ARMENIA FACES EUROPEAN SANCTION
By Naira Melkumian

Institute for War and Peace Reporting
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Jan 22 2009
UK

The country could lose its vote in PACE for refusing to conform to
European rights body’s resolutions.

A Europe-wide human rights body may suspend Armenian delegates
from voting next week in protest against the South Caucasus state’s
continued failure to implement its demands, including the release of
opposition activists.

The move by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe,
PACE, would be a humiliation for Armenia, and would severely damage
its international reputation.

A PACE committee recommended last month that Armenia lose its voice
at the meeting if progress had not been made to conform to PACE’s
resolutions, and a visit last week by two officials is appears unlikely
to have changed its mind.

"It’s no accident that the monitoring committee adopted the draft
resolution. As a rule, such drafts are adopted at the plenary
session. There would have to be a miracle for it not to be adopted,"
said Zaruhi Postandjian, a deputy in the Armenian parliament form
the opposition Zharangutian (Heritage) party.

The PACE investigation stems from the suppression of opposition
protests, which followed February presidential elections. Ten people
died in the protests, and as yet no one has been charged for their
murders.

The presidential polls themselves were described by international
observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation
in European as having been "mostly in line with the country’s
international commitments", but candidates including Levon
Ter-Petrossian – the country’s first post-independence president –
said Serzh Sargsian had stolen the election.

Two weeks of mass protests by supporters of Ter-Petrossian and other
candidates followed, but they were crushed on March 1, with the
government declaring a state of emergency and banning independent
news coverage.

In two successive resolutions – number 1609 in April and number 1620
in June – PACE demanded that Armenia guarantee citizens’ rights to
protest; allow an unbiased investigation into the deaths; and that
it free activists "seemingly detained on artificial and politically
motivated charges".

But three parliamentary deputies and ex-foreign minister Alexander
Arzumanian are among seven people still in detention charged with
organising the mass protests, and attempting a coup, making it likely
that PACE will exclude Armenia from its ranks

"If this decision is taken, then it will affect Armenia in a negative
way, because such things affect the country’s rating, including
its attractiveness for investors," said analyst Alik Iskandarian,
director of the Caucasus Institute.

The court case against the detained opposition leaders has been already
adjourned five times, because the defendants were not sufficiently
respectful to the court. A hearing on January 16 lasted just a few
minutes before the judge rescheduled it for January 30 because the
defendants had not stood up when he came in.

Few Armenians doubt that the court is acting to keep the opposition
activists behind bars as long as possible.

"Maybe this has a legal base, but this is really a political process
just with a legal form. I think PACE’s decision could either speed
up or prolong this process," said Andranik Tevanian, the head of the
Politekonomia think tank.

John Prescott and Georges Colombier, co-rapporteurs for PACE, visited
Armenia last week to check the country’s progress. They held meetings
at the highest level, including with Present Sargsian, who promised
them Armenia was determined to follow PACE’s recommendations.

They also met General Prosecutor Aghvan Ovsepian, who told them that
the detained opposition activists had aimed to seize power.

"They played a key role in the organisation of the disturbances,
in the course of which several dozen cars and shops were burned and
looted, while hundreds of people were hurt in different ways and ten
people died," he told them, according to a press release.

But the prospect of the country losing its right to vote at PACE
has caused splits among the parliamentary deputies of the governing
coalition, not all of whom are as forthright as the prosecutor.

Eduard Sharmazanov, secretary of the Republican Party of Armenia,
said Armenia was only harming itself if it did not go along with
PACE’s resolutions.

"It is a fact that much of what is in resolutions 1609 and 1620 is
unacceptable to us, but we must recognise that no one is forcing us
into European structures, it is our choice. No one is more interested
than us in solving problems within the country," he said.

But despite such doubts, the opposition leaders were unconvinced that
pressure from PACE would help free their detained colleagues.

"There can be no doubt that there are political prisoners in the
country. These defendants are political prisoners," said Arman
Musinian, spokesman for Ter-Petrossian.

He said that the prisoners were being abused in prison, with
investigators trying to force them to sign confessions.

"From this we can conclude that the PACE resolutions will remain
unfulfilled, and the situation in the country will just get worse. The
government has exhausted its resources and it has nothing to show
PACE," he said.