PACE REFRAINS FROM DEPRIVING ARMENIA OF VOTING RIGHTS

AzerNews Weekly
Jan 28 2009
Azerbaijan

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) decided
not to suspend the voting rights of the Armenian delegation to the
Assembly at this stage.

The decision on the issue, which had been raised by the assembly
co-rapporteurs in December, came at the end of Tuesday`s winter
session debate.

The PACE said it had taken into account "the recent initiatives of the
Armenian authorities as an indication of their readiness to address
the demands made by PACE" in two resolutions of the Assembly adopted
in 2008.

The PACE said it remains "dissatisfied and seriously concerned" by the
situation of persons jailed during the dispersal of the March 1-2,
2008 mass protests that followed Armenia`s February 19 presidential
election.

Nevertheless, it believes that the number of pardons granted by
President Sarkisian (28 to date), the National Assembly`s recent
initiative to revise two articles of Armenia`s Criminal Code in
accordance with Council of Europe standards within no more than two
months and the positive steps taken towards the establishment of
an independent, transparent and credible inquiry, indicate that the
Armenian authorities are prepared to address the Assembly`s demands.

The PACE called on the Armenian authorities to continue releasing
the detainees by using other legal means, including amnesties or the
dropping of charges. PACE also invited its Monitoring Committee to
examine, before the April part-session, the progress achieved by the
Armenian authorities with regard to the implementation of Tuesday`s
resolution – as well as the previous ones – and to propose any further
action to be taken by the Assembly as required by the situation.

Armenia`s opposition had refused to recognize the results of the
election won by Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian, charging vote rigging
and taking to the streets. 28 people were reportedly killed and
hundreds were injured during the demonstrations.*