PACE PRESIDENT: PROMISES SHOULD BE FOLLOWED BY CONCRETE MEASURES
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29 July, 2008
The release of people detained following the events of 1 and 2 March
is important to start the badly needed process of reconciliation in
Armenian society. "It should be clear that the detention of people
in relation to those events, other than those who committed grave
violent crimes, is unacceptable to the Assembly. I therefore urge
the authorities to use every means available to them to release
these people as soon as possible. Only in this way can the process
of reconciliation and dialogue be assured." said Mr de Puig. The
President of PACE also expressed his concern about the continued
pre-trial detention of a number of opposition leaders, contrary
to the request of the Assembly. "This is an issue that should be
urgently resolved in the coming weeks" he declared. In relation to
the independent inquiry, it is clear that without the participation of
the opposition that supports Mr. Ter-Petrossian in the Commission set
up by the National Assembly, its work and findings will not meet the
standards of impartiality and credibility demanded by the Assembly. The
President of the Assembly therefore fully supported the proposals of
Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammerberg to constitute a separate
commission, based on parity and consensus and with the involvement of
international experts, to establish the facts with regard to the events
of 1 and 2 March. The President of PACE noted with satisfaction that
these proposals are in principle acceptable to both authorities and
opposition. The PACE President stressed that the Armenian authorities
should not wait until January to achieve tangible results on these
two issues. It is important that the authorities send a clear signal
to the Assembly of marked and irreversible progress before the next
meeting of the Monitoring Committee in September; otherwise there
is a serious risk of repercussions during the autumn session of
the Assembly. Mr de Puig made an official visit to Armenia from 23
to 24 July to deepen co-operation between Armenia and the Assembly
and to encourage the implementation of Assembly Resolutions 1609 and
1620. During his visit he met with the President of the Republic, the
Speaker of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister and Minister of
Foreign Affairs, as well as members of different political factions
in the Parliament. In addition, Mr. de Puig met the Human Rights
Defender, the Catholicos of All Armenians and former RA President Levon
Ter-Petrossian. Besides the implementation of Assembly Resolutions
1609 and 1620, the President of the Assembly also discussed the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and relations between Armenia and Turkey. The
President stressed that the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh can only be
resolved through peaceful means and that any attempts to resolve the
conflict by military means would be unacceptable to the Assembly. The
President, therefore, expressed his full support for the efforts
of the Minsk Group to resolve the conflict based on the principles
of territorial integrity and self-determination in accordance with
international norms and principles. "The Assembly stands ready
to assist the parliaments of Azerbaijan and Armenia to help find a
lasting solution to this conflict, if they so wish." declared Mr de
Puig. The President listened with great interest about the initiatives
taken by the President of Armenia to normalise relations with Turkey,
and offered the full support and assistance of the Assembly to improve
the relations between these two member states of the Council of Europe.