Recent Armenian Elections attract external criticism

Wednesday, 28 May, 2008
U.S. Says Armenian Vote `Significantly Flawed'
By Emil Danielyan

The U.S. State Department has described Armenia's recent presidential
election as `significantly flawed,' effectively distancing itself from
the vote's largely positive assessment by Western observers.

`The February 2008 presidential elections were significantly flawed,'
the State Department said in its latest report detailing its efforts to
promote democracy and human rights around the world.

`Problems included favorable treatment of the government's candidate,
instances of ballot stuffing, vote-buying, multiple voting, voter
intimidation, violence against opposition commission members and
proxies, and suspiciously high turnout figures,' added the report.

In their preliminary report, the more than 300 observers representing
the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the European Parliament concluded
that the February 19 election was held `mostly in accordance with'
democratic standards.

The State Department initially echoed this assessment, which gave a
massive boost to the international legitimacy of Serzh Sarkisian's
dispute election win. However, U.S. officials subsequently sounded more
critical of the Armenian government's handling of the vote. In an early
April interview with RFE/RL, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
Matthew Bryza attributed this to `very serious problems' that emerged
during vote recounts in some of Armenia's nearly 2,000 electoral
precincts.

Those problems were detailed in a follow-up report released by the OSCE
observer mission in early March. The mission's final report is therefore
expected to be less flattering for the authorities in Yerevan. But the
latter hope that the observers will stand by their assertion that the
presidential ballot was largely democratic.

In its report, the State Department noted that the authorities used
force to break up daily demonstrations staged by supporters of
opposition candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian demanding a re-run of what they
consider a fraudulent vote. `The state of emergency was lifted March 20,
2008, but restrictions on civil liberties remain in force due to a
strict new law on public gatherings, pressure on opposition media, and
continuing arrests and intimidation of government opponents,' it said.

The annual report also described the Armenian government's human rights
record as `poor.' `Citizens were not able to freely change their
government; authorities beat pretrial detainees; the National Security
Service and the national police force acted with impunity; authorities
engaged in arbitrary arrest and detention; courts remained subject to
political pressure from the executive branch,' it said.

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Armenia Told To Do More To Comply With PACE Resolution
By Ruzanna Khachatrian

Officials from the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE)
believe that the Armenian authorities have so far failed to comply with
its recent resolution that demanded an end to the post-election
crackdown on the opposition, a senior Armenian lawmaker said on
Wednesday.

The issue was on the agenda of Tuesday's meeting in Ukraine's capital
Kiev of a PACE commission monitoring member states' compliance with
Council of Europe standards for democracy and human rights.

According to David Harutiunian, head of the Armenian delegation at the
Strasbourg-based assembly who attended the meeting, commission officials
said the authorities in Yerevan should `intensify' their stated efforts
to take steps stemming from the PACE resolution.

The resolution adopted on April 17 demanded an `independent, transparent
and credible inquiry' into the March 1 deadly clashes in Yerevan between
security forces and opposition supporters and `the urgent release of the
persons detained on seemingly artificial and politically motivated
charges.' It also called for the repeal of serious restrictions on
freedom of assembly imposed following the unrest.

Some of those restrictions were scrapped by the Armenian parliament this
month. The National Assembly is also expected to form an hoc commission
that will investigate the March 1 deadly clashes. President Serzh
Sarkisian and other senior officials present this as proof of their
declared commitment to meeting the PACE demands backed by the European
Union and the United States.

However, only a handful of prominent oppositionists arrested in the
crackdown have been released from jail so far. Dozens of others remain
under arrest on coup charges. The office of opposition leader Levon
Ter-Petrosian says the police continue to harass and detain his
supporters across Armenia.

Speaking to RFE/RL from Kiev, Harutiunian said monitoring commission
members believe that the relevant steps taken by the Armenian
authorities so far are `only the beginning' and can not satisfy the
PACE. He said two members of the commission, Georges Colombier and John
Prescott, will visit Armenia ahead of the PACE's next session due in
late June to assess progress made towards the resolution's
implementation.

The PACE has warned that failure to comply with the document could lead
to the suspension of the voting rights of its Armenian members.

Armenia: 'few tangible results' on PACE demands so far, says Monitoring
Committee

Strasbourg, 28.05.2008 - The Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), meeting in Kyiv on 26 and 27
May 2008, welcomed the initiatives taken by the Armenian authorities to
address the issues contained in Resolution 1609 (2008) on the
functioning of democratic institutions in Armenia. However, it is
concerned that, to date, these initiatives have led to only a few
tangible results regarding compliance with the demands of the Assembly
as set out in this Resolution.

In Resolution 1609 (2008), the Assembly resolved to consider the
possibility of suspending the voting rights of the Armenian delegation
at the start of its June 2008 part-session unless considerable progress
is made on the following requirements:

* to revoke, in line with Venice Commission recommendations, the
recently adopted amendments to the Law on Conducting Meetings,
Assemblies, Rallies and Demonstrations;

* to start an independent, transparent and credible inquiry into the
events on 1 March 2008, as well as the circumstances that led to them;

* to release the persons detained on seemingly artificial and
politically motivated charges;
* to initiate an open and serious dialogue between the political forces
on the reforms demanded by the Assembly.

The committee noted that the required changes to the Law on Conducting
Meetings, Assemblies, Rallies and Demonstrations have been passed at
first reading by the National Assembly of Armenia and expects them to be
adopted and promulgated before the start of the June part-session of
PACE. It welcomes the steps taken to initiate a dialogue on the reforms
requested by the Assembly, most notably with respect to the electoral
system and the status and rights of the opposition. It expresses the
hope that those opposition leaders who to date have been reluctant to
participate in this dialogue will now consider joining.

That said, the committee is seriously concerned about the lack of any
noticeable progress on the opening of an independent and credible
enquiry. The format envisaged of a parliamentary ad hoc committee to
carry out the inquiry into the events on, and leading to, 1 March will
lack the requisite independence and credibility demanded by the
Assembly, unless the participation of extra-parliamentary opposition,
civil society and international experts is guaranteed. The committee
also regrets that no progress has been made regarding the release of
persons detained on seemingly artificial and politically motivated
charges.

The committee is convinced that, although time is limited, it is still
possible for the Armenian authorities to address the requirements of the
Assembly in time for the visit of the co-rapporteurs of the committee in
the week before the June part-session.

Therefore, the committee instructed its Chair to ask on its behalf for a
debate under urgent procedure during the June 2008 part-session of the
Assembly if the co-rapporteurs, following their visit to Armenia on 16
and 17 June, conclude that insufficient progress has been achieved by
then.

Resolution
<http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=3D/Documents/AdoptedText/ta08/ERES1609.htm> 1609 (2008)

Press Release
Parliamentary Assembly Communication Unit
Ref: 382a08

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