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BAKU: Armenian Parliament To Amend Controversial Law On Rallies

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  • BAKU: Armenian Parliament To Amend Controversial Law On Rallies

    Armenian Parliament To Amend Controversial Law On Rallies

    Baku Today
    19/05/2005 09:36

    The National Assembly is expected to pass on Thursday amendments
    to Armenia's controversial law on rallies which pan-European human
    rights organizations say infringes on its citizens' constitutionally
    guaranteed freedom of assembly.

    The parliament majority loyal to President Robert Kocharian will
    almost certainly vote to make it somewhat easier for political and
    other groups to organize public gatherings. But it will also keep in
    force one of the most controversial provisions of the legislation which
    bans demonstrations outside Kocharian's official residence in Yerevan.

    The presidential palace was included last year in the list of
    "strategically important" locations such as the Metsamor nuclear plant
    and an underground natural gas storage facility that are off limits
    to any protesters. No gatherings can now be legally held within a
    150-meter radius of those facilities.

    The list was drawn up by the Armenian police and approved by the
    government in August. Under one of the proposed amendments it will
    be formally incorporated into the text of the law, making any changes
    in it even more difficult. Deputy parliament speaker Tigran Torosian
    claimed that such restrictions exist in some European countries.

    But Manuk Gasparian, one of two opposition lawmakers that attended
    Wednesday's parliamentary debate on the amendments, strongly criticized
    the provision. "The people have a right to appeal to their elected
    president on any issue," he said.

    "Last year's incident near the presidential palace doesn't mean that
    the building should be included in the list of strategic sites,"
    Gasparian added, referring to an April 2004 opposition rally that
    was violently dispersed by security forces.

    The overnight protest marked the climax of an opposition campaign of
    demonstrations aimed at forcing Kocharian to resign. The unsuccessful
    campaign is thought to have been instrumental in the law's enactment
    on May 4, 2004.

    The so-called Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, a body
    monitoring legislative reform in the organization's member states,
    concluded afterward that the law does not meet European standards
    for freedom of assembly. Similar conclusions were drawn by experts
    from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

    In particular, the Europeans expressed concern at legal provisions
    giving the police sweeping powers to "forcibly discontinue"
    demonstrations in case of unspecified "violations of the law" and
    calls for a "violent overthrow" of government.

    Parliament majority leaders said on Wednesday that they have accepted
    most of the recommendations made by the Venice Commission. They
    argued that the amended law would allow law-enforcement officials
    to disperse a demonstration only if it poses a threat to "public and
    state security" and disrupts "the public's calm at night."

    "If a rally proceeds in a natural way, then nobody will have the
    right to stop it," said Torosian.

    Another draft amendment would simplified procedures for notifying
    relevant authorities of plans to rally people in a particular location.

    The parliament's two opposition factions, which did not attend the
    debate in line with their long-running boycott of parliament sessions,
    have dismissed the changes as cosmetic.
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