"YERKIR" UNION’S APPEAL TO INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY WITH RESPECT TO THE RECENT EVENTS IN AKHALKALAKI

AZG Armenian Daily
02/08/2008

Javakhk

On July 17, 2008 a blast took place in the town of Akhalkalaki,
regional center of the Akhalkalaki district of the Samtskhe-Javakheti
region of Georgia, near the house of the Chief of Police Samvel
Petrosyan. There were no casualties.

Immediately after the blast, the local police forces initiated an
unprecedented wave of arrests within the ranks of the activists
of the "United Javakhk Democratic Alliance" the local political
movement. Thus, up to 15 activists were brutally arrested, some were
fiercely beaten. The police also entered the building of the Youth
radio station which belonged to the same political movement. For this
purpose, the entrance door was crushed and internal doors and windows
were damaged. No arms were found however on the premises.

On July 17, around 8:00 p.m., some 40 persons regrouping both
police forces and civilians, stormed into the house of the local
activist, Gurgen Shirinyan. During this operation, Gurgen’s father
was fiercely beaten and one local policeman, Arthur Berudjanyan,
was shot dead. Police sources declared that Gurgen Shirinyan fled,
while his father and aunt were arrested.

On July 18, "United Javakhk Democratic Alliance" issued a statement
describing both the blast and the incidents that followed as
provocations aiming the destruction of their organization. The
statement required from the authorities the holding of an impartial
investigation.

In the afternoon of July 20, another policeman – Armen Gabrielyan was
shot dead. According to a declaration on behalf of the authorities,
the dead policeman had… committed suicide.

At 4:00 am on July 21, armed and masked Georgian special forces
intruded the house of the "United Javakhk Democratic Alliance"
political movements’ leader, Vahagn Chakhalyan, and arrested all
the members of his family. At 5:00 am, Vahagn Chakhalyan’s mother
was set free, but he, his father and his adolescent brother were
detained in Akhaltsikhe, the center of the province. Later on they
were taken to Tbilisi, where they continue to remain in custody up to
now. Chakhalyan’s, his father’s and brother’s preliminary detention
was immediately extended to two months.

Parallel to these events, the police stormed once again the building
of the Youth radio station, but this time… arms and ammunition were
"found" and confiscated.

Currently, authorities keep under arrest Gurgen Shirinyan’s father
(Harutyun Shirinyan), Gurgen Shirinyan’s aunt (Karine Shirinyan),
as well as Vahagn Chakhalyan, Vahagn Chakhalyan’s father (Rouben
Chakhalyan) and Vahagn Chakhalyan’s brother (Armen Chakhalyan). The
building of the "Youth Radio" is closed and sealed, all computers
and other furniture are confiscated.

On July 23, "Yerkir" Union of NGOs for Repatriation and Settlement,
in collaboration with its Georgian chapter "Yerkir-Georgia", has
sent a fact finding mission to Akhalkalaki; including a cameraman,
a lawyer and members of the UNGO. The delegation interviewed relatives
and neighbors of the detained persons, as well as policemen. The Main
places where the incidents occurred were also visited and filmed.

The following facts were noted:

1. All arrests were conducted with flagrant violations. None of the
arrested persons was informed of his legal rights, his legal status,
or of his possibilities for self- protection.

2. Many of the arrested were beaten both at the time of the arrest
and during the detention period.

3. Detained persons were interrogated, (some, for several hours)
however written reports on the interrogations were not kept.

4. During the search of Gurgen Shirinyan’s house, the police has
"discovered" ammunition, however no external witnesses were present
to verify and register the facts.

5. An official search warrant was not presented to the father of
Gurgen Shirinyan.

6. The police officers used degrading treatment toward Gurgen
Shirinyan’s relatives, and in particular, Gurgen Shirinyan’s father
was slapped and then brutally beaten.

7. Under the pretext that an investigation has to ascertain as to
whom the discovered ammunitions belong, Gurgen Shirinyan’s father
and aunt were arrested and detained without any warrant.

8. During Chakhalyan’s house search, arms and ammunitions were "found"
and caused the arrest of Chakhalyan and his relatives. However no
external witnesses participated to the search or noted the results
of the search.

9. Neither Vahagn Chakhalyan, nor any of the members of his family
were shown a search warrant.

10. The arrest of the members of Chakhalyan’s family was accompanied
with violence, Rouben, Vahagn and Armen Chakhalyan were beaten and
threatened.

11. Chakhalyan’s mother (Gayane Chakhalyan) was also arrested. She was
questioned for more than a hour, but no written record was kept of her
interrogation. She was threatened and freed without any explanation.

12. Armen Chakhalyan, who is a minor, was interrogated without the
presence of his parents or of any impartial adult.

13. In addition to the above mentioned persons who continue to still
remain in police custody, numerous other persons were arrested and
interrogated, they were all threatened, many were beaten, but all
were released without any explanation and with no written record of
the on-going interrogations which concerned them personally.

The "United Javakhk" Democratic Alliance" political movement
participated in the local elections in October 2006, in which they
got about 30% of the Akhalkalaki district votes and took 3 seats in
Akhalkalaki sakreboulo (local self-governing body). Yet, the movement
rejected the election results as far as it was concerned, dubbing
those results as a flagrant fraud. The leaders of this political
movement, and especially Chakhalyan, struggles for a long time now
for the fulfillment of the Armenian minority rights. Based on this
fact, "Yerkir" Union strongly believes that Chakhalyan’s arrest and
subsequent detention were purely motivated by political reasons.

"Yerkir" Union considers the recent incidents in Akhalkalaki to be
the Georgian government’s unwillingness to solve minority issues,
preferring instead to resort to brutal force to suppress expressions
of legitimate complaint.

"Yerkir" Union therefore calls upon the Georgian government:

– to guarantee a fair and unbiased investigation of the recent
incidents in Akhalkalaki,

– to immediately release from detention all relatives of Vahagn
Chakhalyan and Gurgen Shirinyan,

– to immediately investigate all human rights’ abuses which took
place during the recent incidents in Akhalkalaki, and in particular,
the human rights’ abuses which occurred during the arrests, the
interrogations and the detentions,

– to hold a fair and impartial investigation of the assassination of
the two ethnic Armenian policemen,

– to guarantee Vahagn Chakhalyan’s rights for a fair and impartial
trial.

"Yerkir" Union also calls upon foreign missions in Georgia,
international organizations and institutions, international and local
human rights organizations and Georgia’s human rights public defender,
Mr. Subari

– to recognize Vahagn Chakhalyan and all his detained relatives,
as well as Gurgen Shirinyan’s detained relatives as political prisoners

– to take appropriate steps for monitoring the conditions of detention
of all the political prisoners, to secure their right not to be
subjected to torture and ill-treatment any more, and to assure their
right to be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent
dignity of the human person.

"Yerkir" Union urges the Georgian mass-media to respect the right of
the Georgian and international communities to be informed and to break
the information blockade around this case by providing objective and
full-length coverage.

"Yerkir" Union also expresses its concern about the alarming
socio-political and psychological impact which will have the recent
incidents on the Armenian minority of Javakheti. We call upon the
Georgian government, as well as upon the international and local
organizations and institutions to take appropriate and efficient
steps for eliminating the possible negative impacts of these recent
critical developments.