Author: Tambiyan Samvel

A1+

OMBUDSMAN IN SYUNIK
[03:57 pm] 10 July, 2008

In the frames of previously arranged regional visits RA Ombudsman
Armen Harutyunian and his work team have left for Syunik Region to
find out the problems concerning human rights. During his visit
Harutyunian met Governor of Syunik Suren Khachatrian, as well as
mayors of Goris, Kapan, Sisian, Meghri and Agarak.

The work team also called at the `Goris’ Penitentiary, where they met
dozens of detainees. Director of the Penitentiary showed the Ombudsman
the newly-repaired wards for long- and short-term appointment. Before,
the Ombudsman had often sent official notes to the Justice Minister
informing him about the absence of appointment wards in
penitentiaries.

Among lots of other issues the Ombudsman also discussed the problems
of a hostel occupied with refugees in Kapan, Press Center of the Human
Rights Defender informs.

IRAN AND ARMENIA HAVE MUCH IN COMMON: BOTH ISOLATED AND BOTH TRYING TO BECOME REGIONAL PLAYERS

PanARMENIAN.Net
08.07.2008 12:42 GMT+04:00

Relations between the United States and Iran should be viewed in
diplomatic, military and economic aspects, an expert said.

"After the 9/11 the American-Iranian relations entered a new
stage. The United States launched a campaign against Taliban, what
served Iran’s purpose. However, the war on terror included Iran in
the "axis of evil." U.S. incorrect government of post war Iraq helps
Iran to grow as a regional power. As to Iran’s nuclear program,
it is an issue of national dignity and response to nuclear threat
from Israel and, possibly, Pakistan and India," Richard Giragosian,
a contributing analyst at Jane’s Information Group, said in Yerevan
during "Iran as regional power: problems and perspectives" conference.

Iran and Armenia have much in common, according to him. "Both countries
are isolated and both are trying to become regional players," he said.

Touching on a possible U.S. attack on Iran, the expert said, "It will
be inefficient and counterproductive. The American army struggles
to cope with Iraq and Afghanistan and its technical capabilities are
limited. There is one more important factor, in case of aggression,
both government and opposition supporters in Iran will unite to defend
their homeland."

"The U.S. position is to stop Iran’s influence over Iraq, specifically
delivery of weapons to Shiites. At the same time, the Iranian factor
is a serious challenge for the U.S.-Russia relations. Washington is a
approaching a conclusion that it’s better to talks with Iran rather
than resort to threats. I am hopeful that with coming to power,
Barack Obama will succeed in shifting the U.S. policy toward Iran,"
Mr Giragosian said.

FINAL ROUND OF THE "BEST ATHLETIC FAMILY" TO BE HELD IN TSAKHKADZOR

armradio.am
08.07.2008 17:55

The final round of the Best Athletic Family republican competition
for the President’s Prize will be held in Tsakhkadzor July 10-12. RA
Deputy Minister of Sport and Youth affairs Khachik Asryan informed
that the competition has become traditional: it has been held for
five years, and the number of participants increases year by year.

This year, all in all 124 families participated in the preliminary
round.

Thirty-six families from all marzes of Armenia and Karabakh will
participate in the final round. The fund of the tournament is equal
to $12 million 120 thousand.

PROSECUTOR LINKS ERGENEKON TO COUNCIL OF STATE ATTACK

Today’s Zaman
July 8 2008
Turkey

A state prosecutor has established in the course of an official
investigation that the Ergenekon group, a shadowy crime network
accused of plotting to overthrow the Justice and Development Party
(AK Party) government, possibly played a role in the 2006 shooting
at the Council of State that left a senior judge dead.

The Ergenekon case prosecutor is likely to submit the indictment
to a court this week, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday
evening. The operation into the gang has been going on for a year since
suspicious relationships were revealed for the first time when a house
being used as an arms depot in Ä°stanbul was discovered by police.

A criminal court in Ankara concluded in April that there was no link
between the Council of State attack and the Ergenekon network, saying
that the attack was carried out in protest against the country’s
headscarf ban in line with the testimony of the main suspect in the
attack, Alparslan Arslan. In its verdict, the Ankara 11th High Criminal
Court said Arslan was guilty of attempting to forcefully change the
constitutional order of the country and sentenced him to life in
prison. Arslan insisted throughout the trial that he had carried out
the attack in protest of a Council of State decision prohibiting a
public school teacher from wearing a headscarf outside of school.

"The suspects in the Council of State shootings had the objective
of attacking individuals in protest against the headscarf ban. The
attack was perpetrated following some caricatures mocking the use of
the Islamic headscarf that found wide coverage in the media as well as
a ruling by the Council of State’s Second Chamber on a covered teacher
who was not allowed to serve in a nursery school while wearing her
headscarf," the court then said. But Osman Yıldırım, another suspect
in the attack, had said in his testimony that the decision to attack
the Council of State was made in meetings between himself, Arslan and
a prime suspect of the Ergenekon investigation. In his testimony to a
prosecutor, Yıldırım said he and Arslan were provided the necessary
guns and munitions to carry out the attack by the Ergenekon gang.

Arslan has also been charged with bombing the secularist
Cumhuriyet daily in 2006, and the hand grenade used in the attack
was part of a batch produced by the state that was found in the
stockpile of ammunition and explosives discovered in the Ä°stanbul
house. Fifty-eight individuals, including retired generals, have so
far been arrested in the Ergenekon operation, and many others have
been detained.

There are dozens who were released from arrest but await trial as
part of the case. The absence of an indictment has led to criticism
of the operation among some circles.

The indictment directs various charges to 85 people, including
Gen. Veli Kucuk, a retired officer who is the alleged founder of an
illegal intelligence unit in the gendarmerie, and Workers’ Party (Ä°P)
leader Dogu Perincek, Anatolia reported. The indictment is expected
to be around 2,500 pages long, Anatolia said.

A number of politically motivated attacks and assassinations that have
shaken Turkey over the last few years have also been included in the
indictment. The investigation into the terrorist group has not only
exposed links between the Council of State shooting with the group
but also links of its members to various threats and attacks against
people accused of being unpatriotic and to the Susurluk affair, in
which a car accident in 1996 revealed links between a senior police
chief, an internationally wanted mafia boss and a deputy whose Kurdish
village in the Southeast had been armed by the state to fight ethnic
terrorism. The group is also suspected of having played a role in
the 2007 murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink and other
crimes against non-Muslims in Turkey.

A separate indictment will be submitted for suspects detained in last
week’s raids, including former commander of the 1st Army retired
Gen. HurÅ~_it Tolon, former commander of the Gendarmerie Forces
retired Gen. Å~^ener Eruygur, Cumhuriyet daily’s Ankara representative
Mustafa Balbay and Ankara Chamber of Commerce (ATO) President Sinan
Aygun. The court is expected to merge the two indictments into a
single court case.

Meanwhile the prosecutor filed an objection to the release of nine
suspects, including Balbay, in the Ergenekon probe. Balbay had been
detained as part of the probe but was released on July 5.

Prosecutor Zekeriya Oz filed an objection to the 13th Ä°stanbul
Criminal Court’s decision to release the detainees. The prosecutors
in charge of the probe argued that Balbay, Professor Ercument Ovalı,
released on a YTL 20,000 bail, Murat Avar, Ufuk Buyukcelebi, the
editor-in-chief of the Tercuman newspaper, Tunc Akkoc, the deputy
chairman of the Ä°P’s Pioneer Youth Association, Siyami Yalcın,
Neriman Aydın, retired Gen. İlker Guven and Hamza Demir should not
be released. The court will assess the prosecutor’s demands and may
decide that the nine suspects should be detained again.

Upon the growing threats against the life of Prosecutor Oz, the Justice
Ministry was informed about the situation. The number of bodyguards
protecting Oz was increased to four and three vehicles — two of
which are armored — were allotted for his use. Moreover, a team of
15 security professionals was set up and is on duty 24 hours a day
in and around Oz’s house. Bodyguards are also providing protection
to Oz’s family. The police are conducting a detailed investigation
into the issue.

–Boundary_(ID_wdD7jUw9/DZm/2pnvgSf7Q)–

JOINT SITTING OF RA AND NKR GOVERNMENTS

DeFacto Agency
July 7 2008
Armenia

A delegation of RA government headed by Tigran Sargsian, RA PM, paid
an official visit to Nagorno-Karabakh. On July 4 the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic President Bako Sahakian received the delegation. In the
course of the meeting the parties discussed the issues referring to
deepening and enlarging both Republics’ cooperation in various spheres.

During the talk with journalists RA PM underscored that current
visit was not of acquaintance but practical nature. In his words,
RA authorities, in the person of the government, will do their best
to render assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh.

On July 5 the two Armenian Republics’ governments held working
discussions.

Ara Harutyunian and Tigran Sargsian, RA and NKR PMs, held a
tête-a-tête meeting, after which a joint meeting was held with the
participation of members of RA and NKR governments. RA and NKR PMs
positively estimated working discussions.

In the course of a joint governmental sitting the parties discussed the
issues referring to NKR agricultural, social, financial, educational
and cultural spheres.

To note, the cooperation between the governments of two Armenian
states exists as such, and contacts between RA and Nagorno-Karabakh
appropriate structures have been established. "However, it is the
first join sitting", the NKR PM Ara Harutyunian noted while opening
the sitting. The head of the Karabakh government voiced confidence
that such work would contribute to Nagorno-Karabakh’s development.

In his turn, RA PM Tigran Sargsian noted that the first sitting
would initiate traditions of holding such measures in future. "The
concept of amendments of the second generation should be applied in
Nagorno-Karabakh, the realization of which has already started in
Republic of Armenia", the head of the RA government stated.

The parties believe that financial resources will increase at
the expense of method of work proposed by the RA new President,
according to which wherever our compatriots are they should have an
opportunity to participate in the development of the native state’s
economy. However, the people should be presented conceptual approaches,
pointed out the spheres, in the development of which they can
participate. The strategy was discussed both with the NKR President and
at the level of the NKR government. According to Tigran Sargsian, the
concept should demonstrate that making business in NKR is profitable;
the second task is revealing two or three competitive branches that
can become a brand for Artsakh, for instance, agricultural tourism.

In the course of the sitting the NKR PM Ara Harutyunian presented
Artsakh’s perspective branches. In his words, it is agriculture
(in the case of irrigation system’s development), power engineering
and tourism.

According to Armo Tsaturian, vice Premier, NKR Minister of Agriculture,
there is a great potential for agricultural sphere’s development in
Artsakh, however, NKR still imports a lot of products. The problems in
the sphere are connected with consequences of the war. According to the
Minister, there is lack of agricultural equipment in Karabakh. Besides,
tribal cattle-breeding should be revived in Artsakh. Armo Tsaturian
presented NKR state policy in the sphere of agriculture, while
Aramais Grigorian, his colleague from RA, RA Minister of Agriculture,
mentioned the branches, for the development of which Armenia will
render necessary assistance. For example, in the sphere of development
of cattle-breeding and rearing bloodstock RA Ministry of Agriculture
will realize the task of tribal cows’ import and equipment’s delivery
for the amount of $ 100, 000. Assistance will be rendered in the
realization of harvest as well.

According to the RA PM Tigran Sargsian, Artsakh can become a zone
for profitable investments.

The next sphere that was in the focus of attention of the sitting’s
participants is power engineering. The sphere is gradually becoming
priority in Artsakh. Meanwhile, according to Ara Harutyunian, the head
of Karabakh government, only 15-20% of resources are being used in
the NKR. Production of electric power will result in the development
of power-consuming branches. Amendments of energetic sphere have
already started in Nagorno-Karabakh. The state has already started
construction of a number of hydro electro stations – Matagis-1,
Matagis-2, and Trkhe-1.

Nagorno-Karabakh can really produce electric power, which thrice
exceeds demand in internal market. "There are a few such countries
in the world", Armen Movsisian, RA Minister of Power Engineering
and Natural Resources, stated. The Minister also mentioned another
source of producing energy – wind energy. In his words, there are
such possibilities in Artsakh. Legislative amendments are necessary
to draw investors – that is both parties’ conclusion.

As for the NKR social and educational spheres, the problems are just
the same. As for educational sphere, these are issues referring
to transition to higher school system, lack of kindergartens and
establishment of trade schools. As for the sphere of social security,
these are pension amendments. There are problems referring to activity
of social-medicinal commissions.

Speaking of cultural sphere, the sitting’s participants discussed
the issue referring to state of Stepanakert Dramatic Theater. Hasmik
Poghosian, RA Minister of Culture, noted that agreement with producers
from Armenia on working in Artsakh had already been achieved.

In conclusion Yervand Zakharian, Yerevan Mayor, stated one more
agreement concerning cooperation between capital cities of Armenia
and NKR had also been achieved beyond the frames of the agenda.

–Boundary_(ID_DHDLv5HnnwQfOA7UQGyvjQ)–

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.
X-X-Sender: [email protected]
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Islamists’ Catch-22
Monday, July 07, 2008

Try a little thought experiment. What would have happened in
this country during the Cold War if the Soviet Union successfully
neutralized anti-communists opposed to the Kremlin’s plans for world
domination?

Of course, Moscow strove to discredit those in America and elsewhere
who opposed its totalitarian agenda – especially after Sen. Joseph
McCarthy’s excesses made it fashionable to vilify patriots by accusing
them of believing communists were "under every bed."

But what if the USSR and its ideological soul-mates in places like
China, North Korea, Cuba, Eastern Europe and parts of Africa had been
able to criminalize efforts to oppose their quest for the triumph of
world communism? What if it had been an internationally prosecutable
offense even to talk about the dangers inherent in communist rule
and the need to resist it?

The short answer is that history might very well have come out
differently. Had courageous anti-communists been unable accurately
and forcefully to describe the nature of that time’s enemy – and to
work against the danger posed by its repressive, seditious program,
the Cold War might well have been lost.

Flash forward to today. At the moment, another totalitarian ideology
characterized by techniques and global ambitions strikingly similar
to those of yesteryear’s communists is on the march. It goes by
varying names: "Islamofascism," "Islamism," "jihadism" or "radical,"
"extremist" or "political Islam." Unlike the communists, however,
adherents to this ideology are making extraordinary strides in Western
societies toward criminalizing those who dare oppose the Islamist
end-state – the imposition of brutal Shariah Law on Muslims and
non-Muslims alike.

Consider but a few indicators of this ominous progress:

* In March, the 57 Muslim-state Organization of the Islamic Conference
(OIC) prevailed upon the United Nations Human Rights Council to adopt
a resolution requiring the effective evisceration of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. Henceforth, the guaranteed right of free
expression will not extend to any criticism of Islam, on the grounds
that it amounts to an abusive act of religious discrimination. A UN
Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression has been charged with
documenting instances in which individuals and media organizations
engage in what the Islamists call "Islamophobia." Not to be outdone,
the OIC has its own "ten-year program of action" which will monitor
closely all Islamophobic incidents and defamatory statements around
the world.

* Monitoring is just the first step. Jordan’s Prosecutor General
has recently brought charges against Dutch Parliamentarian Geert
Wilders. According to a lawsuit, "Fitna" – Wilders’ short documentary
film that ties certain Koranic passages to Islamist terrorism – is said
to have slandered and insulted the Prophet Mohammed, demeaned Islam
and offended the feelings of Muslims in violation of the Jordanian
penal code. Mr. Wilders has been summoned to Amman to stand trial
and, if he fails to appear voluntarily, international warrants for
his arrest will be issued.

Zakaria Al-Sheikh, head of the "Messenger of Allah Unites Us Campaign"
which is the plaintiff in the Jordanian suit, reportedly has "confirmed
that the [prosecutor’s action] is the first step towards setting in
place an international law criminalizing anyone who insults Islam and
the Prophet Mohammed." In the meantime, his campaign is trying to
penalize the nations that have spawned "Islamophobes" like Wilders
and the Danish cartoonists by boycotting their exports – unless the
producers publicly denounce the perpetrators both in Jordan and in
their home media.

O Unfortunately, it is not just some companies that are
submitting to this sort of coercion – a status known in Islam as
"dhimmitude." Western officials and governmental entities appear
increasingly disposed to go along with such efforts to mutate warnings
about Shariah law and its adherents from "politically incorrect" to
"criminally punishable" activity.

For example, in Britain, Canada and even the United States, the
authorities are declining to describe the true threat posed by Shariah
Law and are using various techniques to discourage – and in some cases,
prosecute – those who do. We are witnessing the spectacle of authors’
books being burned, ministers prosecuted, documentary film-makers
investigated and journalists hauled before so-called "Human Rights
Councils" on charges of offending Muslims, slandering Islam or other
"Islamophobic" conduct.

Jurists on both sides of the Atlantic are acceding to the insinuation
of Shariah law in their courts. And Wall Street is increasingly joining
other Western capital markets in succumbing to the seductive Trojan
Horse of "Shariah-Compliant Finance."

Let’s be clear: The Islamists are trying to establish a kind of
Catch-22: If you point out that they seek to impose a barbaric,
repressive and seditious Shariah Law, you are insulting their faith
and engaging in unwarranted, racist and bigoted fear-mongering. On
the other hand, pursuant to Shariah, you must submit to that
theo-political-legal program. If you don’t, you can legitimately
be killed. It is not an irrational fear to find that prospect
unappealing. And it is not racist or bigoted to decry and oppose
Islamist efforts to bring it about – ask the anti-Islamist Muslims
who are frequently accused of being Islamophobes!

If we go along with our enemies’ demands to criminalize Islamophobia,
we will mutate Western laws, traditions, values and societies beyond
recognition. Ultimately, today’s totalitarian ideologues will triumph
where their predecessors were defeated.

To avoid such a fate, those who love freedom must oppose the seditious
program the Islamists call Shariah – and all efforts to impose its
1st Amendment-violating blasphemy, slander and libel laws on us in
the guise of preventing Western Islamophobia.

Panorama.am

19:25 05/07/2008

`PARLIAMENTARIAN MANAGING SYSTEM IS THE BEST’

`As a man who took part in Constitutional changes of 2005 I am happy
to say that Constitutional Court has much authority and that every
official does not have a right to establish some rules,’ said Hrayr
Tovmasyan in a meeting with the journalists.

Comparing the Constitutions of 1995 and 2005, he said that the
previous one created more sovereign country than a republic. According
to the previous Constitution the President of the country had a right
to dismiss the National Assembly any time, to fire the prime Minister
and appoint new Prime.

The lawyer said that anyway the best governing system is
parliamentarian one, as the solution of any problem does not depend on
one single person. Today Armenia is a country with semi presidential
system of management.

Source: Panorama.am

IRAQ: MINISTRY REPORT DETAILS IMPACT OF VIOLENCE ON MINORITIES

IRINnews.org
Friday 04 July 2008
NY

Christian minorities in Iraq have been targetted by extremists DUBAI,
3 July 2008 (IRIN) – A new report by Iraq’s Ministry of Human Rights
sets out the number of deaths in different ethnic communities caused
by direct or indirect attacks in Iraq between 2003 and the end of
2007, and the numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs) for
each minority.

The report, released on 1 July, said the Shabak minority in the
northern province of Nineveh topped the list with 529 fatalities and
3,078 families (about 16,000 individuals) displaced.

Shabaks, whose numbers are estimated at 300,000-400,000, have
a religion containing elements of Islam, Christianity and other
religions, according to theologians. Some see them as a sub-group of
the Kurds, while others say they are a distinct ethnic group.

Second on the list is the Yazidi community, which also lives in Nineveh
Province and worships Melek Taus, the Peacock Angel. The report said
335 Yazidis had been killed, but gave no data on the number of IDPs.

The Yazidis, considered by some as infidels, were hit in August 2007
by four simultaneous suicide car bombings in a suburb of the provincial
capital, killing 215.

In third place with 172 fatalities were Iraq’s Christians: 107
Chaldeans, 33 Orthodox, 24 Catholics, four Assyrians, three Anglicans
and one Armenian. It said 1,752 Christian families, about 9,000
persons, were living as IDPs.

In fourth place were the Sabis, who live in different parts of Iraq
but mainly in the south, with 127 killed; 62 families were living as
IDPs. A further 3,500 families had sought refuge in Jordan and 10,000
in Syria.

Photo: IRIN Yazidis worship Melek Taus, the Peacock Angel, who some
Muslims and Christians consider the devil Persecution

For nearly 36 years, Yousif Yacoub Qado, a 39-year-old Christian, lived
in peace with his Muslim neighbours in Baghdad’s southern district
of Dora, but he was forced to leave after threats by militants.

"They told me to convert to Islam, pay protection money or leave
my house," Qado said, recalling how five masked gunmen, presenting
themselves as al-Qaida in Iraq, knocked on his door.

"When I said I can’t do that as I need the money to feed my family,
they said they would slaughter me like a goat to make me an example
to other Christians," Qado said.

"I left my house and now I’m staying at my brother’s house; he left
Iraq two years ago."

Ahmed Jaafar al-Mayahi, a Baghdad-based analyst who lectures in
Islamic theology at Baghdad’s University of Mustansiriyah, blamed
what he called "a culture of extremism" in society for the attacks
on minorities.

"In the absence of the rule of law, a new culture emerged after 2003
– the law of the jungle," al-Mayahi told IRIN from Baghdad, adding:
"Sunni and Shia extremists see each other and other non-Muslim groups
as apostates and renegades."

MAIN SUBJECT OF EU-RUSSIA DIALOGUE TO COVER SETTLEMENT OF NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT

Azeri Press Agency
04 Jul 2008
Azerbaijan

Baku. Tamara Grigoryeva-APA. Next stage of EU-Russia dialogue will
be held in Brussels today, APA reports.

Priorities of the negotiations will be Russia-EU cooperation on
the settlement of "frozen" conflicts. The sides will consider
solution to Nagorno Karabakh conflict within the framework of OSCE
MG. France, which presently chairs EU, is one of the OSCE MG co-chair
countries. Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Commissioner responsible for
External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy will lead EU
delegation, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will chair
Russian delegation during the negotiations.

TWO NEWLY RENOVATED AND HAYPOST ICT-BASED POST OFFICES TO BE OPENED IN GYUMRI

armradio.am
04.07.2008 11:09

Today "Haypost" CJSC will open two newly renovated post offices in
Gyumri town of Armenia.

The Government of Armenia has selected Gyumri as a prospective ICT
development center of Armenia, therefore Haypost puts emphasis on
the potential ICT role of its post offices in Shirak region and
particularly in Gyumri, starting with the establishment of publicly
accessible Web access points in the newly renovated P/Os number 3 and
15, with the future projection of expanding towards the provision of
various types of e-services (such as e-commerce, e-banking etc.) to
the population.

The reopened P/Os will be equipped with the most up-to-date
technological tools and software and will provide high-quality
services.

The re-opening of the newly renovated P/Os will mark the beginning
of Haypost’s regional development policy and proactive reformation
of its regional branches.

HayPost Director General Mr. Hans Boon and Mayor of Gyumri Mr. Vardan
Ghukasyan will lead the opening ceremony.