New York Times, NY
March 7 2008
Dark Days in Armenia
Published: March 7, 2008
The democracy that Armenians dreamed of during their long decades
under Moscow’s yoke is slipping away. After opponents challenged last
month’s flawed presidential election, the government imposed a brutal
state of emergency. At least eight people are now dead, independent
news outlets throttled and all protests silenced. President Bush and
other Western leaders need to make clear to Armenia’s government that
such behavior is unacceptable and will jeopardize future relations.
Compared to post-Soviet tyrannies like Belarus or Uzbekistan, Armenia
may not look so bad. That is why it is so important to halt this
slide into authoritarianism before it is too late.
Go to The Board » Official election results handed an overwhelming
victory to the ruling party candidate, Serge Sargsyan. International
monitors declared that while the overall outcome appeared fair, there
were serious problems with the vote count. The protests that followed
only turned violent after police began beating demonstrators.
Witnesses told our colleague, Sabrina Tavernise, that government
authorities planted guns and grenades among the sleeping protestors
last Saturday morning. Then, claiming that they were thwarting an
attempted coup, police attacked the opposition camp. The next day,
the outgoing president sent tanks into the streets, banned
demonstrations and ordered Armenian news organizations to relay only
information provided by his government. Local stations can no longer
use the Armenian language programs produced by foreign broadcasters
including the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
That drew an admirably strong protest from Washington’s Broadcasting
Board of Governors, the independent federal agency that supervises
these stations, while the State Department has expressed its concern
over the death toll. Their words would carry more weight if President
Bush added his voice. Armenia, embroiled in a lengthy standoff with
neighboring Azerbaijan, is relatively isolated in its own region and
especially values its good relations with the United States.
This is not a case of pure democratic virtue against pure
authoritarian evil. The defeated opposition leader, Levon
Ter-Petrossian, is a former president who in the 1990s sent armored
cars into the streets to crush demonstrators protesting his electoral
manipulations.
He insists, without credible evidence, that he won this election. And
once government forces set off last weekend’s violence, some of those
who turned out in Mr. Ter-Petrossian’s behalf seemed more interested
in looting nearby shops. The main responsibility lies with Armenia’s
government leaders, and it is to them that the White House must
address its protests.