PRESS RELEASE
Huys NGO
Contact: Lala Aslikyan or Karen Hakobyan
Hambardsumyan 16, apt. 26., Yerevan
Tel: 093447643
Email: lalakap2000@yahoo.com

To International Organizations carrying out observation mission
OSCE/ODIHR observation mission
OSCE PA observation mission
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
PACE

Statement

Elections of 2008 like presidential elections in 1996, 1998, 2003
and the constitutional referendum in 2005 were distorted by official
competent bodies by using the governmental machine of repressive
measures and criminal mechanisms. The data given by NGO observing
missions and monitoring, evaluations by the political parties put
their candidacy for the presidential elections, and the society
itself, that expresses its outburst in the square of Freedom are the
evidence of those distortions.

Nevertheless, all these didn’t get their evaluation by European
structures. The evaluation on February 20 given by OSCE/ ODIHR says
that `Armenian presidential elections were mostly in line with
international commitments’ became a card blanch by the governmental
authorities for further crimes and for taking actions against the
citizens struggling for their rights. So, with such an assessment, the
consecutive process of violation of the law by Armenian authorities
gets to its logical victory with the assistance of European
structures, i.e. `democratic’ state with distorted elections.

We consider that in this situation the democratic processes are
getting to its end in Armenia. Citizens finally are deprived from the
most important right of being a citizen, freely expressing his/her
thoughts and will. One of the fundamental rights of the citizen to
elect the authorities of his/her country has an exclusively
declarative character in Armenia.

This will is defined and dictated by the government with repressive
measures to the society including criminal processes such as taking
bribes, blackmail, distortion of votes, misuse of administrative
resources, terrorizing, beating etc., which resulted in an unhealthy
situation, to which the absence of free media is even more
contributing. Moreover, authorities are already justify their
repressions against the citizens fighting for their rights. The
situation was flowing in the same way as it was in the night of April
13, 2003, when the authorities cruelly broke down the peaceful meeting
by beating defenseless people, journalists, members of parliament. In
the future the governmental bodies didn’t implement their commitment
taken against the European council- no one was punished.

In this circumstances any public action, efforts directed to the
human rights protection become nonsense, meaningless. The letters to
law protection bodies are just funny. The only way for the citizen
remains civic recalcitrance and complaints, the vivid example of this
are rallies in Liberty Square.

We under signed, with all responsibility declare that the process
of Presidential elections in Armenia went through the way of criminal
in all its stages. This is for the benefit of the Armenian society to
implement the right to express its freely will by the process of
election, independently from the political orientation. Today’s
public complaints could not be considered as a pure political struggle
or coup de tate, that is civil action against violated rights, for the
establishment of the real democracy.

From now on RA Citizen does not have any alternative but
struggling. In the means of protesting the citizens are free but the
responsibility for its consequences lays on the provoking the
situation authorities of the RA and their supporters, including
European structures.

We demand from the mission:
– Thoroughly investigate facts of infringements with the
participation of NGOs and political parties, to reconsider the
assessment;
– To use all possible tools to keep the authorities of the RA away
from the implementing repressive mechanisms of the army and police.

Huys NGO
Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly of Vanadzor
Mijnaberd NGO
Transparency International, Armenia
Asparez Journalists’ Club
Lawyers for human rights
Lala Aslikyan, citizen
Gayane Shagoyan, citizen
Zhanna Alexanyan, journalist