows very well what is taking place here."
David Harutiunian, the current leader of Armenia's delegation to PACE, was present at the closed-door, three-hour meeting of the Monitoring Committee in Paris. He told Aravot daily, "The decision of the Monitoring Committee is not yet the decision of PACE. It is only a recommendation to the Parliamentary Assembly. And taking into consideration that there are questionable points, the co-rapporteurs will visit Armenia in January to once again clarify all the questions."
Thomas Hammarberg, the Council of Europe's Human Rights Commissioner, who will be presenting his report in January, was not present at the session in Paris. While in Yerevan on November 22, he had warned that in his report he would "criticize those court cases that have taken place and the process of other cases including the case of the seven.
