Nobody wants a recurrence of what happened in March of 2008

10:55 pm | March 25, 2010 | Politics
ace

Strasbourg, 25.03.2010 – The co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of
Armenia of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)
have welcomed the prompt response of the Armenian authorities to their
call for a "roadmap" to put into effect the reforms recommended in the
aftermath of the March 2008 election violence.

"We welcome the wide range of reforms announced in the preliminary
response of the authorities to our recommendation, but we would also
like to stress that, in the end, it will be the content of these
reforms, and their implementation, that counts," said John Prescott
(United Kingdom, SOC) and Georges Colombier (France, EPP/CD).

The two co-rapporteurs underscored the importance of carrying out the
reforms recommended by the OSCE/ODIHR in its trial monitoring report.
"The ODIHR report pinpoints serious problems with the functioning of
the judiciary in Armenia, and we would like to have a clear indication
from the authorities as to exactly when they intend to carry out all
of its recommendations," they said.

"We now await the promised details from the authorities, as well as
the opinions of the different departments of the Council of Europe
that were solicited by the Armenian authorities," they continued.
"Following that, and after hearing the opinions of the different
political forces in Armenia, we hope to agree – together with the
National Assembly of Armenia – on a clear, detailed and specific
roadmap, including deadlines, for the implementation of these
essential reforms, which are in the long-term interest of all
Armenians. Nobody wants a recurrence of what happened in March of
2008."

The co-rapporteurs also expressed their satisfaction at the
publication of the report on Armenia by the Council of Europe’s
Anti-Torture Committee (CPT), which was made public at the request of
the Armenian authorities following a suggestion made by the
co-rapporteurs to the Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress