EXIT POLL was conducted in Vanadzor
20.10.2008
On October 19th 2008 the elections of head of Vanadzor community and members of city council took place during which EXIT-POLL was conducted. According to the final results of the EXIT POLLs 6,604 voters of the Vanadzor constituency were surveyed at 58 polling stations, 1,961 of which refused to answer. The number of respondents to the survey was 4,643, whose votes were distributed in the following order:
Candidates for the Post of the Head of Community
1. Samvel Darbinyan 2441 votes,
2. Edvard Khlkhatyan 398 votes,
3. Garnik Sahakyan 119 votes,
4. Senik Evinyan 117 votes,
5. Seyran Harutyunyan108 votes,
6. Gagik Khazaryan 66 votes,
Candidates for the City Council
1. Gevorg Shahinyan 157 votes,
2. Karen Adamyan – 145 votes,
3. Hayk Hovsepyan 126 votes,
4. Vahagn Avagyan 117 votes,
5. Ararat Ginosyan 98 votes,
6. Artyom Grigoryan 89 votes,
7. Arayik Chobanyan 82 votes,
8. Arman Apinyan 74 votes,
9. Gayane Kalantaryan 73 votes,
10. Armen Ayvazyan 71 votes,
11.Seyran Akhabekyan 70 votes,
12. Arayik Sargsyan 70 votes,
13. Samvel Diloyan 69 votes,
14.Karen Paravyan 66 votes,
15. Seyran Khambaryan 62 votes,
16. Arman Bernecyan 61 votes,
17. Macak Darbinyan 61 votes,
18. Alexander Harutyunyan 60 votes,
19. Aram Hakhinyan 59 votes,
20. Aytsemnik Ohanyan 57 votes,
21. Gurgen Khalechyan 55 votes,
22. Karen Grigoryan 54 votes,
23. Armen Marukyan 48 votes,
24. Armenuhi kyureghyan 47 votes,
25. Hrant Margaryan 47 votes,
26. Aram Mkrtchyan 46 votes,
27. Vahe Badalyan 45 ձայն
28. Gerasim Sarukhanyan 45 votes,
29. Zhora Mosoyan 44 votes,
30. Garnik Hakobjanyan 42 votes,
31.Liparit Galstyan 41 votes,
32. Asatur Sokhoyan 39 votes,
33. Armen Saroyan 37 votes,
34. Zaven Evoyan 34 votes,
35. Aharon Makaryan 33 votes,
36. Hrachyan Kroyan 31 votes,
37. Kristine Tamaryan 32 votes,
38. Gagik Atabekyan 29 votes,
39. Aren Santoyan 29 votes,
40. Vahan Mkhitaryan 29 votes,
41. Jivan Sargsyan 28 votes,
42. Ara Arakelyan 27 votes,
43. Taron Apresyan 25 votes,
44. Hovhannes Nikoghosyan 24 votes,
45. Tatevik Hovsepyan 23 votes,
46. Narek Khazaryan 23 votes,
47. Armenak Malkhasyan 23 votes,
48. Artak Voskanyan 22 votes,
49. Kolya Hovsepyan 21 votes,
50. Suren Ochinyan 20 votes,
51. Arman Kroyan 18 votes,
52. Aram Hambardzumyan 17 votes,
53. Mushegh Daghbashyan 16 votes,
54. Gurgen Khukasyan 11 votes,
55. Armen Galoyan 9 votes,
56. Arayik Niazyan 9 votes,
57. Seyran Sardaryan 5 votes,
58. Martik Melikbekyan 2 votes.
Number of voters refusing to respond the survey questions were 1,961.
The EXIT POLL survey was carried out by the “Youth Center for Democratic Initiatives” NGO (YCDI) by the financial assistance of Counterpart International’s Armenian Office.
Local elections in Armenia show that local democracy needs further tangible consolidation
29.09.2008
Congress delegation, headed by Ms Véronique Moreira (France, NR), arrived in Yerevan on Wednesday last and conducted a number of key meetings with representatives of institutional bodies, political parties, NGOs and media.
Subsequently, observers deployed to all electoral districts in Yerevan and visited some 100 polling stations.
Council of Europe Congress observers, at yesterday’s local elections in Yerevan, are worried that lack of transparency, and tensions at a number of locations overshadow the continuing development of local democracy in Armenia.
On the one hand, observers noted that low participation in areas where there was an election for the Community Council underscores low interest among voters in local government affairs.
On the other hand, in areas where there was a perceived high political stake, irregularities, frequently reported tensions in polling stations and disproportionately high turn-out in some instances give the impression that political democratic culture in Armenia need further buttressing.
Amidst reports conveyed to them of transporting voters from a locality to another and of bribery, they themselves observed a lack of transparency in both voting and counting procedures.
During the Autumn Session of Congress (December 2008) Mr Paolo Rondelli (San Marino, SOC), Rapporteur, will present all the findings of the mission.
The Congress encourages the Armenian authorities to take advantage of its recommendations, particularly with a view to the tangible consolidation of local democracy in the country.
Members of the delegation:
- Ms Véronique Moreira, Congress (France, NR) – Head of delegation
- Mr Paolo Rondelli, Congress (San Marino, SOC) – Rapporteur
- Mr Joe Conway, Congress (Ireland, ILDG)
- Mr Mihkel Juhkami, Congress (Estonia, EPP/CD)
- Mr Dobrica Milovanovic, Congress (Serbia, NR)
- Ms Dominique Ronga, Congress (France, SOC)
- Mr Uldis Rozenbergs, Congress (Latvia, EPP/CD)
Congress Secretariat
- Mrs Antonella Cagnolati, Director
- Mr Michel Rivollier, Project Manager
- Ms Gönül Koçak, Secretariat
Press contacts:
Dmitri Marchenkov, Communication Unit, Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe
Tel. +33 (0)3 88 41 32 81 ; Fax+33 (0)3 88 41 27 51 ; dmitri.marchenkov@coe.int ; www.coe.int/congress
EXIT – POLL in Vanadzor
20.09.2008
Dear colleagues,
We are happy to inform you that in September 16, 2008 Youth Center for Democratic Initiatives (YCDI) NGO is provided with a grant to support Local Self-Government Elections in the frame of the project “Youth Initiatives for Democratic Elections”.
In the frame of the project all the 58 voting stations of Vanadzor will be included in Exit Poll survey of Local Self-Government Elections in October 19, 2008. The survey will be conducted via mobilization of young people who have active civic viewpoints and desire to combine their potential and abilities to establish democratic society.
For this purpose we rely on the support of your organizations’ active youth (members, volunteers, beneficiaries and like-minded people) and announce this competition. As a result 116 young people will be selected (at each voting station a pair will work), who:
• Will get special training on the implementation of Exit Poll,
• On the election day young interviewers will be provided cell phone recharging cards, 5000 AMD per diem, T-shirt with slogan “Exit Poll” and writing supply,
• Young interviewers who will effectively conduct interview will be awarded by certificates proving their participation during Local Self-Government elections as Exit Poll interviewers.
We expect your active participation in the process of Local Self-Government elections for the prosperity of democratic society in Armenia.
For additional information please contact Arpine Serobyan while calling 2-34-72, e-mailing to ycdi@democracy.am or visiting YCDI NGO office with the following address 63 T. Mets St., ap.16, Vanadzor.
Download the application form here:
Thank you beforehand for your cooperation and support.
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PRESS RELEASE
19.09.2008
On September 19th a press conference was held by “Youth Center for Democratic Initiatives” (YCDI) Non-governmental Organization aiming to announce the launch of “Youth Initiatives for Democratic Elections” project.
The aim of the press conference was announcing the commencement of the project. Within the frames of the project YCDI NGO aims to assist in making the elections of bodies of local self-governance in Lori Region in 2008, to meet democratic principles through civic surveillance, by means of developing the deployment of the mechanisms of civic supervision by the youth.
In the frame of the project all the 58 voting stations of Vanadzor will be included in Exit Poll survey of Local Self-Government Elections in October 19, 2008. The survey will be conducted via mobilization of young people who have active civic viewpoints and desire to combine their potential and abilities to establish democratic society.
YCDI NGO was funded in 2005, in Vanadzor. The mission of YCDI NGO is to assist in the processes supporting the establishment of civil society and democratic state, for the sake of human development in Armenia, by the means of activation of youth.
Statement
16.09.2008
On Abstaining from Nomination or Supporting of Candidates during the 3rd Stakeholder Committee Elections of MCA-Armenia
We, the representatives of the undersigned organizations, have actively participated in all stages of the MCA-Armenia Project including development of proposals for the Compact in the preparatory stage, development of the procedure for the formation of the Stakeholder Committee (SC), organization and conduct of elections to the SC, monitoring of the Compact implementation and raising public awareness of the Project to ensure transparency of the processes at all levels. Alongside with this, we closely followed the role of civil society organizations in the Millennium Challenge Account - Armenia during the last 2 years and decided against nominating candidates for the 3rd SC elections and against collectively supporting any candidate for the following reasons:
MCA-Armenia’s public monitoring entity, i.e. the Stakeholder Committee, which is called to protect interests of some 750.000 direct beneficiaries of the Program has systemic drawbacks in its charter considerably reducing the effectiveness of the SC’s mission. Namely, the Stakeholder Committee consisting of 15 civil society representatives delegates five of its members to the main governing body, the Governing Council (GC). In the meantime, these delegates retain their membership in the SC, which leads to obvious conflict of interests.
Indeed, during the last 2 years some members of the GS delegated from the SC participated in the tenders, anticipating contracts from the program funds. During all the tenders they kept their active membership both in the SC and GC. Moreover, they did not even inform the Stakeholder Committee about their participation in the tenders. When criticized for the conflict of interests, the bidders indicated that they would drop their membership from the SC and GC but only after winning the tender.
In the July 23, 2008 session the Governing Council unanimously decided to cut water rehabilitation component due to Dollar depreciation and increasing construction costs. Reduction of water rehabilitation activities makes up to 50-70% of the initial plans depending on the methodology of calculations. All the 4 GS members delegated from the SC voted for the cut alongside with the government officials of the GC. In making this decision, neither the 4 SC “delegates”, nor the rest of the GS asked for the SC opinion. This reduction directly and seriously affects interests of hundreds of thousands farmers and rural residents. Meanwhile, on one hand, the working group could have properly assessed the possible risks in due time and on the other hand, the government should have allocated alternative funds so that the project was not cut, thus disappointing the rural residents, particularly, that it had referred to the availability of alternative sources of funding for the MCA on a number of occasions.
During the last 2 SC elections, a number of members were nominated and elected as civil society representatives while they simultaneously were holding posts in different governmental structures. As a result, their standing was mostly consistent with the position of government officials when addressing objectives of the MCA-Armenia. This distorted the idea of the stakeholders’ participation and made the protection of real beneficiary interests rather than the personal ones virtually impossible.
Documents, such as the letters of former RA President R. Kocharyan and of President S. Sargsyan addressed to J. Danilovich, Chief Executive Officer of the MCC, which are related to the progress of the Program and allegedly refer to possible suspension and termination risks of the Compact and which are not classified according to the current legislation of Armenia, have been constantly and consistently kept in secret from the SC.
Efforts of the three SC members (Levon Barseghyan, Artur Sakunts and Seyran Martirosyan) nominated and supported by the Partnership for Open Society were mainly futile in addressing the aforementioned and other problems. Initiatives undertaken by them to address the problems fell short due to the efforts of the majority of the SC.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation and the Armenian representatives of the Corporation were fully aware of the above problems but did not take major actions to address them and did not have substantial influence on improving effectiveness of the SC activities.
Thus, we feel that in its current format, the SC actually has been and remains a hollow entity fulfilling the Compact’s requirement of the civil society participation rather than a body that really ensures representation and protection of the beneficiary interests.
In the meantime, in the future we are going to continue close monitoring of the activities of the MCA-Armenia, SC and GC and regularly inform the public about our observations on the progress of the project.
September 15, 2008
1. “Asparez” Journalists’ Club
2. Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression
3. Yerevan Press Club
4. Helsinki Committee of Armenia
5. Helsinki Citizens Assembly Vanadzor Branch
6. Community Finance Officers Association
7. Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center
8. Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation-Armenia
9. “Menk Plus” NGO
10. “Arena of Education” NGO
11. “Azatan” Community Union of Azatan
12. “Selen” Journalists Club, NGO
13. “Spiritual Armenia” NGO
14. “Collaboration for Democracy” NGO
15. Armenian Center of Political and International Research
16. “Khnamk” NGO
17. Lore Eco Club
18. “Femida” NGO
19. “Trust” Sociological Research Center
20. “Association of Women with University Education” NGO
21. “Fund against the Violation of Law” NGO
22. Team Research Center, NGO
23. “Internews-Armenia” Media Support NGO
24. Mental Health Foundation
25. Social Policy and Development Center
26. Union of Women Named after Saint Sandukht
27. “Union of Doctors and Engineers” NGO
28. Rights Information Center
29. “Bridge of Hope” NGO
30. “Dapnechyugh”, NGO
31. Cultural Experimental Center
32. “Biosophia” NGO
33. “Yerashkhiq” (Insurance)CSC NGO
34. “KhoranArd” Intelectual Center, NGO
35. “Geophone” NGO
36. “Shirak Center”, NGO
37. Gyumri Orhus Center
38. “From the View of the Time”, NGO
39. Vanadzor Press Club, NGO
40. Youth Center for Democratic Initiatives, NGO
PRESS RELEASE
27.08.2008
On August 27th a press conference was held by “Youth Center for Democratic Initiatives” (YCDI) non-governmental organization aiming to announce the launch of “Advocacy Campaign for the Sake of Green Vanadzor” project.
The aim of the press conference was announcing the commencement of the project and the advocacy campaign. Within the frames of the project YCDI NGO aims through the organization of advocacy campaign and mobilization of associates, achieve the inclusion of such an item in the triennial development program of the Vanadzor community, which instates the state registration of rights towards the perennial trees located in the administrative territory of the Vanadzor community by ensuring their fundamental legislative protection from illegal tree-cuttings. The indirect goal of the project implementation is to protect the green zones of Vanadzor.
“Advocacy Campaign for the Sake of Green Vanadzor” project is founded by Northern Branch of “NGO Center”, Counterpart International (CPI)/Civic Advocacy Support Program (CASP) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
YCDI NGO was founded in 2005, in Vanadzor. The mission of YCDI NGO is to assist in the processes supporting the establishment of civil society and democratic state, for the sake of human development in Armenia, by the means of activation of youth.
For additional information please feel free to contact Tatevik Matinyan by 23472, 091-255898 telephone numbers or visit YCDI NGO web site www.democracy.am .
Advocacy Campaign for the Sake of Green Vanadzor
07.08.2008
Dear Colleagues,
We are glad to inform you that since August 2008, YCDI NGO has commenced the implementation of “Advocacy Campaign for the Sake of Green Vanadzor” project, in assistance with the Northern Branch of “NGO Center”, Counterpart International (CPI)/Civic Advocacy Support Program (CASP) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Within framework of the project YCDI NGO through the organization of advocacy campaign and mobilization of associates, will attempt to achieve the inclusion of such an item in the triennial development program of the Vanadzor community, which instates the state registration of rights towards the perennial trees located in the administrative territory of the Vanadzor community by ensuring their fundamental legislative protection from illegal tree-cuttings. The indirect goal of the project implementation is to protect the green zones of Vanadzor.
A victory for freedom of expression:Statement by Terry Davis Secretary General of the Council of Europe on the judgment by the European Court of Human Rights on the case of Armenian television A1
18.06.2008
Television is a very influential part of the media. Decisions of regulatory bodies on the award, refusal or withdrawal of a broadcasting licence can have a direct bearing on freedom of expression and therefore on the functioning of democracy.
The decision of the European Court of Human Rights brings an end to the long drawn-out saga about the refusal of the Armenian authorities to award a broadcasting licence to the A1+ television station. The decision comes after numerous calls from different bodies of the Council of Europe have been ignored by the Armenian authorities. All member states of the Council of Europe are legally bound to comply with the European Convention on Human Rights. They should do so without being reminded of their responsibilities by the European Court of Human Rights.
The decision of the Court is a victory for freedom of expression. It should also serve as a lesson to all governments inclined to arbitrary interpretations of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees this essential freedom.
One of the Leaders of the Armenian Democratic Youth Attacked and Severely Injured on Way to Major Youth Rally
28.05.2008
On May 28, 2008, Arsen Kharatyan, one of the leaders of the Armenian Democratic Youth Movement was brutally assaulted and beaten in broad daylight in Yerevan, by unknown assailants who then fled the scene.
The victim was transported to the ICU unit of the Nor Nork Emergency Hospital in Yerevan, with severe head injuries, and is under close medical supervision.
At the time of the assault, Arsen Kharatyan, in his mid-20s, was headed to the opening of a youth rally in Yerevan, organized by his movement in support of democracy and human rights in Armenia, as the country celebrates the Republic Day.
Human rights and fundamental freedoms in Armenia have come under heavy restrictions in the recent months, as the government used fatal force on March 1, 2008, to disperse a peaceful opposition rally protesting the results of a highly contested presidential election held earlier in February.
March 1 events, resulting in at least 10 deaths, and hundreds wounded, were followed by an unprecedented political and judicial crackdown on the opposition, and widespread harassment of opposition activists, hundreds of whom are now held under arrest or detention under fabricated charges, while dozens are being tried, and fined or sentenced.
Cases of harassment and assault against opposition activists are not uncommon in Armenia. Last week, Mikael Danielyan, head of the Armenian Helsinki Association, was shot point blank from a pneumatic rifle by a leader of a party created by the authorities, who then bragged about it in a press conference later that day. The case was documented and reported by Human Rights Watch on May 22, 2008 (Armenia: Leading Human Rights Defender Assaulted, http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/05/22/armeni18918.htm)
The assault today on Arsen Kharatyan reminds of a very similar attack in 2003 on prominent opposition figure Ashot Manucharian, who was assaulted and beaten on a street in Yerevan, while walking home from a routine day business on April 22, 2004. Mr. Manucharyan sustained severe head injuries, and had a long recovery in the hospital. That case too was documented and reported by world human rights community and major news organizations (Prominent Oppositionist Beaten up as Police Resume Mass Arrests, www.armenialiberty.org/armeniareport/report/en/2004/04/0b4b65db-4b54-448f-a2ec-72e43404a177.asp).
Today’s attack against Arsen Kharatyan, a well-known and highly regarded youth leader, has heightened tensions in Armenia’s capital city and across the nation, as deep-running deficit of trust and legitimacy continues to characterize the attitudes of the general public towards the authorities, and Armenia faces its worst governance and democracy crisis since independence in 1991.
At the times when many opposition leaders went into hiding, were arrested or had restricted capacity to act, the youth movements took leadership in their hands, and using new ideas and innovative means of peaceful political struggle became the real leader of national movement.
Currently as the new wave of national struggle is rising, the criminal groups, which are ruling Armenia, intensify the intimidation campaign against the youth leaders using terrorist actions. Their aim is to stop the national movement by rooting an atmosphere of fear in the society.
In these circumstances, the friends of Armenia in the world and the Armenian nation should act together to restore the rule of law, respect for human rights, the Constitutional system and democratic government structures.
THE FUNCTIONING OF DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS IN ARMENIA
18.04.2008
RESOLUTION 1609 (2008)
1. On 19 February 2008, Presidential election took place in Armenia. Although “administered mostly in line with Council of Europe standards”, the Ad hoc committee which observed this election found a number of violations and shortcomings, the most important of which were: unequal campaign conditions for all candidates, lack of transparency of the election administration and a complaints and appeals process that did not give complainants access to an effective legal remedy. In addition, a number of cases of electoral fraud were witnessed.
2. The Parliamentary Assembly regrets that the violations and shortcomings observed did nothing to increase the currently lacking public confidence in the electoral process and raised questions among a part of the Armenian public with regard to the credibility of the outcome of the election. This lack of public confidence was the basis for the peaceful protests, even though without prior official notification, that ensued after the announcement of the preliminary results, which had been tolerated by the authorities for ten days.
3. The Assembly deplores the clashes between the police and the protesters and the escalation of violence on 1 March 2008, which resulted in ten deaths and about two hundred people being injured. The exact circumstances that led to the tragic events of 1 March, as well as the manner in which they were handled by the authorities, including the imposition of the State of Emergency in Yerevan from 1 to 20 March 2008 and the alleged excessive use of force by the police, are issues of considerable controversy and should be the subject of a credible independent investigation.
4. The Assembly condemns the arrest and continuing detention of scores of persons, including more than one hundred opposition supporters and three members of parliament, some of them on seemingly artificial and politically motivated charges. This constitutes a de facto crackdown on the opposition by the authorities.
5. In a welcome development, and upon an initiative of the new President, Mr Serzh Sargsyan, four of the five parties in parliament signed, on 21 March 2008, an agreement to form a political coalition aimed at resolving outstanding political issues. However, there is still a necessity to establish a dialogue between the coalition and the Heritage Party, as well as the extra-parliamentary parties, to resolve the current crisis in Armenia.
6. While the outbreak of public resentment, culminating in the tragic events of 1 March 2008, may have been unexpected, the Assembly believes that the underlying causes of the crisis are deeply rooted in the failure of the key institutions of the state to perform their functions in full compliance with democratic standards and the principles of the rule of law and the protection of human rights. More specifically:
6.1. the National Assembly of Armenia has so far failed to play its role as a forum for political debate and compromise between the different political forces. Based on a “winner takes it all” attitude, the current political system excludes the opposition from any effective participation in the decision-making process and governance of the country. As a result of this, inter alia, a part of the political spectrum in Armenia is not represented in the current National Assembly;
6.2. the lack of public trust in the electoral process also generally undermines the credibility of the outcome of the elections in the eyes of a part of the Armenian public. This is further compounded by the lack of impartiality of the election administration, the ineffective handling of election complaints and appeals and the lack of transparency of the vote count and tabulation procedures;
6.3. despite successful legislative reforms, the courts still lack the necessary independence to inspire the public’s trust as impartial arbiters including in the context of the electoral process; this explains the low number of electoral-related complaints filed with them. The same lack of judicial independence is also reflected in the fact that the courts do not appear to question the necessity of keeping in detention persons pending trial and generally grant relevant requests by the prosecutors without properly weighing the grounds given for this, as required by Article 5, paragraph 3, of the European Convention of Human Rights;
6.4. in the absence of adequate judicial control, the arrest and continuing detention of persons on seemingly artificial charges after contesting the fairness of the Presidential election or their participation in the protest after the Presidential election can only point to the political motivation of such acts. This, is unacceptable in a Council of Europe member state and cannot be tolerated by the Assembly; 6
.5. even though there is a pluralistic and independent print media, the current level of control by the authorities of the electronic media and their regulatory bodies, as well as the absence of a truly independent and pluralist Public Broadcaster, impede the creation of a pluralistic media environment and further exacerbate the lack of public trust in the political system.
7. A few days before the expiry of the State of Emergency, on 17 March 2008, upon the government’s proposal, the National Assembly, in an extraordinary session, adopted a series of amendments to the Law on conducting meetings, assemblies, rallies and demonstrations which considerably limit the right of freedom of assembly and give great discretionary powers to the authorities to prohibit political rallies and demonstrations. They thus run counter to European standards, as enshrined inter alia in Article 11 of the European Convention of Human Rights, and are in breach of Armenia’s obligations and commitments as a member state of the Council of Europe. In a joint draft opinion, the European Commission for Democracy through Law of the Council of Europe (Venice Commission) and the OSCE/ODIHR also considered these amendments to be unacceptable. The Assembly welcomes the intention expressed by the newly elected President in his inaugural speech to bring the Law on conducting meetings, assemblies, rallies and demonstrations in full compliance with the European standards and to encourage further co-operation with the Venice Commission on this matter.
8. In view of the above, the Assembly recalls its Resolution 1532 (2007) on the honouring of obligations and commitments by Armenia and urges once more the Armenian authorities to undertake the following reforms without further delay:
8.1. the political system should ensure a proper place and proper rights to the opposition;
8.2. the electoral process needs to be thoroughly reformed with a view to ensuring in particular: an impartial election administration that is free from control by any one political force; a fully transparent administration of the election process especially with regard to the vote count and tabulation process, and a complaints and appeals process that gives electoral stakeholders the fullest possible access to a legal remedy in case of perceived electoral violations; an equal playing field in practice for all political forces both during the official campaign period, but also prior to it, must be guaranteed;
8.3. the independence from any political interest of both the National Television and Radio Commission and the Public Television and Radio Council must be guaranteed. In addition, the composition of these bodies should be revised in order to ensure that they are truly representative of Armenian society. The recommendations made by the Venice Commission and Council of Europe experts in this respect must finally be taken into account. The Assembly reiterates that, apart from reforming the legislation, the authorities must take steps to ensure freedom and pluralism of the public television and radio on a day-to-day basis. Also, the harassment by the tax authorities of opposition electronic and printed media outlets must be stopped;
8.4. freedom of assembly must be guaranteed in both law and practice, in compliance with Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights; this requires that the amendments recently adopted by the National Assembly on the Law on conducting meetings, assemblies, rallies and demonstrations be revoked in line with the recommendations of the Venice Commission with immediate effect;
8.5. the authorities should step up their efforts to guarantee a truly independent judiciary and enhance the public’s trust in the courts;
8.6. arbitrary arrests and detentions, as well as the ill-treatment of detainees, in particular during police custody, should be stopped. An effective public control mechanism over the police must be guaranteed both in law and practice.
9. For their part, all opposition forces should recognise the Constitutional Court’s decision which confirmed the results of the elections as announced by the Central Electoral Commission. This should not be interpreted as the obligation to agree with the merits of the court’s decision. All electoral contestants have the right to challenge this decision by the legal means available to them, including the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
10. The Assembly believes that the only way to allow the country to move forward with the above-mentioned urgently needed reforms is the initiation of an open and constructive dialogue between the political forces in Armenian society. The Assembly had already pointed out the need for such a dialogue as a requirement to ensure the effective implementation of the constitutional reform when adopting its Resolution 1532 (2007) more than a year ago.
11. Taking into account that a relevant part of the political spectrum in Armenia is not represented in the current National Assembly, such dialogue should include both parliamentary and extra-parliamentary political forces. The Assembly stands ready to mediate between the different forces and ensure the full involvement of the expert bodies of the Council of Europe in this process, most notably that of the Venice Commission.
12. However, the Assembly considers that, for such a dialogue to start and be successful, a number of conditions need to be met as a matter of priority, in order to build confidence vis-à-vis the opposition and provide proof that the ruling majority is seriously committed to pursuing further reforms:
12.1. an independent, transparent and credible inquiry into the events of 1 March and the circumstances that led to them, including the alleged excessive use of force by the police and violence by the protesters, should be carried out immediately. The international community should be ready to monitor and assist such an inquiry;
12.2. the persons, detained on seemingly artificial and politically motivated charges or who did not personally commit any violent acts or serious offences in connection with them should be urgently released;
12.3. the amendments recently adopted by the National Assembly to the Law on conducting meetings, assemblies, rallies and demonstrations should be revoked in line with the recommendations of the Venice Commission with immediate effect.
13. Unless these conditions are met and an open dialogue on the reforms mentioned in paragraph 8 above is seriously engaged between the political forces in Armenia, the credibility of Armenia as a member of the Council of Europe is put into doubt. The Assembly should therefore consider the possibility of suspending the voting rights of the Armenian delegation to the Assembly at the opening of its June 2008 part-session, if no considerable progress has been made on these requirements by then.
14. The Assembly will continue to follow closely the situation in Armenia on the basis of information provided by its Monitoring Committee, in particular as regards progress in the fulfilment of the above-mentioned pre-conditions.
Commissioner Hammarberg calls on the Armenian government to lift emergency measures, ensure media freedom and initiate an impartial investigation into recent violent acts
18.03.2008
Strasbourg 18.03.2008 - “The State of Emergency should be lifted in Armenia and an independent, impartial and transparent inquiry initiated to clarify what actually happened during the confrontations in Yerevan between the police and opposition demonstrators on 1 March”, said Council of Europe Commissioner on Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg after a three-day visit to Armenia.
He held discussions with the President, the Prime Minister and President-elect, the Foreign Minister, the Minister of Justice, the Prosecutor General and the Head of Police. He also met the President of the National Assembly, representatives of political parties including those in opposition and had a separate meeting with former President and presidential candidate Ter-Petrosian.
Commissioner Hammarberg visited places of detention and interviewed persons recently arrested. Furthermore, he visited hospitals and met policemen and civilians who had been injured during the violence on 1 March. He also met with the National Human Rights Defender (ombudsman), defence lawyers, representatives of the media, non-governmental organisations as well as foreign diplomats and representatives of international and regional organizations in Yerevan.
“The censorship which was introduced with the state of emergency has contributed to rumours and anxiety among the population about what was happening, at a time when measures to rebuild trust should have been promoted. The fact that some pro-government media tended to demonise the opposition while opposition papers were out of circulation did not contribute to a constructive atmosphere”, said Thomas Hammarberg. He suggested that all limitations on the media and freedom of expression now be lifted.
“Seven civilians and one policeman were killed and many others were injured. There is a need to clarify what actually happened and what provoked the outbreak of violence. The two sides describe the events very differently and it is important, also in a human rights perspective, to establish the basic facts. This can only be done through a comprehensive inquiry which is independent, impartial and transparent and perceived as credible by the whole population.”
“Such an investigation should also aim at drawing lessons and giving recommendations on how similar situations should be handled in future. For instance, it seems clear that the Armenian police needs more training in acceptable riot control measures, serious mistakes were made.”
“The establishment of an inquiry of this kind will not be easy in the present polarised climate in Armenia. The international community has expressed its willingness to offer participation or other assistance to such a comprehensive investigation into the 1 March events in order to contribute experience, professionalism and credibility”.
“Demonstrators who committed violent acts should be held accountable, as should policemen who used excessive force. However, the arrests and prosecutions should not target people for having merely been present at the demonstrations or expressed anti-government opinions. The Commissioner also calls for the release of all apprehended children under 18 years in this connection.
It appears that some articles of the Criminal Code are interpreted broadly by the prosecutors, banning in practice all strong criticism and agitation against the government. This is not consistent with the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.”
Commissioner Hammarberg also stressed the importance of preventing any improper treatment of those arrested. There were cases after 1 March when the detainees had difficulties to contact family members and to have access to a lawyer. Also, the registration of their arrest was not done in accordance with national rules in some instances.
The Commissioner was also told about cases of ill-treatment during arrests and in a few cases during transport to the police station. He welcomes the decision of the Prosecutor General to investigate ex officio all acts of violence committed by police forces against demonstrators and passing civilians on 1 March. The Commissioner underlines the absolute importance of ensuring respect for agreed safeguards against torture and ill-treatment as well as the procedural rights of the accused.
The Commissioner welcomed the statement by the President that the current human rights restrictions would be gradually reviewed and lifted. He stressed the importance of now bringing the state of emergency to an end.
Council of Europe Press Division
Tel: +33 (0)3 88 41 25 60
Fax:+33 (0)3 88 41 39 11
pressunit@coe.int
www.coe.int/press
The Newspapers Haven’t Published, Restrictions Haven’t Been Eased
14.03.2008
By the 13 March decree of Robert Kocharyan, several changes have been made to his March 1 decree on declaring state of emergency regarding the restrictions in the activity of mass media.
The sub-paragraph 4 of the paragraph 4: «publication on the national and domestic political affairs must be carried on by mass media only within the official information as of the state bodies» now appears in new wording: «it is prohibited to mass media to publish or disseminate materials containing deliberate misinformation on the national and domestic political affairs, or information destabilizing the situation, or calls to participation in non-official (illegal) events, or to publish and disseminate such calls in any other ways.»
However, nothing has change in reality, and our concern expressed the day before has been justified: the papers banned from March 1 were not published on March 14 as well. The editors of the newspapers are trying to explain the reasons:
ARMINE OHANYAN, «HRAPARAK» newspaper, editor-in-chief – We worked on March 13, summarized the events of the past 15 days, and took the newspaper to the publishing house at 2 o’clock in the morning, where the officer of the National Security service was sitting, who told us, without any further explanations that the newspaper will not be published. Being asked to provide the reasoning, he told that he is not going to explain the reasons. The same way he had refused to all other newspapers. Only the papers, being issued after March 1, were published. So, the restrictions on media have not been eased, it was just a formal step to demonstrate the West that the authorities are compromising, however internally they preserved the same situation. So, it is unclear will it be possible to be printed four days later, after the state of emergency will be over. Or the authorities enjoyed this situation so much that will keep on using these censorship methods.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN, «ARAVOT» daily, editor-in-chief – Yesterday we worked, prepared the newspaper and took it to the publishing house. The censor from the National Security Service was sitting there, who is responsible for allowing or banning the publication. They took out pages 4, 5, 6, and 7 of our newspaper with the omitted press conferences of Levon Ter-Petrossian. The KGB censor said that there is deliberate misinformation in those press conferences, which is against the presidential decree, so the newspaper cannot be issued, and its publication was banned. They declared of their decision to ease the restrictions just to dust the eyes of international community, but they have not eased anything.
«HAYKAKAN ZHAMANAK» daily editor HAYK GEVORGYAN told that that they took the newspaper as usual in the evening to the publishing house and also met the National Security officer, who read the materials, talked with somebody on phone and informed that «Haykakan Zhamanak» is not going to be published. Hayk Gevorgyan also thinks that this relaxation of the restrictions “was not a relaxation at all, but dusting the eyes of international community; our authorities have the list of all the newspapers they are not going to print.”
After the declared relaxations electronic newspapers are not issued as well. The editor of «LRAGIR» electronic newspaper HAYKAZN GHAHRIYAN told that as on March 1, today they are also do not work not for they fault, but because the newspaper has been shut down. According to Haykazn Ghahriyan, if the authorities do not allow newspapers to operate, it means that no restrictions have been lifted up.
The source of information is: www.hra.am
Human rights defenders position on the existing situation in the country
04.03.2008
1. Even from the pre-electoral campaign period, the public activities of different political bodies resulted in the atmosphere of intolerance in our society. Unfortunately the calls for tolerance, made both by competent international organizations and by the Human Rights Defender were ignored. Even more, the atmosphere of intolerance turned into mutual hatred after the tragic events on the March 1.
2. The events of March 1 started from the forced dispersal of the demonstrators in the Azatutyun square early in the morning. It was officially announced that there was an accumulation of weapon in the place of demonstration, and Police officers simply tried to inspect the area but faced tough resistance.
The Human Rights Defender’s position is that the authorities should clarify some issues. Notably, who, when and under what circumstances there was made a decision to disperse peaceful demonstration by using force early in the morning of March 1, whether the demonstrators were presented an official warning of corresponding searching and whether the participants refused or resisted, and whether the use of force was adequate to the situation.
The aforementioned issues are conditioned by the announcement of the demonstrators that early in the morning without any warning, they were attacked and severely beaten. It is difficult for us to reveal the truth but there is an unanswered question. What was the reason that the police imposed restrictions on the activities of journalists, for us to get full impartial information. The fact of such prevention was officially confirmed by "Erkir media" and "ALM" television broadcasters.
3. People near the French Embassy are a part of our society, they are not burglars or hooligans. They were convinced that they were citizens of Republic of Armenia who illegally suffered violence from law enforcement bodies.
The Police suggested to make a procession and hold a demonstration near Matenadaran. What was the reason that the people who could lead the demonstrators, did not do that, but at the last moment announced that the demonstrators did not obey them. Еeventually what was the reason that demonstrators disagreed with both law enforcement bodies and with the representatives of Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s electoral headquarter. Perhaps, the reason was the early morning events? Perhaps so many wounded and 8 dead persons were the result of this disagreement? The Defender deeply condoles with the relatives of the victims.
4. Current activities of some mass media, mainly TV broadcasters directed to the increase of the tension in atmosphere is at least doubtful. Particularly, it is continuously broadcasted the announcements of high level officials stating to punish or call to trial only those who participated in March 1 demonstrations.
Why the issue of possible illegal actions and corresponding responsibilities of law enforcement bodies are not discussed.
5. The presidential decree of 01.03.2008 introducing a state of emergency imposes restrictions on civil and constitutional rights. Thus, according to subpoint 4 of the 4th point of the decree, mass media reports on domestic political matters may include only official information. Whereas, according to the information, received by the Defender, the activities of «A1plusե, «Lragirե informational internet portals have been suspended. In connection with it, the head of the National Security told the Defender that the reason for such extreme measures is that the internet providers of the corresponding sites are located abroad. According to the head of the National Security the latter were warned about the restrictions prescribed by the decree, but they refused to stand to them justifying that they act within the legislation of their own state.
The subpoint 3 of point 4 of the aforementioned presidential decree provides that law enforcing bodies have the right to restrict the free movement of people, means of transport and execute searching. The complaints received by the Defender indicate that in a result of broad interpretation of the mentioned subpoint the right of people to enter Yerevan city is inadequately eliminated.
Besides, the defender receives complaints concerning mass arrestments which is аcompanied by, according to applicants, violations of criminal procedural norms. As for this question the Defender had a telephone conversation with the RA Prosecutor-General, who eagerly offered to present the list of all arrested people to the office of the Defender.
Nevertheless, some representatives of law enforcing bodies tried to prevent the Defender from executing his powers. Such case happened at the RA Police Yerevan department Qanaqer-Zeytun police station.
6.We think that the present situation is conditioned by rough governing system, over-centralization of power, artificial essence of system of checks and balances, social and economic polarization, combination of business and authorities, absence of public control over authorities, deficiency of civil liberties. So it is the situation which has been continuously mentioned by me as the Human Rights Defender of RA, that we have systematic problems in the sphere of the protection of human rights in Republic of Armenia. All these results in the fact, that one big part of our society feels apart from the administration, has a total distrust towards public institutes, electoral mechanisms, justice and mass media.
A certain part of political bodies tried to make use of the situation for its narrow political interests following not the way of dialogue, but the one of confrontation. Of course, the authorities have their part of responsibility in the current situation.
There are two ways to solve the situation: illegal, that is leading to deadlock and legal. The deadlock would be the situation when the political arena becomes deserted and a total feeling of fear would be formed. The other way must be based on real democratic mechanisms, human rights must be considered as a highest value or a headstone, and the way of dialogue and cooperation must be followed up.
It is reassuring that this way is preferred by the newly elected president. It shows that the coming government tries to follow the legal way. It is characteristic that a proposal of cooperation is made by a political leader, whose political party, forms the majority in the Parliament.
I’m sure that even in this situation the possibility of dialogue and political way of peaceful solution of the existing disagreements is not exhausted.
Armenia: Police Beat Peaceful Protesters in Yerevan
03.03.2008
State of Emergency Restricts Civil Liberties and Free Press
(New York, March 2, 2008) – Armenian police on March 1 used excessive force and violence to disperse demonstrators protesting peacefully against recent election results, Human Rights Watch said today. Following the crackdown on demonstrators, President Robert Kocharian decreed a state of emergency in Yerevan, the capital, until March 20, 2008. There was a heavy police presence overnight in central Yerevan.
According to Arminfo news agency, the police have surrounded and sealed off the opposition news agency A1+, preventing its employees from entering or leaving the building.
“The Armenian government should refrain from using violence and make clear that it won’t tolerate excessive use of force by police,” said Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “A political crisis doesn’t give the government carte blanche in how it responds to demonstrators.”
Several witnesses told Human Rights Watch that at 6.30 a.m. on March 1, Armenian special police forces violently dispersed a rally protesting against alleged electoral fraud that had entered its 11th day on Yerevan’s Freedom Square, beating demonstrators with truncheons and iron bars. Some were fleeing when police attacked them. Dozens are reported to have sustained severe injuries and more than 100 protestors were arrested. Armenia’s first president Levon Ter-Petrosian, who was the main opposition challenger in last month’s presidential poll, remains under effective house arrest as police cordoned off his home. Also on March 1, at least six opposition leaders were detained for organizing illegal demonstrations.
Kocharian’s press office reported that under the state of emergency public gatherings and strikes will be banned and freedom of movement as well as non-government public broadcasts will be severely curtailed. Internet and satellite reception has been cut in Yerevan.
Later in the morning, protesters gathered in front of the French Embassy in downtown Yerevan. Their numbers grew substantially during the day, as did the police presence. A demonstrator told Human Rights Watch that police were equipped with rubber truncheons, electric-shock devices, and water cannons. The rally was still continuing in front of the embassy when the state of emergency was announced after police were reported by news organizations to have fired in the air to disperse the demonstrators.
Opposition demonstrations followed the February 19 presidential election, after the Central Election Commission declared Prime Minister, Serzh Sargsian the winner with 53 percent of the vote. According to official tallies, opposition challenger Ter-Petrosian won 21.5 percent of the vote. Tens of thousands of Ter-Petrosian supporters took to the streets in downtown Yerevan on February 20 to protest the declared election results and what they believed to have been electoral fraud (http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/02/21/armeni18128.htm). The protests continued peacefully on Freedom Square for the next 10 days, with some demonstrators camping out on the square in tents.
The mayor of Yerevan previously called on the opposition to end the rally on Freedom Square, as the demonstrators had no permit. The Yerevan mayor’s office issued a statement on February 25 saying the protests were unauthorized and urging demonstrators to call a halt to them. Two days later the Armenian police issued a statement urging an end to the demonstrations.
At about 6:30 a.m. on March 1, a few hundred opposition supporters were in their tents when police arrived and started to disperse them. Information about approaching interior troops began to reach demonstrators shortly after 6:00 a.m. A 30-year-old eyewitness, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution, told Human Rights Watch that several rows of Special Forces in riot armor, with helmets, plastic shields and rubber truncheons, started approaching from the left and right sides of Freedom Square. The witness said that police, without prior warning, sprayed water and descended on the demonstrators, using rubber truncheons and electric prods.
“People started running towards Northern Avenue, but were chased by the police,” the witness told Human Rights Watch.
The witness was among those who fled, running together with his father and younger brother, but police caught him from behind and beat him on his back and head with a rubber truncheon.
“I momentarily lost consciousness after a blow on the head, and fell,” he told Human Rights Watch. “When I came to my senses, my brother was carrying me away from the square. My head was bleeding and my hat was all covered in blood.”
The witness required seven stitches on the right side of his forehead. He sustained bruises to his right hand, back and legs. Fearing arrest he refrained from going to a hospital and sought medical assistance from a private doctor. His father and brother also sustained cuts and bruises on their backs and heads, but did not require urgent medical assistance.
An Armenian human rights advocate told Human Rights Watch of several similar descriptions of the police action given to her by other witnesses.
The police operation lasted for about 15 to 20 minutes, but as news about it spread, more people started heading towards the square. At least two eyewitnesses described separately to Human Rights Watch how police attacked, beat, and detained groups of 20 to 30 people who attempted to gather near the square.
A member of parliament from the opposition Heritage Party, Zaruhi Postanjian, told Human Rights Watch that she arrived at the Yerevan Central Police Station around 9:00 a.m. to see police cars bringing detainees to the station, transferring them to other vehicles, and taking them to different locations. She stayed there for an hour and counted at least 100 detainees. According to Postanjian, two ambulances were also parked in front of the station and in one of them she saw a young man who appeared unconscious and had blood stains on his face and body. She also described a child she believed to be between 10 and 12 years old, bearing clear marks from beatings. Human Rights Watch could not confirm the nature or cause of their injuries.
According to Avetik Ishkhanian of Armenia’s Helsinki Committee, police arrested several opposition leaders, including Aram Manukian, Alexander Arzumanian, Hrant Bagratian, Vahagn Haiotsian, and Vahagn Khachatrian, charging them with the criminal offence of organizing an unsanctioned public rally. According to the opposition news website Lragir, Aram Manukian and Hrant Bagratian were released later during the day.
Postanjian told Human Rights Watch that in one case a journalist, Gagig Shanshan, was arrested and held in Zeitun district police station in Yerevan, but several hours after his arrest his lawyer still had no access to him.
“Even in a state of emergency, those in detention and facing criminal charges are entitled to due process rights, and should have access to a lawyer,” said Cartner.
Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights, to which Armenia is a party, set out the safeguards which should accompany those deprived of their liberty, and access to a lawyer is one of those safeguards.
Government information sources showed police footage of arms stockpiles that allegedly were discovered at Freedom Square after the demonstration was dispersed, including truncheons, guns, grenades, and gas capsules. The report was vehemently denied by the opposition.
“The Armenian government prides itself on having a democratic image,” said Cartner. “Beating peaceful demonstrators is inconsistent with that image and violates its obligations under human rights law.”
To read Human Rights Watch’s news release on election-related violence in Armenia, please visit:
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/02/21/armeni18128.htm
For more information, please contact:
In Tblisi, Giorgi Gogia (Georgian, Russian, English): +995-77-42-12-35 (mobile);
In New York, Rachel Denber (English, Russian, French): +1-212-216-1266; or +1-917-916-1266 (mobile)
ARMENIA: VIOLENCE AT POLLING STATIONS MARS ELECTIONS
22.02.2008
Assailants Target Opposition Activists, Observers and Journalists
(New York, February 22, 2008) – The Armenian government should investigate alleged assaults on election observers and journalists that marred the presidential election on February 19, 2008, Human Rights Watch said today. According to victim testimonies taken by Human Rights Watch, assailants beat and threatened opposition party activists, domestic observers, and journalists who attempted to document election fraud at polling stations during the presidential vote. “These election-day attacks targeted the very people trying to ensure the integrity of Armenia’s vote,” said Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The Armenian government should carry out independent and speedy investigations to ensure justice is served and to send the message that intimidation won’t be tolerated.”
On February 20, the Central Election Commission declared Prime Minister Serzh Sargsian the winner of the elections with 52.8 percent of the vote. Sargsian had the backing of current president Robert Kocharian. Armenia’s first president Levon Ter-Petrosian was the main opposition challenger and won 21.5 percent, according to official tallies.
In nine cases documented by Human Rights Watch, assailants intimidated, threatened, and even violently attacked opposition party activists, domestic observers and journalists at eight polling stations in and around the capital, Yerevan. Victims variously described their assailants as “big guys,” “athletic,” “tough,” and apparently supporters of Sargsian. Most victims had been attempting to expose what they believed to be violations of electoral rules, such as incorrect voters’ lists, intimidation of voters, violations of the right to a secret ballot, and ballot-box stuffing. None of the victims was able or willing to return to the polling station to continue observing the voting.
In several incidents, the assaults took place in the presence of police and polling station officials who did not intervene, and in one case a police officer appeared to assist the assailants. Some victims reported the attacks to police, who are investigating.
Human Rights Watch called on the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to look into election-related violence and ensure that its final report on the vote records these incidents.
In one case documented by Human Rights Watch, assailants grabbed a Ter-Petrosian proxy (a candidate’s authorized representative) at a polling station in Yerevan, forced her into a car and drove her to a remote area. There, they beat her in the head and face, threatened to rape her and attack her family, and abandoned her. She eventually made her way to a police station where she filed a complaint. She is still suffering from headaches and other medical repercussions of the attack.
At least three journalists were attacked. Lusine Barsegian of the newspaper Haikakan Zhamankak was beaten, and had her camera and voice recorder stolen, when she attempted to document what she believed to be intimidation of voters at a polling station in Yerevan’s Erebuni district. A cameraman from the independent A1+ television station was beaten and had his camera taken at the same polling station. Two domestic election observers, Armen Matirosian, a member of parliament from the opposition Heritage party, and Zarui Postandjian, an observer from a nongovernmental organization, were also attacked at this polling station after they tried to raise alleged election violations with polling station officials.
The OSCE election monitors stated that the elections were held “mostly in line” with international commitments.
Tens of thousands of Ter-Petrosian supporters took to the streets in downtown Yerevan on February 20 and 21 to protest the outcome of the elections and what they believe to be widespread electoral fraud.
“The Armenian authorities should ensure that no harm is done to peaceful demonstrators,” said Cartner. “Armenia claims to be a democratic country, and that means allowing people to exercise their right to freedom of assembly.”
Armenia has a history of flawed elections and harassment of opposition parties. In March 2003, Human Rights Watch documented widespread ballot stuffing and intimidation during Armenia’s presidential election runoff. Human Rights Watch documented mass arrests of opposition supporters, violent dispersals of demonstrations, and raids on opposition party headquarters in April 2004. The protests derived from the government’s failure to address the many violations of electoral rules documented in the 2003 presidential election.
Details of Assaults
Yerevan
Polling station 13/16
Lusine Barsegian, a journalist for Haikakan Zhamankak told Human Rights Watch she went to polling station 13/16 in the Erebuni district of Yerevan at approximately 2 p.m. on February 19. When she arrived, she saw that the polling station was very overcrowded. Some unidentified people were talking to voters in what she believed to be an attempt to influence their votes, and other people were observing the voters closely as they cast their ballots. Barsegian attempted to interview the central election commission representative responsible for the polling station about the apparent violations. At that point, policemen and a few unidentified men forced her out of the polling station. Barsegian protested, saying, “I have the right to be here. I have the right to take photographs.”
With the assistance of Armen Matirosian, a member of parliament from the Heritage party, who was an authorized election observer, Barsegian again entered to the polling station. When she again attempted to take photographs, an unidentified man in plainclothes kicked her in the stomach and grabbed her camera and voice recorder. Other men also punched and kicked Matirosian. According to Barsegian, police stood by and did not intervene. After this attack, Barsegian and Matirosian fled the station and filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office.
When Zarui Postandjian, an observer from the nongovernmental organization Against State Violence, heard about the incident, she went to polling station 13/16. Upon arriving, she saw a severely overcrowded polling station and police and unidentified people observing voters as they marked their ballots. Postandjian has stated that she tried to take photos of the polling station when a policeman came up from behind her and hit her. At the same time, an unidentified man tried to grab her camera, and both he and the policeman punched her. Another observer came to assist her, and they both fled. Postandjian did not return to the polling station. Postandjian filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office, which opened a criminal investigation.
Arabkir district Reuben Armanian, a proxy for Ter-Petrosian, went to polling station 4/26 in Arabkir at approximately 7:30 p.m. to replace some of his colleagues who had been observing the conduct of the voting during the day. He told Human Rights Watch that when he arrived, a group of 40 to 50 athletic-looking men were standing in and near the polling station. Approximately 10 of these men attacked Armanian, punching him on the head and body. “What could I do but look for a way to escape them?” Armanian told Human Rights Watch. “I ran 10-20 meters and no one followed me. But I couldn’t return to the polling station because these guys were still there.” Photos, obtained by Human Rights Watch, of Armenian two days after the attack show him with a severely black and swollen right eye.
Human Rights Watch also received reports that at least two other proxies and observers were attacked at polling stations in Arabkir. One victim was too afraid to speak to Human Rights Watch out of fear of repercussions.
Kentron district
Hovsep Hovsepian, a cameraman with the independent A1+ television station heard about election violations at polling station 9/6 in the Kentron district of Yerevan. Hovsepian told Human Rights Watch that when he got out of his car at the polling station, a large group of unidentified men who had gathered outside the polling station attacked him and attempted to take his camera. When Hovsepian resisted, one of the men kicked him in the stomach and grabbed the camera. The assailants took the video cassette out of the camera, smashed it, and prepared to destroy the camera as well. At that moment, the driver of the car came out and the men began to attack him instead. Hovsepian and the driver broke free of the attackers, returned to the car and left the polling station.
Unidentified district #1
An opposition party proxy who did not want to be identified out of concerns for his safety told Human Rights Watch that at a polling station in one Yerevan district he saw violations of election regulations and asked that the election commission officials respond. After a few minutes, a group of 15 to 20 people attacked him, punching and kicking him until he lost consciousness. He was then taken to the hospital in an ambulance. He suffered broken ribs and pain in his kidneys as a result of the beating.
Unidentified district #2
One Ter-Petrosian supporter who asked not to be identified also described to Human Rights Watch how assailants removed him from a polling station, forced him into a car and drove him away. At a location unknown to the victim, a large group of men beat him severely in the head and body, saying that they were beating him because of his support of the opposition. As a result, the victim suffered several broken ribs.
Abovian, about 20 kilometers from Yerevan
Larissa Tadevosian, a proxy for Ter-Petrosian, has told Human Rights Watch that she went to polling station 28/7 in Abovian at approximately 7:30 a.m. Three large, athletic men approached her, and two of them dragged her out of the polling station. Tadevosian struggled to free herself, but was dragged across the yard and shoved into a car. The three men drove Tadevosian to a deserted area outside the town. After taking her out of the car, one man beat her on the head and face. “They told me that I should be silent and not say anything more about the elections,” she told Human Rights Watch. “They threatened to rape me. They threatened to harm my family.” The men then left Tadevosian in the deserted area and drove away.
Tadevosian was unable to return to the polling station because of her condition. She went directly to the police, who ordered a forensic medical examination. Two days after the attack, she complained of headaches, dizziness, and other medical problems.
Gurgen Eghizarian, a proxy for Ter-Petrosian and a former deputy head of the National Security Service, received information that election observers at polling station 28/6 in Abovian had been kidnapped and beaten. He has stated that he went to the polling station together with Erjan Abgarian, a 68-year-old Ter-Petrosian proxy and former head of the customs service. Election commission representatives and observers there denied that they had seen anything happen to the observers, but Eghizarian demanded that the senior election commission representative sign a statement about what had happened. While at the polling station, a group of seven or eight men armed with pistols attacked Eghizarian, his son, and Abgarian, beating them on the kidneys, ribs, and back. Eghizarian told Human Rights Watch that the men also threatened him and the others saying, “Sargsian will be president, and if you go against him, you will be killed.” He suffers headaches and has a bruise on his forehead as a result of the assault.
A senior official for Ter-Petrosian told Human Rights Watch that at least three other proxies were beaten in Abovian on election day.
Another Ter-Petrosian proxy who wished to remain anonymous told Human Rights Watch that large, athletic men would arrive periodically at another polling station in Abovian and would take prospective voters aside “for a little chat,” apparently in order to influence their votes. These same men also spoke to election commission officials, observers, and candidates’ proxies, and threatened them should they speak out about any violations. This same proxy told Human Rights Watch that in mid-afternoon some men took him aside and threatened him and told him, “You didn’t see anything.” He claimed that these men were responsible for stealing and falsifying ballots and stuffing the ballot box at this polling station. Police stood by and did not respond. This proxy stated that he continued to fear for his safety and had sent his children to another location and was reluctant to leave his own apartment.
NGOs made an appeal to the candidates in the 2008 presidential election
25.01.2008
The environmental public alliance of Armenia and 40 NGOs expressed their deep concern with the ongoing in the Republic of Armenia processes of rapid and extensive use of natural resources and, in particular, with the construction of an ore processing factory in Teghut and the exploitation of the Teghut forest for copper-molybdenum mining.
The non-governmental organizations find that it is wrong making a hasty decision concerning exploitation of the mine. In their opinion, all the concerns expressed by experts and organizations should have deserved more attention under the circumstances of todays scarcity of forests in the country and intense desertification processes.
The NGOs count on the presidential candidates' understanding of the importance of the presented problem and appeal for their voicing out their standpoint regarding this issue during their election campaign and the respective speeches.
Please click on thumbnails to view photos.
Dear Friends,
On December 23rd, 2008 the second meeting of working group took place. It was initiated by “Youth Center for Democratic initiatives” (YCDI) Non – Governmental Organization within a framework of “Advocacy Campaign for Green Vanadzor” project.
Declaring it “unacceptable” that persons could be charged and deprived of their liberty for political motivation in Armenia in relation to the events of 1 and 2 March 2008, the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) yesterday recommended suspending the voting rights of Armenia’s eight-member delegation to the Assembly until the authorities “have clearly demonstrated their political will to resolve this issue.” The co-rapporteurs would visit the country in January 2009, with a view to reporting back to the Committee on the first day of the January 2009 part-session on any progress with respect to the release of these persons.
On December 12, 2008 Edmon Marukyan – a Board Member of Youth Center for Democratic Initiatives NGO, member of Chamber of Advocates of Armenia, advocate, presented a lecture for the open class initiated by students of Vanadzor State Teachers’ Training Institute and dedicated to the 60th anniversary of adoption of Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Day of Human Rights. The lecturer has covered the Human Rights present concept, the stages of its further development, as well as a discussion on the productive operation of international mechanisms of human rights protection took place.
December 10, is the international Human Rights Day. This day in 1948, the UN General Assembly has adopted the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights", which has, for the first time during the human history, has declared throughout the world the principle of universality and the necessity of respect of Human Rights.
On December 4th an exhibition action entitled “Green Vanadzor” was organized by “Youth Center for Democratic Initiatives” (YCDI) Non-governmental Organization which was implemented within a frame of “Advocacy Campaign for the Sake of Green Vanadzor” project.
On November 25th, 2008 the meeting of working group took place. It was initiated by “Youth Center for Democratic initiatives” (YCDI) Non – Governmental Organization within a framework of “Advocacy Campaign for Green Vanadzor” project.
“Youth Center for Democratic Initiatives” Non-Governmental Organization evaluating the results of EXIT POLL conducted on October 19th on the day of voting for the election of local self-governmental bodies in Vanadzor implemented within the frames of “Youth Initiatives for Democratic Elections” project has developed a package of recommendations on how to conduce EXIT POLL.
In the evening of November 17, 2008 in Yerevan Edik Baghdasarian, the Chairman of “Investigative Journalists” NGO, the Chief Editor of “Hetq” online publication, was assaulted and beaten. The journalist had a brain concussion, and several seams were put on his head at “Surb Grigor Lusavorich” medical center.
In November 10, 2008 “Certification Award Ceremony” organized by Youth Center for Democratic Initiatives (YCDI) NGO took place. Certificates had been awarded to the interviewers who conducted Exit Poll interview in the frame of the project “Youth Initiatives for Democratic Elections”.
On October 22, 2008 “Youth Center for Democratic Initiatives” (YCDI) Non-Governmental Organization conducted a press conference aiming to present the results of EXIT-POLL that is survey at the exit of polling stations, implemented within the frames of “Youth Initiatives for Democratic Elections” project.
In October, 2008 “Youth Center for Democratic Initiatives” Non-governmental organization implemented debates in 10 rural communities of Lori region including Bazum, Hobardz, Vardablur, Kurtan, Big Parni, Sarahart, Gogaran, Akori, Martz and Antaramut. These debates were organized among registered candidates and voters. The purpose of these debates is to form culture of open and transparent campaign to support democratic elections. 
In October 15, 2008, in the frame of the project “Advocacy Campaign for the Sake of Green Vanadzor”, “Youth Center for Democratic Initiatives” NGO organized a round table discussion.
Within the second week of October “Youth Center for Democratic Initiatives” Non-governmental organization implemented a seminar on the Exit Poll for 116 active young people of Vanadzor. In the frame of the project “Youth Initiatives for Democratic Elections”, in October 19, 2008, on the day of Local Self-Government Elections, in all the 58 (fifty eight) polling stations of Vanadzor the above mentioned young people will implement Exit Poll. Just after closing of voting stations, the results of Exit Poll will be provided to local mass media, which in its tiurn will broadcast it before data will be available from polling stations.