Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic
Nov 16 2004

Council Of Europe Envoy Urges Faster Reform In Armenia

By Ruzanna Khachatrian 16/11/2004 09:50

A high-ranking representative of the Council of Europe urged the
Armenian authorities on Monday to redouble their efforts to honor
political commitments that earned Armenia membership in the respected
human rights organization nearly four years ago.

Ambassador Roland Wegener, a Strasbourg-based German diplomat
representing the Council’s governing Committee of Ministers, singled
out the promised reform of Armenia’s constitution, judicial system
and electoral legislation.
`We feel that progress has been made, but we also see that the most
important projects still lie ahead,’ he told reporters at the end of
a fact-finding visit to Yerevan.

Wegener, who heads a special monitoring team formed by the Committee
of Ministers, met with President Robert Kocharian, Foreign Minister
Vartan Oskanian as well as the leaders of the Armenian parliament
factions during the three-day trip. Kocharian, according to his press
office, assured the envoy that he is genuinely committed to bringing
Armenian legislation into conformity with European standards.

The Armenian authorities are currently working on a package of
constitutional amendments that are due to be put to a referendum next
summer. Also, the Armenian parliament, dominated by Kocharian
supporters, approved last month in the first reading a set of
amendments to the country’s electoral code.

Those discussions have been boycotted by the Armenian opposition
which refuses to recognize Kocharian’s legitimacy and accuses the
authorities of creating a smokescreen of political reform to mislead
the Europeans. Opposition leaders reaffirmed their stance in separate
meetings with Wegener over the weekend.

One of them, Shavarsh Kocharian, argued that the authorities have not
prosecuted any officials involved in vote rigging and human rights
abuses and are refusing to abolish the Soviet-era practice of
`administrative detentions’ repeatedly condemned by the Council of
Europe. `The obligations are not being met,’ he told RFE/RL. `That’s
one of the obsctales to the lack of a [government-opposition]
dialogue urged by European structures.’

One of the leaders of the parliament majority, Tigran Torosian, said
Wegener urged the top Kocharian allies to give the opposition a say
in legislative reform. He said the majority is ready to do so and
hopes that the opposition will drop its `preconditions’ for the
dialogue.