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Commissioner Hammarberg Updates PACE Monitoring Committee On Situati

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  • Commissioner Hammarberg Updates PACE Monitoring Committee On Situati

    COMMISSIONER HAMMARBERG UPDATES PACE MONITORING COMMITTEE ON SITUATION IN ARMENIA

    armradio.am
    15.09.2008 16:26

    The Commissioner of the Council of Europe for Human Rights, Thomas
    Hammarberg, briefed the PACE monitoring committee, at its meeting in
    Paris on 11 September 2008, on developments concerning the inquiry into
    the events of 1 March 2008 and the people deprived of their liberty in
    connection with those events. He welcomed progress on the first issue,
    but remains concerned about the question of detainees - virtually
    all of them opposition supporters or prominent opposition figures -
    and the criminal justice process in relation to the 1 March events.

    The Commissioner's proposal to set up a group of independent experts,
    to establish the facts of 1 March, met with a positive response
    by the relevant actors in Armenia. Consultations on this issue are
    ongoing. The Commissioner believes that establishing the facts would be
    one contribution to healing the severe trauma experienced by Armenian
    people as a consequence of the 1 March events. It is therefore very
    important that the report of the expert group be made public.

    Seven people remain in preliminary detention, trials concerning
    14 detainees are in progress, and 39 people have been sentenced to
    prison terms. Some 41 people have been sentenced to non-custodial
    measures, i.e. probation or fines, mostly in the context of fast trial
    proceedings. Prosecution cases against 19 people were based solely
    on police testimony. The Commissioner observed that the letter by the
    Head of the Special Investigation Service issued in early March 2008
    to some regional prosecutors, requesting them to collect information
    on participants in opposition rallies, rather than information on
    specific acts, raises questions about the intent and nature of the
    investigation. According to the Armenian authorities, all preliminary
    investigations have been completed.

    The Monitoring Committee took note of the information provided by the
    Commissioner. The issues will be on the agenda of the next meeting
    of the PACE Monitoring Committee in Strasbourg, during the week of
    the PACE session (29 September to 3 October 2008).
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