ARMENIA: VIOLENCE AT POLLING STATIONS MARS ELECTIONS
Human Rights Watch
22 Feb 2008 00:33:48 GMT
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this
article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are
the author’s alone.
(New York, February 22, 2008)The Armenian government should
investigate alleged assaults on election observers and journalists
that marred the presidential election on February 19, 2008, Human
Rights Watch said today. According to victim testimonies taken by
Human Rights Watch, assailants beat and threatened opposition party
activists, domestic observers, and journalists who attempted to
document election fraud at polling stations during the presidential
vote. "These election-day attacks targeted the very people trying to
ensure the integrity of Armenia’s vote," said Holly Cartner, Europe
and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
"The Armenian government should carry out independent and speedy
investigations to ensure justice is served and to send the message
that intimidation won’t be tolerated."
On February 20, the Central Election Commission declared Prime
Minister Serzh Sargsian the winner of the elections with 52.8 percent
of the vote.
Sargsian had the backing of current president Robert
Kocharian. Armenia’s first president Levon Ter-Petrosian was the main
opposition challenger and won 21.5 percent, according to official
tallies.
In nine cases documented by Human Rights Watch, assailants intimidated,
threatened, and even violently attacked opposition party activists,
domestic observers and journalists at eight polling stations
in and around the capital, Yerevan. Victims variously described
their assailants as "big guys," "athletic," "tough," and apparently
supporters of Sargsian. Most victims had been attempting to expose what
they believed to be violations of electoral rules, such as incorrect
voters’ lists, intimidation of voters, violations of the right to a
secret ballot, and ballot-box stuffing. None of the victims was able
or willing to return to the polling station to continue observing
the voting.
In several incidents, the assaults took place in the presence of
police and polling station officials who did not intervene, and in
one case a police officer appeared to assist the assailants. Some
victims reported the attacks to police, who are investigating.
Human Rights Watch called on the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to look into election-related violence
and ensure that its final report on the vote records these incidents.
In one case documented by Human Rights Watch, assailants grabbed a
Ter-Petrosian proxy (a candidate’s authorized representative) at a
polling station in Yerevan, forced her into a car and drove her to
a remote area.
There, they beat her in the head and face, threatened to rape her and
attack her family, and abandoned her. She eventually made her way to
a police station where she filed a complaint. She is still suffering
from headaches and other medical repercussions of the attack.
At least three journalists were attacked. Lusine Barsegian of the
newspaper Haikakan Zhamankak was beaten, and had her camera and voice
recorder stolen, when she attempted to document what she believed to
be intimidation of voters at a polling station in Yerevan’s Erebuni
district. A cameraman from the independent A1+ television station
was beaten and had his camera taken at the same polling station. Two
domestic election observers, Armen Matirosian, a member of parliament
from the opposition Heritage party, and Zarui Postandjian, an observer
from a nongovernmental organization, were also attacked at this polling
station after they tried to raise alleged election violations with
polling station officials.
The OSCE election monitors stated that the elections were held
"mostly in line" with international commitments.
Tens of thousands of Ter-Petrosian supporters took to the streets in
downtown Yerevan on February 20 and 21 to protest the outcome of the
elections and what they believe to be widespread electoral fraud.
"The Armenian authorities should ensure that no harm is done to
peaceful demonstrators," said Cartner. "Armenia claims to be a
democratic country, and that means allowing people to exercise their
right to freedom of assembly."
Armenia has a history of flawed elections and harassment of opposition
parties. In March 2003, Human Rights Watch documented widespread
ballot stuffing and intimidation during Armenia’s presidential
election runoff.
Human Rights Watch documented mass arrests of opposition supporters,
violent dispersals of demonstrations, and raids on opposition party
headquarters in April 2004. The protests derived from the government’s
failure to address the many violations of electoral rules documented
in the 2003 presidential election.
Details of Assaults
Yerevan Polling station 13/16 Lusine Barsegian, a journalist for
Haikakan Zhamankak told Human Rights Watch she went to polling station
13/16 in the Erebuni district of Yerevan at approximately 2 p.m. on
February 19. When she arrived, she saw that the polling station was
very overcrowded. Some unidentified people were talking to voters
in what she believed to be an attempt to influence their votes,
and other people were observing the voters closely as they cast
their ballots. Barsegian attempted to interview the central election
commission representative responsible for the polling station about the
apparent violations. At that point, policemen and a few unidentified
men forced her out of the polling station. Barsegian protested, saying,
"I have the right to be here. I have the right to take photographs."
With the assistance of Armen Matirosian, a member of parliament from
the Heritage party, who was an authorized election observer, Barsegian
again entered to the polling station. When she again attempted to
take photographs, an unidentified man in plainclothes kicked her in
the stomach and grabbed her camera and voice recorder. Other men also
punched and kicked Matirosian. According to Barsegian, police stood
by and did not intervene.
After this attack, Barsegian and Matirosian fled the station and
filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office.
When Zarui Postandjian, an observer from the nongovernmental
organization Against State Violence, heard about the incident, she went
to polling station 13/16. Upon arriving, she saw a severely overcrowded
polling station and police and unidentified people observing voters
as they marked their ballots. Postandjian has stated that she tried
to take photos of the polling station when a policeman came up from
behind her and hit her. At the same time, an unidentified man tried to
grab her camera, and both he and the policeman punched her. Another
observer came to assist her, and they both fled. Postandjian did not
return to the polling station. Postandjian filed a complaint with
the prosecutor’s office, which opened a criminal investigation.
Arabkir district Reuben Armanian, a proxy for Ter-Petrosian, went
to polling station 4/26 in Arabkir at approximately 7:30 p.m. to
replace some of his colleagues who had been observing the conduct of
the voting during the day.
He told Human Rights Watch that when he arrived, a group of 40 to 50
athletic-looking men were standing in and near the polling station.
Approximately 10 of these men attacked Armanian, punching him on
the head and body. "What could I do but look for a way to escape
them?" Armanian told Human Rights Watch. "I ran 10-20 meters and no
one followed me. But I couldn’t return to the polling station because
these guys were still there."
Photos, obtained by Human Rights Watch, of Armanian two days after
the attack show him with a severely black and swollen right eye.
Human Rights Watch also received reports that at least two other
proxies and observers were attacked at polling stations in Arabkir. One
victim was too afraid to speak to Human Rights Watch out of fear
of repercussions.
Kentron district Hovsep Hovsepian, a cameraman with the independent
A1+ television station heard about election violations at polling
station 9/6 in the Kentron district of Yerevan. Hovsepian told Human
Rights Watch that when he got out of his car at the polling station,
a large group of unidentified men who had gathered outside the polling
station attacked him and attempted to take his camera. When Hovsepian
resisted, one of the men kicked him in the stomach and grabbed the
camera. The assailants took the video cassette out of the camera,
smashed it, and prepared to destroy the camera as well.
At that moment, the driver of the car came out and the men began
to attack him instead. Hovsepian and the driver broke free of the
attackers, returned to the car and left the polling station.
Unidentified district #1 An opposition party proxy who did not want to
be identified out of concerns for his safety told Human Rights Watch
that at a polling station in one Yerevan district he saw violations of
election regulations and asked that the election commission officials
respond. After a few minutes, a group of 15 to 20 people attacked
him, punching and kicking him until he lost consciousness. He was
then taken to the hospital in an ambulance. He suffered broken ribs
and pain in his kidneys as a result of the beating.
Unidentified district #2 One Ter-Petrosian supporter who asked not
to be identified also described to Human Rights Watch how assailants
removed him from a polling station, forced him into a car and drove
him away. At a location unknown to the victim, a large group of
men beat him severely in the head and body, saying that they were
beating him because of his support of the opposition. As a result,
the victim suffered several broken ribs.
Abovian, about 20 kilometers from Yerevan Larissa Tadevosian, a
proxy for Ter-Petrosian, has told Human Rights Watch that she went
to polling station 28/7 in Abovian at approximately 7:30 a.m. Three
large, athletic men approached her, and two of them dragged her out
of the polling station.
Tadevosian struggled to free herself, but was dragged across the yard
and shoved into a car. The three men drove Tadevosian to a deserted
area outside the town. After taking her out of the car, one man beat
her on the head and face. "They told me that I should be silent and
not say anything more about the elections," she told Human Rights
Watch. "They threatened to rape me.
They threatened to harm my family." The men then left Tadevosian in
the deserted area and drove away.
Tadevosian was unable to return to the polling station because of her
condition. She went directly to the police, who ordered a forensic
medical examination. Two days after the attack, she complained of
headaches, dizziness, and other medical problems.
Gurgen Eghizarian, a proxy for Ter-Petrosian and a former deputy head
of the National Security Service, received information that election
observers at polling station 28/6 in Abovian had been kidnapped and
beaten. He has stated that he went to the polling station together
with Erjan Abgarian, a 68-year-old Ter-Petrosian proxy and former
head of the customs service.
Election commission representatives and observers there denied that
they had seen anything happen to the observers, but Eghizarian demanded
that the senior election commission representative sign a statement
about what had happened. While at the polling station, a group of
seven or eight men armed with pistols attacked Eghizarian, his son,
and Abgarian, beating them on the kidneys, ribs, and back. Eghizarian
told Human Rights Watch that the men also threatened him and the
others saying, "Sargsian will be president, and if you go against
him, you will be killed." He suffers headaches and has a bruise on
his forehead as a result of the assault.
A senior official for Ter-Petrosian told Human Rights Watch that at
least three other proxies were beaten in Abovian on election day.
Another Ter-Petrosian proxy who wished to remain anonymous told Human
Rights Watch that large, athletic men would arrive periodically at
another polling station in Abovian and would take prospective voters
aside "for a little chat," apparently in order to influence their
votes. These same men also spoke to election commission officials,
observers, and candidates’ proxies, and threatened them should they
speak out about any violations. This same proxy told Human Rights Watch
that in mid-afternoon some men took him aside and threatened him and
told him, "You didn’t see anything." He claimed that these men were
responsible for stealing and falsifying ballots and stuffing the ballot
box at this polling station. Police stood by and did not respond.
This proxy stated that he continued to fear for his safety and had
sent his children to another location and was reluctant to leave his
own apartment.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
