ARMENIA MAY LOSE VOTING RIGHTS AT PACE IF FREEDOMS ARE NOT ENSURED

Interfax News Agency
June 26, 2008
Russia

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has passed
a new resolution on Armenia. The resolution says that Armenia will
be denied a vote if it fails to meet the demands.

The PACE monitoring commission welcomed progress in the fulfillment of
resolution 1609, which was passed after the March 1 riots in Yerevan,
but said the progress was insufficient despite the political will of
the Armenian administration.

The Armenian opposition led by the country’s first president Levon
Ter-Petrossian refused to accept the results of the February 19
presidential election and organized protests. The protests developed
into clashes with the police on March 1. Ten people were killed and
over 250 people were injured.

The Assembly urged Armenia to release all political prisoners, to hold
an independent investigation of the March 1 events and to guarantee
people’s right to assemblies.

The new resolution says that the period assigned for the fulfillment of
the aforesaid demands was insufficient. Thus, it suggests discussing
the Armenian compliance with resolution 1609 at the Assembly session
in January 2009. If no progress is achieved, the monitoring commission
will suggest denying Armenia voting rights.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress