4TH ADDITION OF LETTER-AGREEMENT ON ARMENIAN-AMERICAN COOPERATION IN SPHERE OF DRUGS CONTROL AND LEGALITY SIGNED

Noyan Tapan
Apr 25 2006

YEREVAN, APRIL 25, NOYAN TAPAN. RA Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepian
and U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary John Evans
signed on April 21 the 4th addition of the letter-agreement on
cooperation between the RA and U.S. Governments in the sphere of
Drugs Control and Legality. According to it, the U.S. Government will
allocate Armenia additional assistance of 2 166 039 U.S. dollars
for 5 programs. Those programs are creation of the RA Police state
computer network, the program of a constant legal advisor, assistance
in the struggle against the people trade, the program of creating
the criminal-experimental institute as well as continuation of the
“Project Harmony” program of legal sociology. By the agreement signed
on July 1, 2001, the sides envisage to found and implement a program
the goal of which is to make the RA legal sphere more productive,
to stimulate legality, with the means of consulting assistance,
technologies and mutual cooperation. Since having signed the initial
agreement on June 11, 2001, the U.S. Government has allocated Armenia
more than 7 mln U.S. dollars to assist the legal cooperation. The
program consists of sub-programs among which allocation of educational
and technical consultations is particularly envisaged by the legality
development program, which is called to strengthen productivity and
possibilities of activity of the police infrastructures. The program
of securing transparency of the judicial system has a goal to assist
widening of technical possibilities of the prosecutor’s office and
the judicial system and teaching the staff. The security development
programs envisage implementation of security means of the RA National
Assembly building and corresponding teaching. A.Hovsepian mentioned
with satisfaction that an independent experimental center attached to
the RA National Academy of Sciences was founded and functions within
the framework of the program. According to his estimation, the
center is already completed and implements experiments of 8 different
spheres. Computer rooms have been created in different legal bodies,
newest technologies have been used in bordering points, a great
assistance was shown for settlement of issues on struggle against
trafficking. The RA Prosecutor General informed that as a result of
Armenian and U.S. legal bodies’ cooperation, 5 people committed serious
crime and being reconnoitred by the U.S. legal bodies were arrested in
Armenia. J.Evans emphasized in his turn that owing to the agreement,
the legal bodies of Armenia have had “significant achievement” during
5 years. According to the Ambassador, by singing the 4th addition “we
start the new head in our succeeded joint work. It was a successful
program and deserves to be continued and widened even more.”