HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES HAVE NOT YET PROPERLY INVESTIGATED THE TRAGIC EVENTS OF MARCH 1, 2008 IN YEREVAN

ArmInfo
2010-01-21 13:17:00

ArmInfo. The Armenian authorities have yet to ensure meaningful
investigations into excessive use of police force during March
2008 clashes with opposition supporters protesting alleged fraud
in the previous month’s presidential election, and address related
allegations of abuse in police custody. The report by Human Rights
Watch – 2010 says.

The organization recalls that the clashes resulted in at least 10
deaths, including two security officials and eight protestors. Soon
after the March events the police dismissed several top officials,
although none was charged in relation to the violence. Officials
claimed to have opened 200 internal inquiries into police conduct,
but only four police officers have been charged in two separate cases
for excessive use of force.

In September 2009 a parliamentary commission investigating the March
2008 events and dominated by the ruling Republican Party concluded
that despite isolated incidents of excessive force, law enforcement
actions had been "largely legitimate and proportionate." A separate
fact-finding working group, with opposition participation, had been
dismissed by President Serzh Sargsyan in June.

More than 50 civilians were prosecuted in relation to the March
violence, with some sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Although a
June 19, 2009 presidential pardon released many, local human rights
groups maintain that 17 opposition supporters remain imprisoned on
politically motivated charges.

HRW also touches on the case of Levon Gulyan who died in the Police
building in 2007. "Despite a June 2008 court order to reopen the
investigation into the May 2007death in custody of Levon Gulyan,
prosecutors closed the case again in April2009. Gulyan was found dead
after police arrested and interrogated him. The authorities allege that
while being held for questioning, Gulyan jumped from a second-story
window of a police station while trying to escape, a claim denied by
Gulyan’s relatives who believe he was tortured", the report says.

As for the municipal elections held in May 2009 in Yerevan, HRW says
that although election observers from the Council of Europe’s Congress
of Local and Regional Authorities (CLRAE) stated that the May 31,
2009 Yerevan City Council elections were broadly in compliance with
European standards, they also documented cases of intimidation of
party proxies and domestic observers by unidentified persons.

Unidentified assailants attacked opposition newspaper journalists Gohar
Veziryan (IV Estate), Tatev Mesropyan (Hayq), and Marine Kharatyan
(Zhamanak), and prevented them from accessing polling stations. The
journalists complained to police, and the investigation is still
ongoing.

As regards the media freedom, Human Rights Watch recalls of the
attacks at Nver Mnatsakanyan, anchor for the private television station
Shant, Argishti Kvirikyan, editor for the Armenia Today online news
agency and Edik Baghdasaryan, the editor of the online news magazine
Hetq. HRW notes that in April 2009, the Organization for Security
and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) representative on freedom of the
media, Miklos Haraszti, urged the authorities to swiftly investigate
the attacks.

The organization also touches on the case of ‘A1+’ and emphasizes
that despite the decision made by the European Court in June 2008 in
favour of this TV Company, it does not get license for broadcasting.

HRW thinks the authorities continue to restrict freedom of assembly
by frequently denying requests to hold rallies, usually on technical
grounds. Out of 84 opposition requests for demonstrations and rallies,
only 28 were granted. The Organization also recalls of the attacks
at youth activists of the oppositional Armenian National Congress.