Council of Europe and OSCE welcome agreement to change recently-amended
assembly law in Armenia

Strasbourg, 22.04.2008 – The OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions
and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission
today welcomed the agreement reached with leading Armenian state
representatives to make changes to the recently-amended assembly law.

"We see this agreement as another step in the long-standing cooperation
between the Armenian authorities, the ODIHR and the Venice Commission on
the legislative regulation of public assemblies," said Ambassador
Christian Strohal, ODIHR Director.

"The Venice Commission and the ODIHR look forward to receiving the
drafts of the new amendments and stand ready to review them in light of
relevant international standards," added Gianni Buquicchio, Secretary of
the Venice Commission.

In a legal opinion published on 28 March, the ODIHR and the Venice
Commission raised serious concerns about the amendments to the Law on
Conducting Meetings, Assemblies, Rallies and Demonstrations which were
passed shortly after the violent events of 1-2 March.

During a visit to Yerevan on 15-16 April, a delegation from the ODIHR
and the Venice Commission met Tigran Torosyan, Speaker of the National
Assembly, Gevorg Danielyan, Minister of Justice, and presidential
adviser Gevorg Mheryan.

It was agreed to repeal or change the amendments introduced to tighten
provisions for peaceful assemblies, in particular with regard to
spontaneous gatherings. These changes would bring the law closer to its
original content, which had been assessed positively by the ODIHR and
the Venice Commission.

Based on the agreement reached, new amendments will be drafted and
submitted to the ODIHR and the Venice Commission for another review.
ODIHR and Venice Commission experts suggested that sufficient time be
allowed for public discussion of the amendments.

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