Author: Janet Ekmekjian

Idaho Armenian-American Community Defeats Pro-Azerbaijani Resolution In State Legislature In Less Than 48 Hours

The Armenian National Committee of America–Western Region announced Wednesday that it successfully defeated House Concurrent Resolution 37, which attempted to praise Azerbaijan’s interfaith tolerance and positive multiculturalism. The ANCA-WR led an advocacy initiative and mobilized Idaho’s local Armenian American community to defeat the measure in less than 48 hours.

“The quick defeat of Idaho’s resolution in praise of Azerbaijan is a testament to the strength of American democracy and yet another example that our well-organized grassroots efforts will have a stronger resounding effect than that of a foreign paid lobby ,” said Elen Asatryan, Executive Director of the ANCA-WR. “We are proud that the State of Idaho has joined the states of Hawaii, Colorado, California and others to reject the dictatorial regime of Azerbaijan, which is known for its oppression of citizens, press and its persecution of Christian communities.

“A dictatorship that has destroyed more Christian monuments than ISIS and is the world’s fifth most censored country should not be praised for anything, let alone interfaith tolerance.”

,  sponsored by Representative Thomas Dayley, was introduced by the Idaho House State Affairs Committee on Feb. 11, 2016. Once alerted to the resolution, ANCA-WR immediately alerted the local Armenian American community, to all House members in opposition to the resolution and called upon all members to encourage the withdrawal of this resolution.

Earlier Wednesday, the Idaho House State Affairs Committee confirmed that the controversial measure had effectively been withdrawn killed.

“The sponsor of the resolution has requested that I hold the bill and not have a hearing on it,” stated Representative Thomas Loertscher, chairman of the committee, in an email. “That is what will happen and it will not advance and will not be considered for any further action.”

On 10 November 2015, the European Court of Human Rights communicated the case of Mamikon Khojoyan, a 77-year-old Armenian citizen who inadvertently crossed the border into Azerbaijan in 2014, the  NGO reports.

He was allegedly held by Azerbaijani authorities for over a month, and subjected to torture and ill-treatment by a group of unknown persons on the basis of national and religious hatred. He died two months after he was handed over to Armenian authorities and returned home. The applicants in this case, Mr Khojoyan’s three children, are represented by the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre, based at Middlesex University, and the Foundation Against the Violation of Law, Yerevan.

Mr Khojoyan lived in the village of Verin Karmir Aghbyur in Armenia, close to the border with Azerbaijan. On the morning of 28 January 2014, he told his family that he was going to collect grapes in the field. The state border in the region is not marked. Later that day, video footage appeared of him surrounded by a group of people, including someone in Azerbaijani military uniform. He appeared unharmed. Two days later, the Azerbaijani News Service conducted an interview with him, in which his arm appeared broken. It was reported that he was in detention, having been apprehended for being part of an Armenian sabotage group. A news report broadcast on the following day showed that he had difficulties standing up and that his left eye had been injured.

Over a month later, on 4 March 2014, Mr Khojoyan was handed back to the Armenian authorities at the border, as a result of mediation by the International Committee of the Red Cross. When his children visited him in the Armenian hospital, he was incoherent and extremely frightened. He told them he had been taken to Baku, where he had been beaten, forced to sleep on a concrete floor, had salt poured into his wounds, received injections and had his head burned with incandescent metal. A forensic examination showed traces of petroleum and psychotropic (perception-altering) drugs in his blood and urine. Mr Khojoyan died in his home on 20 May 2014, six weeks after he was discharged from the hospital.

The applicants complain that their father was subjected to physical violence and was injected with drugs during his detention, which constituted torture and degrading treatment, and posed a danger to his life, serious breaches of Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). They argue that this treatment eventually led to his death. They also claim a violation of the procedural aspects of both Articles as there was no investigation by Azerbaijan into the circumstances of Mr Khojoyan’s detention and treatment. With regards to their own mental suffering, they claim that seeing their father’s injuries on television and the internet both during his detention and after his release constitutes an additional violation of Article 3.

Moreover, Mr Khojoyan’s children argue that their elderly father was unlawfully deprived of liberty during his five week detention, and was not informed of the reasons why he had been detained; nor was he brought before a judge. With regards to this and the above violations, they maintain that they did not have an effective remedy (Article 13 ECHR). Finally, they claim that their rights, and the rights of their father, were violated by the Azerbaijani authorities because of his ethnic Armenian origin, a violation of the prohibition of discrimination (Article 14 ECHR).

The Azerbaijani Government is due to respond to the allegations and the Court’s questions by 8 March 2016.

World football’s governing body FIFA has dismissed secretary general Jerome Valcke, the BBC reports.

The Frenchman, 55, is currently suspended from all football activities for his alleged involvement in a scheme to profit from World Cup ticket sales.

FIFA has recommended that he should be banned from football for nine years.

Valcke, who was appointed in 2007, also faces bribery allegations, but denies any wrongdoing.

“The FIFA emergency committee decided, on 9 January 2016, to dismiss Jerome Valcke from the position of Fifa secretary general with immediate effect,” said a FIFA statement.

FIFA’s ethics committee said on 7 January it had decided to open “formal adjudicatory proceedings” against Valcke after studying a report submitted by its investigatory chamber.

Valcke, effectively the number two behind president Sepp Blatter, has been accused of being party  to a potential $10m bribe paid to Jack Warner, the former head of the North and Central America football governing body Concacaf, in return for his vote and backing to South Africa’s successful bid to host the 2010 World Cup.

Blatter, the outgoing president of world football’s governing body, and vice-president Michel Platini were both suspended for eight years in December following a FIFA ethics investigation.

Barcelona and Argentina forward Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d’Or award for the world’s best player for the fifth time, the BBC reports.

The 28-year-old beat club-mate Neymar of Brazil and Real Madrid’s Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo.

Either Messi or Ronaldo, who became a three-time winner last year, have won the past eight awards.

United States midfielder Carli Lloyd, who scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final, won the women’s award.

England coach Mark Sampson was beaten to the women’s football coach of the year award by United States boss Jill Ellis.

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique won the world coach of the year award after leading his side to five of the six trophies on offer in 2015, including the Champions League, La Liga and the Copa del Rey.

He beat Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola, who was second, and Chile’s Copa America-winning coach Jorge Sampaoli to the award.

Atletico Goianiense’s Wendell Lira won the goal of the year award for a spectacular overhead kick in Brazil’s Goiano state league game against Goianesia.

Barcelona star Lionel Messi’s run from halfway and finish in the Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao finished second, with Roma full-back Alessandro Florenzi’s 55-yard goal against Barca third.

Former Leeds and South Africa captain Lucas Radebe announced the winner of this year’s fair play award – all football clubs and organisations supporting refugees.

There was no shortlist for this award.

Motorhead frontman Lemmy has died aged 70, two days after learning he had cancer, the British band has announced, the BBC reports.

Lemmy formed the rock group in 1975 and recorded 22 albums, including Ace of Spades, as he became one of music’s most recognisable voices and faces.

The band said on its Facebook page: “Our mighty, noble friend Lemmy has passed away after a short battle with an extremely aggressive cancer.”

Lemmy was born Ian Fraser Kilmister in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, in 1945.

He acquired the nickname Lemmy while at school, although he claimed to have had no idea where it came from.

Annual festive events for children on the occasion of New Year and Holly Christmas have started today at the Presidential Palace. Today, the Presidential Palace at Baghramian 26 hosted 300 kids from secondary schools who demonstrated excellent learning results. On the eve of New Year, traditional events organized in the Presidential Palace will gather over 1200 children aging 6-12 from Yerevan and regions of the Republic.

Events for kids at Baghramian 26 will be held also in next two days, on December 23 and 24. Tomorrow, the Palace will host children and grandchildren of the servicemen of the Armenian Armed Forces, members of Erkrapah volunteers union, of fallen and handicap freedom fighters, including those from the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh, children of the RA Police and National Security employees. On December 24, children from a number of communities from border regions (Gegharkunik, Vayots Dzor, Ararat, Tavush), as well as children from Syria who found refuge in Armenia, children with disabilities and laureates of Olympiads (Kangaroo and Bee) will be the guests at the Presidential Palace.

The Greek parliament unanimously asked from the Greek government the recognition of the State of Palestine at a special session held on Tuesday in the presence of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, according to the Greek Reporter.

Abbas was welcomed as head of state by parliament president Nikos Voutsis and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras: “we welcome you in the presence of the prime minister, members of the parliament’s presidium and president of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of parliament and the Committee of the Greek-Palestinian friendship of parliament.”

On his part, Abbas stated “the grand step of recommending to the Greek government to recognize a State of Palestine will go down in the history and in the future paces of the Palestinian people” adding also “We are very proud that we are here at the bastion of the Greek democracy” who expressed the Palestinian people’s gratitude and pleasure for the ‘grandiose’, as he called it, “Greek parliament’s initiative that further contributes to the foundation of the Palestinian State” adding “We feel at home. Further steps for the strengthening of the already close and historic relations between the peoples will follow” said Abbas and concluded “We recently welcomed the Greek prime minister in Palestine and we hope very soon to also welcome the President of the Hellenic Republic and the parliament president.”

About 280 cases of ceasefire violation by the Azerbaijani side were registered at the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan over the weekend, the NKR Ministry of Defense reports.

The rival used artillery weapons of different caliber, as well as 60, 82 and 120 mm mortars, HAN-17 and RPG-7 grenades as it fired more than 3,000 shots from weapons of different caliber in the direction of the Armenian positions.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army confidently continue with their military duty and resort to retaliatory measures, if necessary.

Photo: Sputnik/ Konstantin Chalabov

 

According to Russia’s Minister of Agriculture, Moscow will boost control over the delivery of agricultural and food products from Turkey, Sputnik News reports.

The delegation headed by Serbian Defense Minister Bratislav Gasic will arrive in Armenia today for a two-day official visit.

A special welcome ceremony will take place at the Administrative Headquarters of the Ministry of Defense on November 25.