EVICTED FROM THEIR HOMES, ARMENIAN CITIZENS SEEK REDRESS IN EUROPEAN COURT
Arman Gharibyan
2 009/09/28 | 18:10
Feature Stories society
The apartment building located at 11 Teryan Street, downtown Yerevan
is in a semi-dilapidated state.
Some of the building’s former residents had signed a contract with
Dvin Concern, a construction and design company. Soon afterwards,
Dvin proceeded to tear the place apart. Those residents who didn’t
believe in the promises made by Dvin now live in a building that is
falling down around them.
"Dvin Concern" offers family pennies for prime downtown real estate
"We’re in a hell of a situation. They’ve demolished the neighboring
apartments and we’ve ended up living in the ruins. They busted a
water pipe during the demolition work and we went without water for
days. But what can we do; this is our home. Where can we go?" asked
Tereza Galstyan, a resident. Dvin promised Tereza and her mother a
similar apartment in the high-rise to be built on the site.
"We didn’t accept their conditions from the very beginning. Had we
done so, we would have now found ourselves on the street like our
neighbors. They fooled them by promising that they’d give each of
them 5 kilometers more; so they vacated their apartments," says Tereza.
Dvin Concern offered Tereza U.S. $45,000 for her 60 square meters in
the center of Yerevan. "We couldn’t buy an apartment for that price
in downtown Yerevan. So we told them – either give us an apartment
of equal size or enough money in order to buy an apartment," Tereza
says. This family can be considered one of the lucky few as they
haven’t been forcibly removed like the rest.
We are building "elite" homes for the "elite"
On December 25, 2005, Sedrak Baghdasaryan and his family were forcibly
removed from their apartment by members of the CES (Compulsory
Enforcement Service for Judicial Acts); the Armenian equivalent
of bailiffs.
"The court had handed down a decision to evict not only us but
hundreds of others. But to where? The court wasn’t interested in that
part. In the dead of winter they threw us out on the street with two
young children," Sedrak Baghdasaryan recounts. He will never forget
one of court sessions regarding the evictions when the judge asked
the representative of the Investment Implementation Services office
why the residents hadn’t been offered apartments in the new building
planned for the site. "The IIS official said no such offers had been
made and that they weren’t planning to make such offers since the
buildings going up on the site were ‘elite’ apartment houses for
‘elite’ people," Mr. Baghdasaryan said.
The judge in the case obligated the Baghdasaryan family to accept
$23,249 in compensation for their and 77 square meters of land and
the 55 square meter house on the site. 10% was subtracted from the
compensation amount for land taxes so the family was left with around
$21,000. "We not only lost our home but much of our furnishings and
belongings as well. Some was damaged during the relocation and others
received moisture damage. The biggest blow was that they removed us
from the official property register without telling us. As a result
37 citizens have no permanent registration and thus cannot vote,
receive a pension or assistance, work or attend the local school. With
the stroke of a pen, 37 citizens were turned into derelicts," Sedrak
Baghdasaryan said.
His son Tigran has since grown up but has no passport. Thus, he
may be deprived of the right to get a higher education. "My son has
been accepted at one of the institutes and they wanted to process
his passport. But he has none since we have no permanent address
registration. Now, they may expel him from the institute," says the
concerned father.
"It still remains a mystery why our government treated us in such a
fashion. What was our sin? Perhaps the reason was that we lived in the
center of Yerevan," says Sedrak. He is one of the 14 evicted residents
who have taken his case to the European Court of Human Rights.
Armenian citizens petition European Court and win
In 2007, the government of Armenia was compelled to satisfy
the compensation demands of Gevorg Jgheryan, one of the evicted
residents. He was paid the additional sum of $150,000 out of the state
coffers. Mr. Jgheryan had taken the case to the European Court. The
Armenian government, realizing that the court would find in favor of
the plaintiff, came to an out of court settlement with Mr. Jgheryan.
On another case dealing with an Armenian citizen deprived of their
property rights, the European Court, on June 23, 2009, decided
that Nelli Minasyan and her daughter, Yelena Demirjyan, had indeed
been illegally evicted from their home at 9 Buzand Street during
2004-2005. The mother and daughter, residing in the U.S., hadn’t
agreed to the government’s compensation package. Not being able
to obtain redress in the Armenian courts, the residents took their
complaint to the European Court. According to the Court’s decision,
the Armenian government was granted three months to "settle" the
case to the satisfaction of the plaintiffs in the form of alternative
compensation. The three month deadline has recently expired but the
Armenian government has failed to present any compensation proposals
to the family.
Liza Grigoryan, attorney for Nelli Minasyan, told Hetq that, "If no
settlement is reached, the European Court will decide compensation
amount and obligate the government to pay it." The plaintiffs have
demanded 200,000 Euros as fair compensation in their case. If the
Court finds in their favor, such an amount would be a huge burden
for the government budget given the current economic crisis.
"It is simply absurd for the government to deprive a citizen of their
property in return for a paltry sum and then turn around and grant the
property to a private developer who will make twenty times the profit
in the long-run. The government will only be using taxpayer money
to pay the compensation amount prescribed by the European Court,"
noted attorney Grigoryan
P.S. Nelli Minasyan is the widow of a man killed while fighting
in the Artsakh War. She and her daughter relocated to the United
States many years ago. They held on to the apartment they owned in
Yerevan. Despite the miles of separation, they learnt that their home
had been demolished and their belongings tossed into the street. The
mother and daughter didn’t want to talk about the matter. Their
attorney said the two still harbored ill feelings towards Armenia
and it wasn’t clear if they’d return even after winning the case.