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HRW: Armenia: Investigate Abuses in Political Crackdown

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  • HRW: Armenia: Investigate Abuses in Political Crackdown

    Human Rights Watch: Human Rights News

    Armenia: Investigate Abuses in Political Crackdown

    Hundreds of Opposition Members Detained; Protests Put Down by Police
    Violence

    (New York, May 4, 2004) - Armenian authorities must investigate abuses
    committed in the government's recent crackdown against the political
    opposition, Human Rights Watch today said in a briefing paper that provided
    new details on the mass arrest and police violence against opposition
    supporters.

    On Wednesday, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)
    held an urgent debate on Armenia, calling on the government to investigate
    abuses and to create "fair conditions for the media," and warned the
    government that if no progress on this by September, the PACE may
    "reconsider the credentials of the Armenian delegation." PACE also called on
    the opposition to work within the country's constitutional framework.

    In early April, Armenia's political opposition united in mass peaceful
    protests to force a "referendum of confidence" on President Robert Kocharian
    and to call for his resignation. The government responded with mass arrests,
    violent dispersals of demonstrations, and raids on opposition party
    headquarters. Hundreds were detained, many for up to 15 days, and some were
    tortured or ill-treated in custody.

    "The Armenian government is repeating the same sorts of abuses that called
    into question the legitimacy of last year's election and sparked the
    protests in the first place," said Rachel Denber, acting executive director
    of Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia division. "The cycle of
    repression must end."

    Excessive police force, particularly at a nonviolent opposition rally on the
    night of April 12, caused dozens of injuries among demonstrators. The Human
    Right Watch briefing paper, based on an investigation in Armenia in
    mid-April, documents this violence and other abuses. Human Rights Watch
    found that some of the worst injuries at that rally were caused by stun
    grenades, which inflicted deep wounds in many protesters. Police also beat
    journalists and confiscated their cameras.

    The opposition protests derived from the government's failure to redress the
    deeply flawed 2003 presidential election won by Kocharian, the incumbent. At
    that time, the authorities detained about 250 opposition activists and
    supporters in an attempt to intimidate and disable the opposition in advance
    of the vote. The Armenian Constitutional Court subsequently recommended that
    the government hold a referendum of confidence. The government rejected the
    recommendation, while the opposition insisted that the referendum be held.

    In its report on the 2003 presidential election, the Organization for
    Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) found the vote to be "marred by
    serious irregularities," owing to "a lack of sufficient political
    determination by the authorities to ensure a fair and honest process."

    "Armenia has to address the underlying causes of the opposition's
    demonstrations," said Denber. "A first step would be to implement the
    recommendations made by the OSCE following the 2003 elections."

    Human Rights Watch also called on the Armenian government to investigate the
    excessive use of police force on the night of April 12, and to cease the use
    of stun grenades and electric-shock equipment for the control of nonviolent
    public demonstrations.

    Armenia's international partners - including the European Union, the United
    States government, the OSCE and the Council of Europe - should closely
    monitor the situation and condemn any new abuses that occur, Human Rights
    Watch said. In particular, the United States and the European Union should
    closely monitor any security-related funding, particularly for crowd-control
    equipment, to ensure that it does not fuel human rights abuses.

    Human Rights Watch urged the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers to
    put the ongoing crisis in Armenia on the agenda of its upcoming ministerial
    meeting and to call on the Armenian government to take urgent measures to
    comply with its obligations as a member of the Council of Europe.

    ---
    http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2004/05/04/armeni8525.htm

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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