U.S. WATCHDOG SEES NO CHANGE IN ARMENIA’S RIGHTS RECORD
By Alex DerAlexanian

Asbarez
Jan 13th, 2010

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)-Armenia remains a "partly free" country with scant
government respect for political and civil rights, a U.S. human rights
watchdog said in its latest survey of freedom around the world.

As always, the Washington-based Freedom House rated countries on a
seven-point scale for political rights and civil liberties, with 1
representing the most free and 7 the least free. As was the case in the
previous survey released a year ago, Armenia received 6 and 4 points in
the "political rights" and "civil liberties" categories respectively.

According to Christopher Walker, director of studies at Freedom House,
the ratings based on the events the past year keep it dangerously close
to being judged "not free." "It’s actually right on the border between
‘partly free’ and ‘not free,’" he told RFE/RL by phone on Tuesday.

"On the sorts of things that are fundamental for democratic
accountability, we really haven’t seen any meaningful steps forward,"
Walker said. One of the key reasons for that is a continuing "very deep
relationship between politics and economics" in the country, he said.

Walker also pointed to the lingering fallout from the February 2008
presidential election and the deadly unrest in Yerevan that followed
it. "I think all of these things have contributed to a bigger picture
in Armenia that really is one of great concern for political rights
and civil liberties," he said.

Walker welcomed in that regard a general amnesty which was declared by
the Armenian authorities in June and led to the release of dozens of
opposition members arrested in the wake of the disputed 2008 election.

"But I think if you look at some of the other issues connected to
the events of 2008 … there are some real concerns about how the
Armenian authorities pursued this," he cautioned.

"And this included the dissolution of the independent expert group that
was looking into the events of that year and other issues connected to
how the aftermath of the events was handled, which I think continues to
raise some serious concerns about the degree to which the judiciary and
other rules-based bodies in Armenia can function outside of executive
control and with transparency and accountability," he said.

The Armenian government will hardly agree with this evaluation.

"Freedom House is taking a bit extreme approach to us," Razmik
Zohrabian, a deputy chairman of the ruling Republican Party, told
RFE/RL on Wednesday. "It is putting psychological pressure."

But Aram Manukian, a senior member of the opposition Armenian National
Congress, said the watchdog should have been even more critical of
Armenia’s rights record in its annual report. "The reality in which
we live is much harsher and telling," he said.

"They just want to treat [the Armenian government] a little leniently
in the hope that things could change," Manukian told RFE/RL. "But
dictatorial manifestations in Armenia are only becoming more evident."