ANC LEADER ADDRESSES LETTER TO CE SEC.GEN

news.am
March 17 2010
Armenia

On March 16, the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) held a
procession toward the Council of Europe office in Yerevan and handed
a list of reforms proposed by the ANC over to the office staff. ANC
Chairman Levon Ter-Petrosyan addressed a letter to CE Secretary
General Thorbjørn Jagland.

In his letter, the ANC leader thanks the CE Secretary General for
his response to the ANC’s statement handed over to the CE office
in Yerevan on December 10, 2009. He expressed satisfaction that
the situation in Armenia remains the focus of the CE’s attention,
and the CE continue implementing the PACE decisions on the 2008
election rigging in Armenia. The ANC leader reminded the CE Secretary
General that the CE Monitoring Committee is to discuss the schedule
of reforms proposed by the Armenian authorities in response to the
concerns contained in the PACE decisions, as well as in the reports
prepared by PACE Co-Rapporteurs George Colombier and John Prescott.

The ANC’s letter contains a list and schedule of reforms proposed by
the Armenian National Congress (ANC), which have also been submitted to
the PACE Monitoring Committee and PACE Co-Rapporteurs. The ANC hopes
that the CE Secretary General will user the CE office’s potential,
as well as his personal authority, for them to be discussed by the
PACE Monitoring Committee on March 17.

The letter underlines the high importance of the reforms, as the
political crisis has continued in Armenia since the "ill-fated election
on February 19, 2008." According to the ANC leader, the U.S.

Department of State shared this opinion in its human rights report.

Also, the OSCE/ODIHR was critical of the Armenian judicial system,
particularly of the political persecutions active opposition members
are facing in Armenia. Reforms are urgent, as the faulty political and
judicial systems of Armenia remain "a source of problems and injustice"
in Armenia, says the letter.

According to the schedule of reforms, the ANC demands that a commission
of international experts be set up to study the events on March 1-2,
2008. The ANC also demands broadcasting right for the A1+ TV Channel
and early parliamentary and presidential elections this June-September.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress