THE COMMITTEE READY FOR ANY VERSION
S. Harutyunyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
10 Sep 2008
Armenia

The NA temporary committee investigating March 1-2 developments
came to a conclusion during its last session that it is high time to
set up an independent group to collect facts where specialists and
experts that enjoy the trust of the public will be represented. In
what refuge is the process?

Chairman of the committee Samvel Nikoyan answers our question.

"As you know the proposal was made by PACE Human Rights Commissioner,
and the committee as well considers it important to set up similar
fact collecting group. But we haven’t come to a decision whether it
will be by the amendment of NA decision, a supplementary decision,
the order of the President or the decision of the government.

But we need professionals, why not specialists from the Council of
Europe, representatives from the pro-oppositional camp, including
Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s representatives and those from "Heritage" party.

Which means it must be perceptible and acceptable for everyone,
a balanced body that must collect facts and hand it over to the
committee.

Actually the committee doesn’t have similar problem because we are
able to solve that issue on our own. Our main "lever", we can say,
is our publicity and transparent course of action.

The committee has even approached the sphere of the inves tigation
of the circumstances of murders. We have surveyed competent state
bodies and we are waiting for their clarifications. So if in parallel
they want to set up a fact-collecting group they can. In my view the
committee and in general the state bodies don’t have anything to hide
from the people. March 1-2 developments took place in the presence
and participation of thousand people and there is no way to hide them.

My approach has always been to estimate everything in an honest and
fair manner, to punish the guilty and to close this tragic page of
our history.

Those who don’t want to see everything clarified, they intend to
keep this wound open and to salt it every time during the internal
political tensions."

"Do you think Ter-Petrosyan and his followers will participate in
the process of setting up a fact-collecting group, or they will
boycott it?"

"Frankly I don’t have great anticipations. Opposition is very
broad-layered, part of them will have desire to participate in the
works of the committee, especially in the works of the fact-collecting
group, part of them no, because they don’t want to see this issue
solved. Why should they cooperate with us, if in autumn they are
planning to stage colored revolution?

So we want to set up a fact-collecting group, if opposition also wants
to participate in it, no problem, we welcome their decision. If no,20
this means they are not interested in clarifying the circumstances
of March 1-2 developments and giving clear assessments.