ARMENIA "ONE-SIDED" IN ’08 RIOT PROBE- RIGHTS GROUP
Reuters
Feb 25 2009
YEREVAN, Feb 25 (Reuters) – A leading rights watchdog accused Armenia
on Wednesday of conducting "politically motivated" trials over deadly
2008 riots while failing to investigate police culpability.
Ten people were killed when police and protesters clashed in the
capital Yerevan after the opposition alleged fraud in a presidential
election.
More than 100 people were detained during a state of emergency imposed
after the violence, but rights groups and the opposition say the
government has done little to investigate allegations of excessive
use of force by police and ill-treatment in custody.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said it was clear from many accounts
that police made excessive use of force, and that the use of guns
appeared to have been indiscriminate or disproportionate. "The Armenian
authorities’ response to the March 1 events has been one-sided,"
the group said in a report.
"While they investigated, prosecuted, and convicted dozens of
opposition members, sometimes in flawed and politically motivated
trials, for organising the demonstration and participating in violent
disorder, they have not prosecuted a single representative of the
authorities for excessive use of force."
The authorities accused the opposition of trying to overthrow the
government after an election won by current President Serzh Sarksyan.
Westerm election monitors said the vote was broadly in line with the
country’s international commitments but that further improvements
were necessary.
More than 50 people received jail sentences over the unrest. A number
have since been pardoned by Sarksyan, going some way to placating
European rights bodies.
Human Rights Watch said Armenia’s public prosecutor should step
up efforts to conduct an independent, impartial investigation into
police actions and allegations of ill-treatment of detainees. It
urged the country to address shortcomings in the electoral process
and pervasive public distrust that have left Armenia "stuck in a
cycle of uneven contests, fraud, and disputes that more often than
not spill onto the streets."
"To the extent that it exists, real political competition is volatile
with a permanent risk of violence," the report said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
