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03/16/2005
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1) ARF Affiliate Organizations Convene Conference in Bulgaria
2) Council of Europe Calls for Release of Azeri Political Prisoners
3) Armenian FM Addresses UN Commission on Human Rights
4) Imperatives for Renewal of Armenian Church Discussed at Etchmiadzin

1) ARF Affiliate Organizations Convene Conference in Bulgaria

SOFIA (ARF Press Office)–Representatives of pan-Armenian organizations met in
the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, March 12-13, during a conference of
ARF-affiliated bodies, organized by the Bureau of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (ARF).
It coincided with commemorative events marking the 100th anniversary of
Armenian Revolutionary Federation co-founder Kristapor Mikaelian’s tragic
death, including a pilgrimage to Bulgaria’s Mount Vitosha where Mikaelian was
killed.
The conference reviewed implementation of projects targeted at the ARF’s 29th
World Congress (February 2004), and also detailed issues that Armenia, along
with the Armenian people currently face. Though approaches to resolving a
variety of issues were discussed, the body identified priorities, stressing
that the ARF must concentrate on implementation of activities in several
locations and regions, and be required to operate on multiple levels and in
various sectors in order to advance certain priorities.
The conference unanimously conveyed its support to ARF Armenia’s policies
that
seek to strengthen democracy in Armenia, as well as struggle against
corruption
and bribery, as part of the country’s internal policy.
The gathering of representatives praised opposition to Turkey’s entry to the
European Union based on its continuous denial of the Armenian genocide,
efforts
to gain international recognition of the Armenian genocide, and Mountainous
Karabagh Republic, as well as efforts to ensure the minority rights of the
people of Javakhk, and guarantee their cultural and socio-economic rights.
Specifically, attendees agreed that the 90th anniversary of the Armenian
genocide must serve as an opportunity to stress modern day Turkey’s political
responsibilities, while stepping-up Genocide recognition efforts. They
stressed
that opposition to Turkey’s entry into the EU must be based on the country’s
poor human rights record, unwillingness to practice democratic norms, and its
continued and vehement denial of its genocidal past.

2) Council of Europe Calls for Release of Azeri Political Prisoners

BAKU (AFP)–Europe’s top human rights body warned Azerbaijan Wednesday that it
would reevaluate its relations with Baku unless authorities released hundreds
of “political prisoners.”
Council of Europe envoy Malcolm Bruce said he expected President Ilham Aliyev
to sign an amnesty and “we expect that such a decree should free the larger
part of the political prisoners and this will be a resolution of the issue in
Azerbaijan.”
“I conveyed to the president (Ilham Aliyev) the opinion of international
observers that the trials of opposition leaders were biased,” Bruce said
during
a three-day visit to the Caucasus nation.
“The president did not admit to this problem,” he said.
If the prisoners were not released, Baku would face the possibility of “a
reevaluation of Azerbaijan and the Council of Europe’s relations,” at the
council’s April session, the Turan news agency reported Bruce as saying.
Hundreds of people opposed to Azerbaijan’s ruling regime were arrested
following riots during presidential elections in October 2003, including seven
of Azerbaijan’s most vocal opposition leaders.
Many have been released but the seven so-called “October detainees,” were
handed sentences of two to five years last year and remain in prison as do
scores of others.
Amnesty International slammed their imprisonment when the seven were given
sentences, saying there were concerns that witnesses were pressured into
giving
evidence that would incriminate the defendants and that allegations of
ill-treatment and torture of the prisoners were not fully investigated.
Bruce said he expected Aliyev to sign an amnesty freeing most of the
political
prisoners interned in the oil-rich Caspian nation in the next two to three
weeks, he told journalists.
They agreed that “the internment of some of the opposition leaders in prison
during parliamentary elections (in November) would be an undesirable
phenomenon,” Azer Press quoted Bruce as saying.
Tensions between the opposition and the authorities have been heating up
ahead
of the November poll with police breaking up every protest the opposition has
organized since the 2003 elections.

3) Armenian FM Addresses UN Commission on Human Rights

YEREVAN (Armenpress)–Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian addressed the 61st
session of the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva on March 15. On May 3,
2001, the UN’s Economic and Social Council elected 14 new members to
three-year
terms on the UN Human Rights Commission, of which Armenia won one of those 14
seats.
Oskanian explained that Armenia’s membership in the Commission is not simply
an organizational matter, but rather “is as much a product of our sense of
responsibility as of our deep, immediate daily awareness that individual human
rights, the basic human rights of a society, and individual and collective
security are all inextricably, inarguably, expressly inter-connected.”
For Armenians, he said “the human rights principle, the concept of man’s
inalienable rights touches a raw nerve…We spent the greatest part of the
last
century under a regime that endured solely because of the absence of human
rights. Immediately prior to that period, we had the dubious honor of being
the
century’s first victims of genocide. At the end of the century, we were still
fighting to secure the rights of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabagh.”
Oskanian then focused on Genocide and the issue of Karabagh’s
self-determination. He explained that for Armenians, “As a minority, living in
the Ottoman Empire, their call for the application of the lofty principles of
liberty, equality and fraternity, led to their death sentence. Today, their
survivors, living within and outside the Republic of Armenia, expect that the
world’s avowal of the universality of those same noble principles will lead to
recognition that Genocide was committed against Armenians.”
Referring to recent calls by the Turkish leadership for a historical debate,
the Minister reiterated Armenia’s readiness for dialogue. “Let’s not confuse
the two kinds of dialogue,” he said. “One is a debate about history. The other
is a political discussion. Periodic calls by various Turkish administrations
for historical debate simply delay the process of reconciling with the truth.”
On the struggle of the people of Karabagh for self-determination, the
Minister
remarked, “Ironically, Mr. Chairman, even as societies have learned to support
the victims of domestic violence, we have not yet graduated to offering the
same support to victims of international or government violence. At best, the
world watches silently as the victims attempt to defend themselves, and if
somehow, against great odds, they succeed, then the world quickly pulls back,
as the state loudly cries foul and claims sovereignty and territorial
integrity… Just as the perpetrator of domestic violence loses the moral
right
to custody, so then, does a government that commits and promotes violence
against its own citizens lose its rights. It is in such instances that the
notion of self-determination is significant and legitimate.”
Oskanian concluded his remarks saying, “Mr. Chairman, for us, defense and
protection of human rights is not an abstract principle. It is the difference
between survival and annihilation. We believe it is the same for many in the
world. Yet, our individual and collective tendency is to ignore or neglect
problems for which we have no immediate answer or prospect for solution. This
is even truer in situations which defy belief, surpass common norms, and shake
our very assumptions and values. For these very reasons, in our ever-shrinking
world, what is required is resolve on the part of the committed in order to
expand the engagement of those still hesitant.”
On the sidelines of the Commission’s annual meeting, Oskanian met with
Dimitri
Rupel, Slovenia’s Foreign Minister and Chairman-in-Office of the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He also met with the Foreign Minister
of Finland Laila Freivalds, President of the ICRC Jacob Kellenberger, and
Director General of the Geneva’s office of the United Nations Sergei
Orjonikidse.

4) Armenian Catholicosates Discuss Imperatives for Renewal of Armenian Church

ETCHMIADZIN (Armenpress)–Under the auspices of Catholicos of All Armenians
His
Holiness Karekin II and Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia His Holiness
Aram I, a meeting of delegations of the Catholicosate of All Armenians and the
Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia took place on March 4-5 in
Etchmiadzin with the goal of further strengthening internal solidarity and
preparation of a draft agenda with the theme, “The Imperative for the Renewal
of the Armenian Church.”
On March 4, His Holiness Karekin II received the two delegations in the
Mother
See, gave his Pontifical blessing to the members of the delegations, and spoke
of his and Catholicos Aram I’s expectations of the meeting. Archbishop Oshagan
Choloyan conveyed the warm greetings of His Holiness Aram I.
The meeting commenced after the Lord’s Prayer, the result of which was the
preparation of the draft agenda. Consisting of nine agenda items, it included
the primary spheres of the identity, life, and witness of the Armenian Church:
the canonical condition of the Armenian Church–ecclesiological,
administrative, and canonical definement, Christian and Armenian education,
evangelical mission and preservation of spiritual and cultural values,
liturgical and ritual life, preparation of clergy and reactivation of monastic
life, ecumenical and inter-religious relations, positions on modern social and
moral issues, relations between Church and State, relations between Church and
Social Institutions, pursuit of the rights of the Armenian people, and the use
of modern technologies.
The draft agenda will be presented to His Holiness Karekin II and His
Holiness
Aram I for their consideration and petitioning them for the commission’s work
to proceed.

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