The Washington Post, apparently, has a group of Armenian columnists and they all happen to be high profile political leaders. After last week’s column by opposition leader and former president Levon Ter-Petrosyan(Ter-Petrossian), now president-elect Serzh Sargsyan (Sargissian) and one of the opposition leaders, Arthur Baghdasaryan (who didn’t participate in the protests), have published a column on the post-election unrest in Armenia:

Moving Forward In Armenia

By Serzh Sargsyan and Arthur Baghdasaryan
Monday, March 17, 2008; A17

 

Armenia‘s reputation as a stable, democratic country in a troubled region has taken a battering recently. Although international observers gave an overall positive rating to the conduct of last month’s presidential election, opposition forces took to the streets, seeking to overturn the people’s will. Riots and armed demonstrations left more than 100 injured. Tragically, seven protesters and one police officer died.

Public faith in our economy and political institutions has been undermined. Simply put, we had a competitive election. Dragging this crisis on, literally through the streets, only hurts Armenia. For almost a decade — since then-President Levon Ter-Petrosyan resigned — our country has avoided civil uproars and armed violence, allowing for a period of internationally recognized democratic and socioeconomic progress.

But after he lost his bid to reclaim the presidency in February, Ter-Petrosyan resorted to a dangerous and profoundly undemocratic form of populism. He radicalized a part of the opposition and guided it into a standoff with the state, which led to the March 1 riots in which armed demonstrators confronted police. It was clear to all moderate political forces — pro-government or supporters of the opposition — that declaring a state of emergency was the only possible option to protect our citizens. We have until Thursday, when the state of emergency is lifted, to find political solutions and ensure that Armenia does not slide back into chaos.

The two of us were competitors in the presidential election. But we are united in our desire to end the current crisis and put Armenia back on track. Cooperation is the way forward.

The political alliance we have created, between the president-elect and the Rule of Law Party, is an effort to do things democratically and through compromise. Between us, we represent 70 percent of the votes of the Armenian people. This is a serious and solid mandate. On this basis, we will pursue ambitious but realistic reforms that will strengthen our democracy and our nation’s socioeconomic progress. In this moment of crisis, we have agreed to assume responsibility for joint governance.

This form of government has not been imposed upon Armenia; we have chosen it as the best way forward. This new, grand coalition will guarantee that the people’s will is reflected.

We insist, however, that continued progress is possible only through dialogue and reform. Violence has no place in democracy. Therefore, we ask those who are still promoting instability on the streets to join us in political dialogue and to help us guide our country toward prosperity.

Armenia faces a series of external challenges that we hope to address. First among them is the long-standing conflict over who should control the Nagorno-Karabakh region between our country and Azerbaijan; second is the normalization of relations with Turkey. Only a government with wide popular support, not one created through street violence, can successfully resolve these problems. We will also continue to ask the international community to recognize the Armenian genocide, though this issue should not prevent us from moving forward.

We do not assume that all of our country’s ills will be solved through a coalition government. And we will certainly address the expectations of the several thousands of voters who are dissatisfied; we must do so to build consensus. But we must also recognize the expectations of the many more thousands of voters who chose the government that is in power. We will do our utmost to restore public trust in the electoral process and to unite the nation again.

Our priority is to run a transparent government and have a clear agenda, which we will announce. We will fight corruption head-on. We are confident that with the world’s help, reason and responsibility will regain the upper hand in Armenia. We have no time to waste — there is a lot of work to do. Despite recent events, our country is still moving forward. The international community has everything to gain through supporting a stable, transparent and elected government in Armenia.

Serzh Sargsyan, prime minister of Armenia, is chairman of the Republican Party. He is the country’s president-elect. Arthur Baghdasaryan, a former speaker of Armenia’s parliament, represented the opposition Orinats Yekir (Rule of Law) Party in the February election; he placed third.

From the European Parliament website:

Human rights: Armenia, Russia, Afghan journalist and Iranian homosexual

Human rights – 13-03-2008 – 17:11

In four human rights resolutions adopted at the end of this week’s Strasbourg session, MEPs deplored the violence used by the authorities against opposition demonstrators following presidential elections in both Armenia and Russia, and demanded reprieves for a journalist condemned to death in Afghanistan and for a gay Iranian who could be in grave danger if forced to return to his home country.

Violence following the elections in Armenia
 
In the wake of the presidential elections in Armenia on 19 February, a police crackdown against opposition supporters who were peacefully contesting the results left eight dead and dozens injured. A state of emergency was declared on 1 March and media freedom has been restricted.  Parliament’s resolution, adopted by 60 votes to 1 with 2 abstentions, deplores the loss of life, urges all parties to act responsibly and calls on the authorities to investigate the violence and take other measures.
 
The International Election Observation Mission stated that the elections were “administered mostly in line with OSCE and Council of Europe commitments and standards” but also identified a number of concerns, in particular concerning the media’s commitment to providing impartial information.
 
In the resolution, Parliament “expresses its concern at recent developments in Armenia” and “calls on all parties to show openness and restraint, to tone down statements and to engage in a constructive and fruitful dialogue aimed at supporting and consolidating the country’s democratic institutions”.
 
Call for inquiry, with punishment for perpetrators of violence
 
It also calls “for a prompt, thorough, transparent, independent and impartial investigation of the events of 1 March” and “for all those responsible to be brought to justice and punished for misconduct and criminal acts of violence”.  The Council and Commission should offer EU assistance to help with the investigation.
 
The Armenian authorities are asked to lift the state of emergency, restore media freedom and take all measures necessary to ensure a return to normalcy. In addition, they are urged “to release citizens detained for exercising their right of peaceful assembly”.
 
EU support for Armenia to improve democracy and rule of law
 
Parliament points out that the EU’s Action Plan with Armenia under the European Neighbourhood Policy covers the strengthening of democratic structures and the rule of law. In this context, it urges the Commission “to focus its assistance to Armenia on the independence of the judiciary and the training of police and security forces” and calls on the Armenian authorities “to implement swiftly all the remaining recommendations made by the International Election Observation Mission”.
 
MEPs urge the Armenian authorities “to cooperate fully with the international community on finding an agreed solution” and they express support for the EU Special Representative to the South Caucasus and the OSCE’s Special Envoy.
 
Turning to Armenia’s conflict with neighbouring Azerbaijan over the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, the resolution “deplores the recent loss of life on the ‘line of control’ during fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces” and “calls on all sides to refrain from further violence and to return to the negotiating table”.
 
Lastly, MEPs reiterate “the clear EU commitment to building closer ties with Armenia and the South Caucasus countries” but emphasise that “closer cooperation with the European Union must be based on real and tangible progress and reforms and a full commitment to democracy and the rule of law”.

[…]

Armenia has apparently lifted the YouTube.com ban. Blogging does help.

It seems that YouTube.com has been blocked in Armenia adding the ex-Soviet country to a list that often includes Armenia’s historical enemy Turkey.

While the suspected YouTube.com blockade in Armenia is most likely invalid under the constitutional clause of restricted media during state of emergency, it sure talks of the fact that Armenia’s population is overwhelmingly using the Internet as a source of information. During the March 1, 2008, protests, for example, it was often impossible to open Armenian websites such as www.hetq.am because of the high value of visitors.

And even my blog, that usually receives a handful of daily readers from Armenia, now receives much of its readership from there. While in April of 2007 (a month when Armenians are active in the Internet because of the genocide commemoration) users from Armenia were 18th in the list of countries, currently Blogian readers from Armenia are among the top three countries.

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  weapons 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. Еventually 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 «A1plus», «Lragir» 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.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/07/opinion/07fri2.html

March 7, 2008

Editorial

Dark Days in Armenia

The democracy that Armenians dreamed of during their long decades under Moscow’s yoke is slipping away. After opponents challenged last month’s flawed presidential election, the government imposed a brutal state of emergency. At least eight people are now dead, independent news outlets throttled and all protests silenced. President Bush and other Western leaders need to make clear to Armenia’s government that such behavior is unacceptable and will jeopardize future relations. Compared to post-Soviet tyrannies like Belarus or Uzbekistan, Armenia may not look so bad. That is why it is so important to halt this slide into authoritarianism before it is too late.

Official election results handed an overwhelming victory to the ruling party candidate, Serge Sargsyan. International monitors declared that while the overall outcome appeared fair, there were serious problems with the vote count. The protests that followed only turned violent after police began beating demonstrators.

Witnesses told our colleague, Sabrina Tavernise, that government authorities planted guns and grenades among the sleeping protestors last Saturday morning. Then, claiming that they were thwarting an attempted coup, police attacked the opposition camp. The next day, the outgoing president sent tanks into the streets, banned demonstrations and ordered Armenian news organizations to relay only information provided by his government. Local stations can no longer use the Armenian language programs produced by foreign broadcasters including the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

That drew an admirably strong protest from Washington’s Broadcasting Board of Governors, the independent federal agency that supervises these stations, while the State Department has expressed its concern over the death toll. Their words would carry more weight if President Bush added his voice. Armenia, embroiled in a lengthy standoff with neighboring Azerbaijan, is relatively isolated in its own region and especially values its good relations with the United States.

This is not a case of pure democratic virtue against pure authoritarian evil. The defeated opposition leader, Levon Ter-Petrossian, is a former president who in the 1990s sent armored cars into the streets to crush demonstrators protesting his electoral manipulations.

He insists, without credible evidence, that he won this election. And once government forces set off last weekend’s violence, some of those who turned out in Mr. Ter-Petrossian’s behalf seemed more interested in looting nearby shops. The main responsibility lies with Armenia’s government leaders, and it is to them that the White House must address its protests.

Image: Soldiers shave in front an armored vehicle’s mirror in central Yerevan on March 3, 2008 as they patrol Armenia’s capital amid declared state of emergency after post-election protests left nine people dead. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili

Posted at the website of the U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office:

RECENT VIOLENCE IN ARMENIA (03/03/08)

Commenting on events in Armenia on 1 March, an FCO Spokesperson said:

‘We are very concerned about the events which occured in Yerevan on 1 March, and deplore the use of force which resulted in at least eight fatalities and many more injuries. We call on the authorities and the opposition to engage in political dialogue and to use only peaceful means to restore stability. We call on all sides to respect the rule of law and human rights and we urge the lifting of the State of Emergency as soon as possible.’

Image: A protester on a street of Yerevan on Saturday night. After the government announced a state of emergency on Saturday, Mr. Ter-Petrossian called losing the street “losing the connection to the people.” By Johan Spanner for The New York Times

Avoiding to report directly about Armenia’s post-election political developments and clashes that left nine people dead – as the state emergency bans media from publishing information outside government releases – a blogger from Armenia informs of the illegal blockade of several websites in Armenia. He then offers tips on how to access banned information in Armenia:

In the evening of March 2, the Internet Society of Armenia (ISOC) has ILLEGALLY stopped the maintenance of several domains, including A1+ – www.a1plus.am, Haykakan Zhamanak – www.azatutyun.am, E-channel – www.echannel.am. In the database of ISOC- https://www.amnic.net/whois/ , they are registered as “on hold.”

With that step, A1+ has been deprived not only of his site but also if its mail service.

The domains have been “frozen” without the decision of the ISOC board – either by the instruction on behalf of the presidential office, or the National Security Service.

In the decree of president Kocharyan, there was nothing about freezing the domains, closing web sites and the media.

We would like to provide some help to those, who still want to access the above mentioned websites. Firstly, Echannel.am and Azatutyun.am have their backup DNS records. You can access Echannel.am also at E-channel.am (e-channel with a -) and Azatutyun.am at armenialiberty.am. At the moment we are negotiating with the ISOC board to urge them to stop this illegal blocking of our domain names. However, there is a possibility, that the backup domain names (E-channel.am and armenialiberty.am) will also be blocked. For that case, I will be posting a list of IP names for the servers, where these and other blocked information websites are located, and you can access them by clicking the links in the list below (I’ll update the list as soon as colleagues let me know the relevant IP addresses):

1. a1lus.am – 75.125.179.218:8080
2. echannel.am – 76.163.218.144
3. azatutyun.am – 193.111.134.85
   • For Audio broadcasts of Radio Liberty in Armenian also check out this link: http://www.rferl.org/listen/ondemand/bd/ar/ar-default.asp

Let me remind everybody, that A1plus YouTube channel and Asplus blog are still functional. There is also an Armenian Newspaper Electronic Archive, where you can find Archived publications from some of the blocked newspaper websites.

[…]

The New York Times writes about the aftermath of violent clashes in Armenia’s post-election protests noting that because of the state of emergency, which bans local media from interviewing opposition parties, only foreign media were present at a press conference by opposition leader and former president Levon Ter-Petrosyan.

Tanks blocked central streets in the capital of this tiny mountain country on Sunday, a day after Armenian authorities clashed with demonstrators in a violent confrontation that left at least eight people dead and more than 130 wounded.

The government imposed a state of emergency, and for the first time since a contested Feb. 19 presidential election, the streets and central squares of this ancient city were empty of the crowds of protesters.

Any attempt at demonstrating “will immediately result in adequate and strict reaction by the armed forces,” Gen. Seyran Ohanyan, Armenia’s top military commander, said in a statement.

Levon Ter-Petrossian, the opposition leader who has led the crowds, and whose failed candidacy was the reason for the protests, said that he would not encourage his supporters to defy the curfew, and that the government had won by closing down his only outlet to the public.

“They’re happy with themselves,” said Mr. Ter-Petrossian, speaking to reporters in his 1930s mansion on the edge of Yerevan. “They got what they wanted.”

[…]

Mr. Ter-Petrossian blamed the Armenian government for what he described as a “slaughter.” Seven civilians were killed and only one security officer, according to the Foreign Ministry. Of the 131 injuries, 72 were police officers and 59 were civilians, Agence France-Presse reported, citing the Health Ministry.

The casualties prompted statements of concern by the State Department, the European Union and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

[…]

Mr. Ter-Petrossian accused the government of sneaking provocateurs into the crowd. “It’s their people,” he said. But he acknowledged that some of his supporters might have joined in. Looters who dragged cognac, cakes, fruit and even food scales from the Yerevan City grocery store on Saturday seemed to strongly support him.

“I’m fighting for honesty,” said a man in his 50s, holding a stolen beer in one hand and a lemon in the other. “Levon Ter-Petrossian is for the people.”

Fifteen people were arrested.

The emergency decree dealt a particularly paralyzing blow to the opposition because local television stations, controlled by Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan and President Robert Kocharian, virtually ignored the daily rallies, which often drew tens of thousands of protesters. “Losing the square means losing the connection to the people,” Mr. Ter-Petrossian said. “Now they have taken this away from us.”

According to the emergency decree, local news media are barred from disseminating information given by any source other than the government.

CNN segments about Armenia were clipped from television programming, and many Web sites were closed. Only journalists from foreign news organizations could attend Mr. Ter-Petrossian’s briefing.

Mr. Ter-Petrossian’s state-financed security detail had orders not to allow him out of his house, but Armenia’s foreign minister said he was free to leave if he agreed to forgo the security.

Armenian authorities have used violence against political opposition several times over the past 13 years. In 1995, for example, during Mr. Ter-Petrossian’s tenure as president, at least one opposition figure died in police custody after his political party was shut down, according to Human Rights Watch.

[…]