Author: Jabejian Elizabeth

CCAF France
Conseil de Coordination des Organisations Arméniennes de France
34, avenue de Champs Elysées – 75008 Paris (France)
<;
e-mail: <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]
Tél. : 01 43 59 65 19

The Statement of the Coordination Council of Armenian Organisations of
France (CCAF) on blatant violations of principles of the fair trial of
Vahagn Chakhalyan in Georgia

Paris,
October 13, 2009

On September 5, 2009 the Coordination Council of Armenian
Organisations of France mandated Mr Philippe Kalfayan (lawyer, expert
by the Legal Affairs and Human Rights Directorate of the Council of
Europe, and secretary general of the FIDH from 2001 to 2007) to
observe the ongoing trial of Vahagn Chakhalyan in the Court of Appeals
of Tbilisi (Georgia).

The president of the political movement `Democratic Alliance `United
Javakhk’, Vahagn Chakhalyan, is one of the leaders of the Armenian
minority residing in Samtskhe-Javakheti province in Georgia. He was
arrested in his residence on July 21, 2008, and then jailed and put on
trial for alleged acquisition and possession of firearms, a charge
which he pleaded not-guilty. On April 7, 2009, he was sentenced by the
Akhalskha District Court to 10 years of imprisonment for `illegal
possession of firearms’, but also for `participation in mass actions
disturbing the law and public order’ and `hooliganism’.

>From a strictly legal point of view, both the observations, made
during the Court hearings on September 18, and the study of the
judicial documents reveal the violations of the principles of a fair
trial by the Georgian authorities, especially Vahagn Chakhalyan’s
rights to defense:

– The accumulation of the criminal charges on the mass protest actions
of 2005 and 2006 surprisingly took place during the trial in the Court
of First Instance on December 3, 2008, due to a new law adopted in the
interval. That law authorizes the accumulation of charges and
application of relevant punishment and penalties, as long as the
criminal offences in question have not expired; the date of the
proceedings of the offences being taken as a reference. The
application of this new law in Chakhalyan’s case, even if it seems
that the procedures have been met, clearly demonstrates the will of
the Georgian authorities to convict Chakhalyan of a serious crime and
keep him in jail for a longer term, because for the offence of
possession of weapon he could be sentenced to only one year
imprisonment.

– Until September 18, 2009, the date when the hearings of the Court of
Appeals were resumed, no examination of the weapons, hypothetically
belonging to Chakhalyan, was carried out. This time the Court’s next
hearing was postponed to October 23, in anticipation of the
examination results.

– The Prosecutor refused the presence of independent experts and
defense lawyers to observe examination of the weapons; in this respect
a lawsuit was filed by Chakhalyan’s lawyers to dispute this decision.

– The translation of the Court debates into Armenian has been
incomplete and of a very bad quality. As a result, both the accused
and his Armenian lawyer cannot follow the debates, thus, the equity of
the debates is grossly and openly ridiculed. This implies a violation
of Article 6 (paragraph 3e) of the European Convention of the Human
rights.

– The refusal of the Court of First Instance to allow the accused or
his lawyers to summon and interrogate some of the witnesses of
prosecution, is an obvious violation of Article 6 (paragraph 3d) of
the European Convention of the Human rights; It is also a violation of
Article 42 (paragraph 6) of the Georgian Constitution. The Court of
Appeal did not reconsider this refusal and justified its rejection of
the motions lodged by the Armenian lawyers by claiming that no motion
had been filed in the Court of First
Instance;

– The refusal of the Georgian Ministry of Justice, that drafted and
made the Georgian Parliament ratify urgently a legislative amendment
prohibiting access of foreign lawyers to the Georgian courts, and the
subsequent refusal to register Chakhalyan’s French lawyer, is another
blatant violation of Article 6 (paragraph 3c) of the European
Convention of Human rights, as well as Article 42 of Georgian
Constitution. Lawsuit to the Constitutional Court of Georgia will be
lodged without delay by one of Chakhalyan’s lawyers.

The Coordination Council of Armenian Organisations of France questions
the motives that lay behind the willingness of the Georgian
authorities to violate in such a blatant and targeted manner the
rights of Vahagn Chakhalyan to a fair trial and to infringe the
international engagements of the Republic of Georgia.

Reports of Human Rights NGOs, as well as institutional organizations
such as ABA (American Bar Association) stress an overall deficiency of
the judicial system in Georgia and the unlimited influence of the
Prosecution, in other words, of the dominance of the Executive
power. However, this general situation could not exonerate from the
judicial relentlessness of the Georgian authorities against Vahagn
Chakhalyan.

The Coordination Council of Armenian Organisations of France
legitimately raises the question of the correlation between the
demands of Vahagn Chakhalyan concerning the linguistic, religious,
socio-cultural and educational rights of the Armenian minority of
Samtskhe-Javakheti of Georgia and his judicial pursuit: is there an
intention to fully neutralize Chakhalyan, through conviction of the
latter, eliminating any spirit of demand for the respect of the rights
of the Armenian population of Samtskhe-Javakheti?

Consequently, Coordination Council of Armenian organisations of France
call upon the Georgian authorities:

– To put an end to this unfair lawsuit, and to restore all the rights
of Vahagn Chakhalyan;

– To abolish anti-constitutional law forbidding foreign lawyers to
defend their clients in the Georgian courts;

– To respect the legal obligations inherent to international
engagements of the Republic of Georgia, in particular the
International Pact on the Civil and Political Rights and the European
Convention of Human rights, two instruments to which the Georgian
State is a party, and whose normative primacy is recognized by article
6 of the Georgian Constitution;

– To give a special consideration and respect to all the provisions of
Article 6 of the European Convention of Human rights, that provides
that any person is entitled to a fair and public hearing of his case
by an independent and impartial tribunal establishing equality between
the prosecution and defense.

David Babayan: Karabakh settlement impossible without a powerful
outside influence
07.11.2009 20:17

Siranush Muradyan
`Radiolur’

`The settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is impossible in the
near future without a powerful and strong outside influence,’ NKR
President’s Spokesman David Babayan told `Radiolur.’

Commenting on Armenian Foreign Minister’s statement that the status
and security of Karabakh are the core issues of negotiations today,
David Babayan said: `This is a conflict between Azerbaijan and
Karabakh. Therefore, all the issues in the process should be discussed
with participation of the Karabakhi side.’

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian had declared earlier at
the National Assembly that the status and security of Nagorno Karabakh
were discussed at the negotiations.

`Karabakh has determined its status long ago,’ David Babayan said. As
for the timeferam for resolution of the conflict, David Babayan says
no solution can be expected within the coming 3-4 years unless there
is a powerful and strong outside influence.

THE WHO, HOW AND WHAT OF ARMENIANS IN TURKEY"

Aysor
Nov 6 2009
Armenia

"Lie… My family name is my lie and there are lots of such kind
liars in this city. We all have official "oglu" ending to our family
names while we have one more family name with "yan" at the end," told
journalists from Armenia editor of Armenian Agos paper in Istanbul,
Bagrat Estukyan. He told about reforms in Turkish naming when in 1930
under the new establishment Turkish people (who never had family
names) had to receive a family name. At the same time Armenians in
Turkey were forced to change their Armenian family names and replace
it by Turkish "oglu". The new generation of Armenians in Istanbul,
says Bagrat Estukyan, doesn’t care about Armenian language; most of
them do not speak Armenian.

"To give a Turkish name to newborn children becomes a trend. Turkish
name Ardam for instance. Parents usually try to explain it away as if
it is the short form for Armenian name of Artashes. But this is not
true. Ardam is a Turkish name. So those people just deceive themselves,
they walk back of Armenian language," said Bagrat Estukyan.

So the only place in Turkey where Armenians keep preserving national
identity is Bakirlu village, near Mus Mountain, says journalist. "You
can find another Armenian village but its population is indeed just
Armenians who profess Islam. They have changed Christian religion
and have betrayed their people. Moreover, they are more devotional
than Muslims themselves.

"There are also Armenians neither Christians and nor Muslims. So we
suffer greatly in loss. There is a greatly need in Armenian Apostolic
Church here," said Bagrat Estukyan.

He also pointed that 37 churches and 16 seminaries running in Istanbul,
are in need of specialists as the training system is exactly Turkish
while some schools could teach Armenian.

Bagrat Estukyan also said that 45 thousand Armenians live in Istanbul,
most of them women moved here recently. "They live here illegally
and can be deported," added journalist.

ARMENIA-TURKEY RAPPROCHEMENT POSITIVE IMPACT ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH: DIPLOMAT

Tert
Nov 6 2009
Armenia

The United States closely cooperates with the Armenian president and
attempts to reach a fair and peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, said Public Relations Officer of the US Embassy in Azerbaijan
Terry Davidson.

"The Protocols signed between Turkey and Armenia bring about a certain
amount of anxiety among the public. We think that establishment of
relations between Armenia and Turkey will not have a negative impact
on the region. On the contrary, it will have a positive influence on
the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," says the diplomat,
as reported by Azerbaijani news agency APA.

AZERBAIJAN IS GOING TO RESPOND TO ARMENIA IN UN: AZERBAIJANI FM OFFICIAL

Trend
Nov 5 2009
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan is going to respond to Armenia in the UN, Azerbaijani
Deputy Foreign Minister, Araz Azimov told Trend News in Washington.

He said that Armenian side is tricking international community with
information that is not true.

"Our diplomats are currently working on a report which will be a
response to Armenia. It will be distributed shortly," said Azimov.

According to the diplomat, the Armenian said is using disinformation
in order to break the negotiations.

During his visit to Washington, the Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign
Minister, besides his official meetings, will hold a meeting with
prominent research organizations and non-profits of US capital in
order to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.

Speaking about the negotiation process, Azimov pointed out that
Azerbaijan is ready to compromise in resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict only within its principled position.

"The situation is difficult to be resolved. There is no 100-percent
unilateral solution to the conflict. There is only a compromise
solution, and Azerbaijan has already outlined a list of its
compromises. Standing on its principled stance, Azerbaijan is ready
to compromise," he added.

According to the deputy minister, Baku is ready to provide a high
status of self-government to the Nagorno-Karabakh region and supports
the resolution of the conflict on the basis of three principles taken
as a base for by the co-chairs of OSCE Minsk Group.

COORDINATING COMMISSION FOR CHARITABLE PROGRAMS OF RA GOVERNMENT APPROVES 6 PROGRAMS

PanARMENIAN.Net
06.11.2009 20:03 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today the regular meeting of the coordination
commission for charitable programs of the government of Armenia was
held chaired by Simon Ter-Simonyan.

The Commission discussed and approved 6 charitable programs and,
in particular, a program of the All-Armenian Fund "Hayastan"
on water supply system of the Martuni region’s Sos village of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, as well as renovation programs of maternity
hospitals in Abovyan of the Kotayk region and the "The Holy Virgin"
Medical Center in Yerevan, publication of the "History of the Armenian
people" for 7th grade textbook.

CIA AGENTS GUILTY OF ITALY KIDNAP

BBC NEWS
urope/8343123.stm
2009/11/04 19:31:47 GMT

An Italian judge has convicted 23 Americans – all but one of them
CIA agents – and two Italian secret agents for the 2003 kidnap of a
Muslim cleric.

The agents were accused of abducting Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr,
known as Abu Omar, from Milan and sending him to Egypt, where he was
allegedly tortured.

The trial, which began in June 2007, is the first involving the CIA’s
so-called "extraordinary rendition" programme.

The Obama administration has expressed its disappointment at the
convictions.

"We are disappointed by the verdicts," state department spokesman
Ian Kelly said in Washington.

He declined to comment further pending a written opinion from the
judge, but said an appeal was likely.

Three Americans and five Italians were acquitted by the court in Milan.

Symbolic ruling

The Americans were all tried in their absence as they have not been
extradited from the US to Italy.

" For us, this first case puts the war on terror on trial " Joanne
Mariner Human Rights Watch spokeswoman The CIA’s Milan station chief
at the time, Robert Lady, was given an eight-year term, while the
other 22 Americans convicted – one of them a US air force colonel –
were sentenced to five years in prison.

Lawyers for the 23 Americans said they would appeal against their
convictions.

The two Italian agents, who were convicted as accomplices to
kidnapping, were given three-year prison terms.

The court also ruled that those convicted must pay 1m euros ($1.5m)
in damages to Abu Omar and 500,000 euros to his wife.

CIA spokesman George Little in Washington declined to comment on the
convictions, telling the Associated Press news agency: "The CIA has
not commented on any of the allegations surrounding Abu Omar."

Secrecy laws

Italian prosecutors said Abu Omar was taken as part of a series of
extraordinary renditions carried out by the CIA – when terror suspects
were moved between countries without any public legal process.

They told the court he had been kidnapped in daylight on a Milan
street in February 2003 and flown to Germany, and then Cairo, where
he was held for years until being released without charge.

Judge Oscar Magi acquitted the CIA chief for Rome, Jeffrey Castelli,
saying he was protected by state secrecy rules, as were the former
head of Italy’s military intelligence agency, Nicolo Pollari, and
his deputy, Marco Mancini.

Mr Pollari, who resigned over the affair, told the court earlier this
year that documents showing he had no involvement in the kidnapping
were classified under secrecy laws.

Prosecutor Armando Spataro rejected the argument that legal provisions
could shield those accused from prosecution, saying any agreement to
carry out a kidnapping was "absolutely against Italian law".

He had sought a 13-year jail term for Mr Castelli and Mr Pollari and
12 years for Robert Lady.

Activist group Human Rights Watch welcomed the verdict, saying it sent
"a strong signal of the crimes committed by the CIA in Europe".

Spokeswoman Joanne Mariner said: "For us, this first case puts the
war on terror on trial."

RAUF GURBANOV SAYS RUBEN TOVMOSYAN DENIED REPORT ABOUT HIS MEETING WITH AZERBAIJANI COMMUNISTS BECAUSE OF ANTI-DEMOCRATIC SITUATION IN ARMENIA

APA
Nov 5 2009
Azerbaijan

Baku. Elnur Mammadli – APA. "Leadership of the Armenian Communist
Party was forced to deny its meeting with the Azerbaijani communists in
Moscow under the pressure of authorities of that country", Chairman of
the Azerbaijan Communist Party (ACP) Rauf Gurbanov told APA. He said
Armenian and Azerbaijani communists met in Moscow within the congress
of the Union of Communist Parties and exchanged opinions about the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict. "Reports of our newspapers about that
meeting irritated Armenia and therefore chairman of the Armenian
Communist party Ruben Tovmosyan denied this meeting. Armenian
communists said for many time and at the last meeting as well
that Nagorno Karabakh is Azerbaijani land. If they don’t take this
position, what is difference between them and Dashnaksutyun and other
nationalist parties? I link the Tovmosyan’s statement with the strain
and anti-democratic political situation in Armenia. He was forced to
say what he doesn’t think".

Gurbanov said it was impossible to deny meetings between the parties
because top representatives of the Azerbaijani and Armenian communist
parties attended it.

Chairman of the Armenian Communist Party Ruben Tovmosyan said in a
press conference that he didn’t meet with the Azerbaijani communists
and met Gurbanov only in the corridor of the conference hall where
the congress took place.

PRESS RELEASE
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)
395 Concord Ave.
Belmont, MA 02478
Tel.: 617-489-1610
E-mail: [email protected]

GLENDALE TRIBUTE TO DR. VARTKES BROUSSALIAN TO
INCLUDE SCREENING OF "THE RIVER RAN RED"

The National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) and
the UCLA Friends of Armenian Studies will present a special evening in
tribute to the late Dr. Vartkes Broussalian, featuring a free showing of
Dr. J. Michael Hagopian’s documentary The River Ran Red, on Saturday,
November 21, at 7:00 p.m., at the Glendale Central Library Auditorium,
222 E. Harvard Street (2nd floor), Glendale, CA.

About Dr. Vartkes Broussalian

Dr. Vartkes Broussalian (1928-2009) was a brilliant economist trained at
the London School of Economics and UCLA whose career spanned more than
half a century. He held senior-level positions in various branches of
the United States Government including the Executive Office of the
President; he taught at several major universities including Duke and
UCLA; and he served as an advisor to the newly formed democratic
governments of Armenia and Moldova in the early 1990s.

Dr. Broussalian served on the NAASR Board of Directors from 1991 until
2003 and was actively involved in the UCLA Friends of Armenian Studies,
serving as Chairman of the Board from 2001-2003.

About The River Ran Red and Dr. J. Michael Hagopian

Culminating more than forty years of interviews with more than 400
eyewitnesses to the Armenian Genocide of 1915, The River Ran Red is the
final film of documentarian Dr. J. Michael Hagopian’s trilogy "The
Witnesses." The film was awarded first prize at the 2009 New York
International Film & Video Festival for Best International Historical
Documentary.

The River Ran Red is about Hagopian’s epic search for survivors of the
Genocide who were sent to their fate along the Euphrates River to the
Syrian Desert and Der Zor. Footage from many interviews with survivors
carried out over several decades gives the film tremendous power and
immediacy.

The evening will include a conversation with Dr. Hagopian about the film
and he will offer his personal reflections on Dr. Vartkes Broussalian.
UCLA doctoral candidate Ara Soghomonian will conduct a
question-and-answer session with Hagopian.

Dr. J. Michael Hagopian pioneered the effort to document the Armenian
Genocide through films such as: Where Are My People, The Forgotten
Genocide, The Armenian Case, The Armenian Genocide, Voices from the Lake
and Germany and the Secret Genocide. He holds a doctorate in
International Relations from Harvard University.

Refreshments will be served prior to the 7:30 screening of The River Ran
Red.

More information about the event is available by contacting the UCLA
Friends of Armenian Studies at 310-275-2767 or NAASR 617-489-1610 or
[email protected], or by writing to NAASR, 395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA
02478.

RA PRESIDENT’S TWO-DAY STATE VISIT TO KUWAIT FINISHES

Noyan Tapan
Nov 4, 2009

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 4, NOYAN TAPAN. RA President Serzh Sargsyan’s two-day
state visit to Kuwait finished on November 4 with negotiations with
Chairman of Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ali Mohammad
Thunian al-Ghanimi.

The same day, straight after a meeting with Kuwait Emir, Sheikh Sabah
al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al Sabah Armenia’s delegation left for the airport
and returned to Armenia.

It should be mentioned that members of the delegation headed by
S. Sargsyan were: Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, Minister
of Finance Tigran Sargsian, Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobian,
Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosian, Minister of Education and Science
Armen Ashotian, Chairman of the NA Armenia-Kuwait deputy friendship
group Vahan Hovhannisian, Chairman of the Union of Manufacturers and
Businessmen of Armenia Arsen Ghazarian, Chairman of the Chamber of
Commerce and Industry Martin Sargsian.