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Armenia: with the amnesty on 19 June, the authorities have indicated
their willingness to overcome the political crisis

Strasbourg, 25.06.2009 – In a resolution on the functioning of
democratic institutions in Armenia, the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe (PACE) today welcomed the general amnesty adopted on
19 June, under which most, if not all, of the persons deprived of their
liberty in relation to the events of 1 and 2 March 2008 will be
released. With this measure, the authorities have complied with a
crucial demand of the Assembly in its Resolution 1643 (2009)
< 3D/Documents/AdoptedText/ta09/ERES
1643.htm> , and have given a clear indication of their willingness to
overcome the political crisis that ensued after the Presidential
election of February 2008. The Assembly will, however, follow the
developments with regard to the remaining cases.

The Assembly regrets, however, the breakdown of the work of the
independent expert group to establish the facts in relation to the
events of 1 and 2 March 2008 as a result of tensions between its members
and the politicising of its work. PACE considers that an independent,
impartial and credible investigation into these events is still
necessary, and therefore reaffirms its demand that such an investigation
be conducted in line with the criteria outlined by the Assembly,
notwithstanding the breakdown of the fact-finding group.

Furthermore, noting that undue restrictions are still placed on the
organisation of rallies, the Assembly reiterated its call for the
authorities to respect the principle of freedom of assembly in practice,
and monitor the implementation of the amended law on rallies and
demonstrations.

Given the numerous allegations of widespread fraud during the election
of the Yerevan City Council on 31 May 2009, and the fact that public
trust in the electoral process is still very low in Armenia, PACE also
stressed that electoral reform should be a priority for the authorities.

During the parliamentary debate, the PACE co-rapporteurs on the
monitoring of Armenia, Georges Colombier (France, EPP/CD) and John
Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC), reported on progress made by the
Armenian authorities towards compliance with the demands of the
Assembly, in particular important changes to the provisions of the
Criminal Code and the initiation of several reforms, culminating in an
amnesty. While Armenia has taken a decisive step towards the
normalisation of political life, these achievements should not be seen
as the end of the process. The Assembly therefore invited its Monitoring
Committee to provide full support for democratic consolidation in
Armenia, in the framework of its regular monitoring procedure.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress