PACE urges reforms and an open dialogue between political forces to
allow Armenia to move forward
Strasbourg, 17.04.2008 – In order to move forward, Armenia should
urgently undertake reforms of the political system and of the electoral
process, guarantee the independence of the judiciary, the public media
and freedom of assembly, and stop the harassment of opposition media
outlets, arbitrary arrests and politically motivated detentions, the
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) said today.
According to the resolution adopted, "the only way to allow the country
to move forward with the above-mentioned urgently-needed reforms is the
initiation of an open and constructive dialogue between political
forces", the parliamentarians said.
Following the proposals of the PACE rapporteurs on Armenia (Georges
Colombier, France, EPP/CD, and John Prescott, United Kingdom, SOC), the
parliamentarians listed a number of conditions for such a dialogue to
start, notably the immediate opening of an independent inquiry into the
events of 1 March (which resulted in 10 people killed and 200 injured),
the urgent release of the persons detained on seemingly artificial and
politically motivated charges and the revocation of the amendments
recently adopted by the National Assembly to the Law on conducting
meetings, assemblies, rallies and demonstrations, with immediate effect.
Unless these conditions are met and an open dialogue on the reforms
mentioned is seriously engaged, "the credibility of Armenia as a member
of the Council of Europe is put into doubt", the parliamentarians said.
"The Assembly should therefore consider the possibility of suspending
the voting rights of the Armenian delegation to the Assembly at the
opening of its June 2008 part-session, if no considerable progress has
been made on these requirements by then", the resolution concludes.
PRESS RELEASE
Parliamentary Assembly Communication Unit
Ref: 276a08
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The Parliamentary Assembly brings together 318 members from the national
parliaments of the 47 member states.
President: Lluís Maria de Puig (Spain, SOC) ; Secretary General of the
Assembly: Mateo Sorinas.
Political Groups: EPP/CD (Group of the European People’s Party); SOC
(Socialist Group); EDG (European Democratic Group);
ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe); UEL (Group of the
Unified European Left).
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
