WHAT WAS DISCUSSED AT THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT? A LOOK FROM INSIDE

Panorama.am
20:25 08/10/2007

"They discussed a series of very important political issues." Thus
stated NA deputy Davit Harutyunyan, leader of the Armenian delegation,
about the five-day session. In his opinion, the issues discussed are
important for the political progress of all member countries of the
European Parliament.

The first issue was that of migration. "Much was discussed concerning
migration. The creation of transit and processing centers were
discussed. The aging population of Europe was also talked about,"
Harutyunyan said. Another issue gone over was the tragic situation
in Sudan, and the role the international community needs to play.

Another committee went over the situation of human rights and the
European Court. Judges were chosen from 12 countries, including
from Armenia. Judge Alvina Gyulumjyan represented Armenia in the
court. "More serious problems are discussed in the court, especially
those of pressuring individuals. In certain northern Caucasian
countries, such as Moldova, Turkey, and Azerbaijan, cases have been
registered in which they put pressure on one’s personal documents,
followed by investigation of personal taxes," Harutyunyan stated. They
discussed, he said, better ways of protecting individual rights. "They
talked about a wide range of issues, including how to make sure a
country’s police protect the individual’s rights, and what the European
court can do in cases when rights are not protected," he added.

"It is very important," Harutyunyan concluded, "how cases of slander
and denial of freedom are reported.

We talked about countries have laws in which merely talking about a
certain genocide is considered a criminal act." Besides the noted
issues, globalization was also discussed, both its positive and
negative sides.