DEADLY CLASHES DURING PROTESTS IN ARMENIA ALARM SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

States News Service
March 3, 2008 Monday

The following information was released by the United Nations:

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today voiced his deep concern about the
deadly clashes between demonstrators and police forces in Yerevan,
the capital of Armenia, where the results of recent presidential
elections have been disputed.

"It is his hope that these events, during which eight people died,
will be thoroughly investigated," Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said in
a statement.

"The Secretary-General calls on all parties to exercise full restraint
and to find a way out of the current crisis. He also urges the Armenian
authorities to take all necessary steps to ensure a return to normalcy,
including through a speedy lifting of the state of emergency."

The statement was issued a day after Louise Arbour, the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights, also voiced alarm about the violent
clashes in Yerevan and urged authorities to exercise maximum restraint.

She noted that Armenia is a signatory to the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which states that, even during
states of emergency, fundamental rights such as the right to life
and the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading
treatment cannot be suspended.

Protests began in Armenia after Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan was
declared the winner of the 19 February presidential poll, a result
that is disputed by the opposition candidate Levon Ter-Petrosyan.