20 ARMENIA*

IHF FOCUS: good governance (corruption); national human rights protection; elec- tions and referenda; freedom of the media; peaceful assembly; judicial system and independence of the judiciary; torture and ill-treatment; arbitrary arrest and deten- tion; conscientious objection; property rights; national and ethnic minorities.

Problems related to the local elections occurred in the course of 2004 – and was and the referendum on constitutional heavily criticized by many Armenian offi- amendments were major concerns in cials responsible for the abuses. Corrup- Armenia in 2005: restrictions on opposi- tion remained widespread and the meas- tion campaigning hindered inter alia the ures taken in 2005 to fight it were half- free flow of information and the right to hearted and inefficient. peaceful assembly. Indications in 2004 of a decrease in Despite certain improvements to legis- the use of torture and ill-treatment in pen- lation regulating the holding of demonstra- itentiaries proved to be overly optimistic as tions and other public assemblies, a num- new cases were discovered in the Nuba- ber of provisions remained restrictive and rashen penitentiary in 2005. Police mis- vaguely worded, thereby paving the way conduct was also commonplace during for inadequate implementation. While the operations to disperse opposition rallies: opposition was able to hold some demon- police used excessive force and brutally strations, in most cases these and other beat demonstrators, arrested them in a political events held by the opposition manner that amounted to kidnapping and were thwarted by authorities and police held them at police stations for question- using excessive force and violence. ing without legitimate grounds. According to the “Freedom of the The inadequate law on conscientious Press in the World Index,” freedom of ex- objection and conditions of alternative pression and the media deteriorated in service led to criminal proceedings against 2005, and the efforts of the television sta- 23 men who had interrupted their alterna- tion A1+, that was taken off air in 2002, to tive service in 2004. By the end of 2005, be granted a frequency to resume broad- 14 men had been given prison sentences casting, proved futile – the case was de- between 24 and 42 months for desertion clared partially admissible by the European and/or for leaving their place of duty with- Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). out permission. Other cases were ongoing Basic deficiencies in the judicial sys- at year’s end. tem and the operation of the judiciary re- There were also numerous cases of ported in an independent study published authorities violating the right to housing in December 2004 continued in 2005. and property rights in the course of imple- These included dependence of judges on mentation of new city planning for the public authorities, problems with judicial center of Yerevan. Residents were forced review, as well as poor judicial oversight to sell their apartments at prices a fraction and administrative practices. Despite all of market prices, or were evicted. these problems, the ombudsman was not allowed to review complaints about inade- Good Governance quate operation of judicial bodies. Her re- According to the 2005 “Transparency port published in April clearly pointed to International Corruption Perception Index,” some serious human rights violations that Armenia was ranked 88 out of 159 coun-

* Based on Armenian Helsinki Committee, Human Rights in Armenia, Annual Report 2005, December 2005. The original report was prepared by Avetik Ishkahanian, Lilit Simonian, Vahan Ishkhanian, and Anush Dashtents. The section on corruption was prepared by the Center for Regional Development/Transparency International Armenia, and the section of national minorities was first published in “Monitoring of Democratic Reforms in Armenia,” Part 8, p. 69, by the Yerevan Press Club, 2005. Republished by courtesy of the Yerevan Press Club, edited by the IHF. ARMENIA 21 tries - with the 159th country representing Corruption Strategy Program and its Action the most corrupt one - with a lightly im- Plan and the formation of new institutions proved score since 2004. It appeared, and structures to fight corruption. These however, that no progress had been made new structures included the anti-corruption during the last three years. council under the prime minister, and an Compared to findings in 2002, the re- anti-corruption monitoring commission, sults of the 2005 Business Environment and a special department within the office and Enterprise Performance Survey, con- of the prosecutor general. In addition, it ducted by the World Bank and the appeared that membership in the Group European Bank for Reconstruction and of States against Corruption (GRECO), the Development (EBRD), demonstrated that ratification of the Council of Europe Crimi- a larger number of companies than before nal and Civil Law Conventions on Corrup- indicated corruption as a problem in Arme- tion and the signing of the UN Convention nian business life. While the frequency of against Corruption, did not result in any unofficial payments reportedly decreased, notable improvements. the amount of money paid in bribes as a The main reasons for the failure of the share of the annual sales increased. government’s anti-corruption initiatives in- The main reasons for unofficial pay- cluded: a lack of any real political will to fight ments were reportedly to ensure lower corruption; interrelated political and eco- payments in taxes, customs and other fees nomic interests among the small, high-ran- involved in imports, to receive favorable king elite; a lack of protection of the basic rulings in courts, and to obtain permits and human rights of average citizens; a lack of licenses. Meanwhile, Armenia is in the lead accountability and the virtual impunity en- in comparison with other CIS, European joyed by senior state officials and circles and Central Asian countries with regard to close to them; poor law enforcement and the level of bribes aimed at influencing the the absence of effective control and disci- content of new legislation and other regu- plinary mechanisms; deficiencies in legisla- lations, and bribery for customs/imports tion and lack of conformity with other legal and in courts. acts; public mistrust toward the state and a A nationwide telephone survey of high tolerance of corruption within the who- 1,500 households implemented by the le of society; and the absence of a strong Center for Regional Development/TI Arme- and consistent position of the international nia showed that 62.9% of the respondents community with regard to corruption. believed that the corruption level had in- creased in Armenia in the last thee years.1 National Human Rights Protection Nearly one percent of respondents viewed Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) the government’s anti-corruption efforts as The Armenian ombudsman’s institu- effective, 50% found them ineffective, and tion was established in 2004. Until the 49.1% could not evaluate the effectiveness adoption of constitutional amendments in of the fight against corruption. 2005, the ombudsman was appointed by The above-mentioned information the Armenian president. Article 22 of the supplemented by other research data and Law on the Human Rights Defender states media publications indicated that the per- that the deputy ombudsman shall be ap- ception of the public and experts with re- pointed on the ombudsman’s recommen- gard to progress made in combating cor- dation through the same procedure as in ruption in Armenia is quite negative de- the case of the ombudsman. The Arme- spite the adoption of the National Anti- nian ombudsman recommended the pres-

IHF REPORT 2006 HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION 22 ARMENIA ident a deputy of her choice, however, the The National Assembly had earlier rejected president rejected the nomination and a legal amendment to this end. In addition, suggested that she nominate another per- by law, the ombudsman may not engage son, resulting de facto in the appointment in the defense of human rights on the ba- of a person of the president’s choice as sis of a third party application. deputy ombudsman. The ombudsman’s office also faced As a result of the adoption of amend- other problems by authorities. ments to the constitution, the ombuds- N On 26 May, the National Security man’s tenure of office expired on 8 January Service (NSS) raided the ombudsman’s 2006. A new appointment had to be made office without a warrant in the wake of the within one month after the expiration of detention on fraud charges of Serob that term. On 4 January 2006, under a Antonian, one of its employees. NSS offi- presidential decree, a commission of three cers seized a computer containing confi- persons was appointed to govern the om- dential data of applicants. This act was in budsman office until a new ombudsman violation of articles 19(1) and 27(1) of the was elected. The outgoing ombudsman Ombudsman Law, which grant immunity challenged the constitutionality of the de- to the ombudsman from criminal prosecu- cree but her appeal was rejected by the tion without permission from the presi- Constitutional Court. At the time of writing, dent, including confidentiality of his/her Armenia did not have an ombudsman. documentation and communications de- The criteria and procedures used for vices. The computer was later returned. hiring the ombudsman’s staff lacked clari- ty, and it appeared that vacancies in the N On 30 May, two NSS officers went to ombudsman’s office had never been filled the NGO “Right Legal Group” and, posing on a competitive basis. as the ombudsman’s staff, demanded in- The Law on the Human Rights Defen- formation concerning complaints filed by der contains a number of provisions that the group’s clients to the ombudsman. In limit the operation of the ombudsman. In a letter to the ombudsman, the NSS noti- particular, article 7(1) of the law rules out fied her that criminal proceedings had a review by the ombudsman of complaints been instituted against Vahe Grigorian, the lodged against judicial bodies and judges, chairperson of the “Right Legal Group.” thereby leaving one of the three branches N On 3 June, the Iravunk newspaper re- of government beyond the ombudsman’s control and denying the opportunity to ported that the ombudsman had allegedly help persons whose right to a fair trial has sent a letter to President Kocharian com- been violated. As a result of this restriction, plaining about the fact that the NSS had the ombudsman is also not in a position to started to tap her office and to spy on her address issues such as unjustified delays staff members. in trials or a denial of the right to legal de- The regular report of the ombudsman fense. The restrictions provided by article on her activities in 2004 published on 4 7(1) result from a Constitutional Court rul- April reported that in the period of March ing of 6 May (N 563) which upheld through December 2004, 1,294 written President Kocharian’s claim that the om- complaints had been processed and 471 budsman’s right to demand information of them had been accepted for review. Of from and to present recommendations to those accepted, 245 cases had been final- courts was in violation of the independ- ized and 99 recommendations had been ence of the judiciary and courts, and there- made. A review had been terminated in fore incompatible with the constitution. 110 cases due to the absence of a viola-

HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION IHF REPORT 2006 ARMENIA 23 tion, the rest had been terminated upon Electoral fraud and irregularities regis- the applicants’ request or because of tered during the 2003 presidential and changed circumstances that had resulted parliamentary elections were also reported in a positive outcome. during the local elections. There was a to- Two topics stood out in the ombuds- tal lack of variety of candidates in many man’s report: human rights violations in municipalities and communities as only the course of rallies staged by the opposi- one person was registered as a candidate, tion in the spring of 2004 demanding and the use of administrative leverage was President Robert Kocharian’s resignation, widespread to promote candidates loyal to and the torture of many participants of the the ruling coalition. Irregularities during the rallies while in police custody. The report polling process included ballot box stuffing, stated that both incidents violated basic violations of the secrecy of vote, bribery, human rights, including the rights to free- intimidation of and reprisals against prox- dom of movement, peaceful assembly, ies and observers. Local election commis- and to a fair trial. In addition, the police sion members sealed ballot papers that raid on the night of 12 April 2004 of the had not been folded thereby violating the opposition Justice Alliance’s office violated secrecy of vote; failed to require identifica- freedom of association. Moreover, the re- tion from voters; and did not have a list of port detailed the case of Grisha Virabian, addresses of voters to crosscheck that they who lost one testicle as a result of torture were registered at the given address. in police custody.2 The third important is- The most widespread violations in- sue the ombudsman’s office dealt with in volved inadequate voter lists: numerous its report concerned violations of owner- reports were received of names being re- ship rights in the course of the construc- moved and those of persons long time de- tion of the northern and main avenues in ceased added. At some polling stations, Yerevan (see Property Rights, below). the election commission members “ad- The ombudsman’s report drew - partly vised” voters who to vote for, and numer- contumelious - criticism from the minister ous cases of voting outside booths were of justice, the prosecutor general’s office registered - especially in Abovian and and the chairperson of the Cassation Court, Ararat such irregularities occurred on a claiming that some of the information con- mass scale. Moreover, police officers were tained in it was unfounded or even “illuso- present at polling stations, “instructed” vot- ers and interfered in the voting process. ry,” and that its interpretation of the law Meanwhile, criminals had unimpeded ac- was neither precise nor appropriate. cess to many polling stations and obstruct- ed the process. Elections and Referenda N In Avan, Yerevan, the only nominated Local Elections candidate was Taron Margarian, son of Local elections were held in the peri- Prime Minister Andranik Margarian, and in od between May and late October. Due to the Erebuni community, the only candi- deficiencies in the electoral code, execu- date was the incumbent Mher Sedrakian. tive authorities continued to have signifi- cant influence on the operation of the N In Echmiadzin the number of names electoral commissions: their chairpersons on the final voter lists suspiciously in- and secretaries at all levels represented creased by 7,000 from the original lists,3 the ruling coalition, thereby hindering the and in polling station no. 19/15, over 60 formation and operation of independent voters registered as living in one single and pluralist electoral commissions. apartment had voted by 12:30 p.m. - at

IHF REPORT 2006 HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION 24 ARMENIA the same time others registered at the Referendum same address were still waiting to cast On 27 November, draft amendments their vote. to the constitution authored by the ruling parliamentary coalition4 and with participa- N The names of 220 deceased persons tion of a member of Justice (Ardarutiun) were found on a voter list at polling station Alliance, Shavarsh Kocharian, in coopera- no. 18/01 in the Ararat region, as well as tion with the Venice Commission, were put the names of former residents who now to referendum. The Venice Commission of live in the United States. Many of them the Council of Europe had evaluated the were signed so as to indicate that the per- draft as positive, and it was supported by sons had cast a ballot. 18 other political groups, scores of NGOs N In the town of Echmiadzin, Yervand and artists’ unions. Throughout the entire Aghvanian and Susanna Harutiunian with- preparation of the draft amendments, the drew their candidacies in the mayoral elec- Council of Europe had urged the Armenian tions on polling day because by 2 p.m. authorities to ensure that the constitution- there had already been massive ballot box al changes be kept in line with European stuffing and other serious irregularities in standards. However, from an early stage in all 21 polling stations of the town. The the process, the opposition parties refused elected mayor, Gagik Avagian, has close to endorse the draft amendments and op- connections with the deputy defense min- posed the holding of a referendum on the ister, General Manvel Grigorian, and en- grounds that the ruling coalition did not joyed the latter’s protection. Tensions ran have the right to amend the country’s con- high in Echmiadzin also during the election stitution because the coalition lacked legit- campaign as Aghvanian’s supporters were imacy. kidnapped and beaten, reportedly on Consequently, the amendments be- Grigorian’s orders. came a subject of confrontation between N In Nor Hajen, the town’s incumbent the ruling coalition and nine political par- mayor and mayoral candidate Armen Ke- ties that make up the Justice Alliance, the shishian shot and killed Ashot Mkhitarian. National Unity (Azgayin miabanutiun) par- Mkhitarian had intended to run in the elec- ty, and other opposition political forces tion but later changed his mind and sup- (Heritage, New Times, Liberal Progressive ported Keshishian’s main rival. On 24 Sep- Party, etc.). The opponents of the referen- tember Keshishian was charged and ar- dum formed the “18-8-1” Alliance. rested. While in jail, he was re-elected as In violation of article 20 of the Law On mayor but resigned later and new elec- Referendum, which guarantees “uncon- tions were announced. strained campaigning concerning the question placed for referendum,” the “18- N On the night of election day, a special 8-1” Alliance was denied access to both police task force used tasers to disperse a public and private television stations rally of about 2,000 supporters of Arthur throughout the campaigning period to Shaboyan, the main rival of the incumbent present its views on the referendum. In ad- mayor in Hrazdan. dition, the campaigning against the draft N In Vanadzor, both the municipal and amendments was impeded by methods state bodies were mobilized to campaign familiar from the 2003 presidential elec- for the incumbent, with the Lori Regional tions: local authorities and police hindered Governor Henrik Kochinian heading the the opposition from meeting with other campaign. people. The opposition was neither provid-

HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION IHF REPORT 2006 ARMENIA 25 ed conference rooms nor were rallies prior to the start of the voting, the ballot sanctioned, instead, roads were blocked box was reportedly already half full. and people intimidated to keep them Numerous opposition observers also away from rallies staged by the opposition. reported that already two days prior to the N On 24 November, the penultimate referendum, passport data had been en- day of campaigning, police officers brutally tered in the registration books and on the beat Ashot Poghossian, head of the polling day election commission members Shengavit territorial unit of the Republic were busy writing signatures on behalf of party, during a rally. According to eyewit- voters next to the data. The “It’s Your nesses, traffic police officers tried to im- Choice” NGO reported multiple voting up pound Poghossian’s car under the pretext to four times by one person, and in many of a putative traffic violation. When the regions soldiers and civilians went from owner refused to hand over the keys, spe- one polling station to another and cast bal- cial police task force members started kick- lots.5 ing Poghossian, as a result of which he had Gaps in legislation also contributed to to be taken to hospital in Nor Nork with massive violations of the principle of the broken ribs and liver damage. secrecy of vote. Already during the 2005 At the final stage of campaigning, the local elections it was clear that the new opposition urged the electorate to boycott polling booths introduced by the Central the referendum, and a few days prior to Electoral Commission did not ensure voting the referendum, it recalled its representa- by a secret ballot because they were not tives from all electoral commissions citing separated from one another and did not an information blockade and the antide- have curtains to block the view, thereby al- mocratic methods employed by the au- lowing members of electoral commissions thorities. and unauthorized persons to easily monitor According to the final results of the ref- the individual casting of votes. In addition, erendum presented on 30 November by incidents of restricting observers’ rights, in- the Central Electoral Commission, timidating and threatening observers, and 1,514,307 citizens took part in the refer- electoral fraud committed by the authori- endum, of whom 93.2% voted in favor of ties and by the electoral commission mem- the amendments. However, the commis- bers were registered. The Central Electoral sion’s members representing the Justice Commission member Felix Khachatrian an- Alliance and the National Unity political nounced that in a large number of polling party refused to sign the final report char- stations the final report on the voting re- acterizing the referendum as illegitimate, sults had been finalized suspiciously quick- claiming that in reality only 16% of the ly, in 20-40 minutes after the voting ended, population went to the polls. According to despite the fact that the process usually the opposition, the results were primarily takes at least 3-4 hours. falsified by ballot-box stuffing. They argued President Kocharian himself displayed that before the polling stations were his open ballot paper prior to casting it, a opened on referendum day, ballot boxes gesture that was taken by many as an in- already stuffed with ballot papers were struction to rig the elections in favor of the brought to almost all polling stations in the amendments. country. The opposition decided not to take N When Vaghinak Petrossian of the the cases of electoral fraud and irregulari- National Unity party arrived at polling sta- ties to courts because it did not believe tion no. 23/42 in Vardenis at 7:53 a.m., i.e. that the trials would be fair.

IHF REPORT 2006 HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION 26 ARMENIA

Freedom of Expression and Free commercial airtime for the promotion of Media different views, and finally did not provide According to the “Freedom of the commercial airtime at all. While the airtime Press in the World Index” published in and newspaper space allocated by the October 2005 by Reporters Without mass media for referendum-related advo- Borders (RSF), Armenia ranked 102-105 cacy was sufficient, their coverage was bi- in year 2005, down from 83 in 2004. ased in favor of the government and so Since the National Broadcasting did not help the public to make a judicious Commission took A1+ television company choice. off air in April 2002, the company has ex- N On referendum day and the days after hausted all judicial remedies in Armenia to it, Radio Liberty broadcasts were affected be able to resume broadcasting, and par- by technical problems and were jammed ticipated in all tenders for vacant wave fre- from time to time. On 28 November, pub- quencies, but in vain. At the end of 2005, lic TV informed through its website that all its application was declared partially ad- radio frequencies functioned normally - missible by the ECtHR. Its efforts to be with the exception of 107.6, that Radio granted a frequency as part of the new S Liberty used. The reason was allegedly a Explorer company, established by A+ joint- recently installed transmitter. In the city of ly with the NGO “Collaboration for Vanadzor, Radio Liberty was broadcast by Democracy,” were also unsuccessful. “Stereo-Studio” radio channel, which was Since A1+ and Noyan Tapan television not operational over that period of time. companies were take off air in 2002, all TV No explanation was given for it being off channels have been subjected to censor- air. ship. Media monitoring has confirmed a lack of variety in media reporting, which is Violence against Reporters also partly attributable to self-censorship Some cases of police violence against by journalists and editors who fear journalists were reported. For example: reprisals for critical reporting. N On 24 November, A1+ reporter Diana The 2005 referendum on the draft Markossian tried to videotape the brutal amendments to the constitution (see abo- beating by special police forces of Ashot ve) reflected well the lack of plurality in re- Poghossian, head of the Shengavit branch porting and restricted access to media by of the “Republic” party. A police captain the opposition. The media monitoring con- stopped her doing so and hit her. ducted by the Yerevan Press Club during the pre-election campaign from 5 to 25 N On 6 December, the police in Nor November with regard to the referendum Hajen tried to seize cameras, arrested and revealed that Armenian legislation did not questioned Naira Mamikonian, reporter of provide for sufficient guarantees for the the Aravot daily, and Gagik Shamshian, provision of equal airtime and newspaper photographer of the Chorrord ishkhanu- column space for the promotion of varying tiun newspaper. The two journalists were views in the media. TV companies did not covering a dispute in which high-level au- ensure balanced coverage of the issue, thorities had reportedly seized areas that generally presenting the amendments in a were intended for the use of vulnerable positive - i.e., pro-governmental - light. TV families and for families of freedom fight- stations did not comply with the require- ers killed in action. The reporters were ment of article 11 of the Law on TV and soon released and the police stated that Radio by failing to announce the rates for they had been arrested due to a misun-

HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION IHF REPORT 2006 ARMENIA 27 derstanding, but the reporters continued to late the public order” and result in the “ob- be followed and watched. struction of the operation” of public bod- ies, or facilities of communications or 8 Peaceful Assembly transportation. In contrast to 2004, a few opposition Resolution 1405(2004) adopted by and NGO rallies and demonstrations were the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of organized prior to the referendum, but as Europe in October 2004 urged the a rule they were accompanied by arbitrary Armenian authorities to amend, no later actions and harassment by the police. than March 2005, the law on demonstra- During public events related to the local tions and public assemblies to bring it into elections, police used tasers against full conformity with European standards. demonstrators and beat them. In particu- Amendments to the law were drafted, lar, this kind of abuse occurred on 9 and the OSCE/ODIHR and the Venice October during election-related protests in Commission expressed the opinion that Hrazdan. while the proposed amendments indicat- ed certain progress, the remaining restric- N A number of NGOs notified the Yere- tions were very severe and should be re- van city administration about their inten- moved.6 On 3 October, however, the tion to organize a march in support of the amendments were passed with some A1+ TV channel, but the event was pro- changes. hibited. The rally was nevertheless held on Despite certain improvements, the 2 April, with the result that traffic police of- general conceptual framework of the law ficers impounded an A1+-owned vehicle was not changed: the law seeks to restrict with posters, loud speakers and other the organization and conduct of public technical devices. events rather than to strengthen guaran- N Local authorities in the town of Sevan tees for freedom of assembly. The law still did not prohibit the 20 April meeting of lo- prohibits a mass public event if two or cal residents with Aram Karapetian, the more events are scheduled for the same leader of the opposition New Times politi- time and location, and in case the planned cal party, but just before the meeting was event poses “threat to life or health of per- due to start, the electricity supply was shut sons.” Further, public events are prohibited down at the venue of the meeting, the “closer than a proper distance (considered Culture Palace. As the participants moved necessary by police for security reasons)” outdoors to hold the meeting, police offi- of the presidential residence, again a cers and some plainclothes persons initiat- vague formulation open to interpretation. ed a commotion, which resulted in shoot- What is more, the December 2004 ing at the participants by one of the inciters amendments to the code on administra- of the unrest. A student had to be hos- tive violations and the criminal code, as pitalized with a gunshot wound to his leg. well as 4 October 2005 amendments to the criminal code, criminalized the organi- Meeting halls were not leased to the zation and the conducting of a public Republic party for conducting regional event without warrant and the making of meetings prior to a congress. calls to disobey demands to terminate a N On 2 November, a small conference non-sanctioned public event.7 In a similar room was allocated for a meeting with res- vein, it is a crime to organize or participate, idents organized by S. Demirchian, mem- against “legitimate demands of public offi- ber of the People’s Party of Armenia in cers,” in collective actions that “grossly vio- Talin. However, the police soon closed the

IHF REPORT 2006 HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION 28 ARMENIA doors of the room claiming that no vacant cess of judges, criteria for their promotion, seats were available. The event was judicial decisions and improper influence moved to another location, but the head on the judiciary, case assignment, and ad- of the territorial department of the police equacy of judicial salaries. In addition, re- demanded that the participants return to gression was reported in the field of judi- the conference room contending that “per- cial review, legislation, judicial oversight of mission was not given to conduct an out- administrative practice, and judicial immu- door rally.” nity for official actions. The president appointed and dismis- N Heritage political party notified the sed judges on the basis of the recommen- Yerevan city administration about its inten- dation of the Justice Council, which he tion to conduct a “Civic Forum” at the continued to chair in 2005. His deputies Freedom Square on 25 November. The meeting was not sanctioned on the were the minister of justice and the prose- grounds that a concert with participation of cutor general, and the other 14 members pop stars was to start in the same location were appointed by the president for a at the same hour. term of five years. Following the 2005 amendments to The November referendum was a test the constitution, the council will be com- also for the respect of the right to peaceful posed of nine judges elected for a five- assembly. year period by a secret ballot at a general N On 27 November, police beat demon- meeting of judges, and by four legal schol- strators, forced some of them into vehicles ars, two of them appointed by the presi- and took them to unknown locations or to dent and two by the National Assembly. police departments, did not grant them ac- The deadline for the National Assembly to cess to their lawyers, and, having held appoint two legal scholars was 9 March them for several hours, let them go after 2006. As a positive result of changes to ar- recording their “participation in an unau- ticle 94(1) of the constitution, the chair- thorized demonstration.” Police also person of the Court of Cassation shall pre- stopped cars that took part in a campaign side the council (without voting power). ride organized by the opposition, beat the On the negative side, under an una- 9 drivers and impounded the vehicles. mended provision of the constitution, the Armenian president will still officially ap- Judicial System point the judges nominated by the meet- As in previous years, the courts failed ing of judges: no provision stipulates what to effectively provide human rights protec- the Justice Council can do if the president tion and ensure the supremacy of law. The refuses to appoint the nominated candi- American Bar Association’s Central dates as judges. European and Eurasian Law Initiative Prior to the 2005 constitutional (ABA/CEELI) conducted an independent amendments, citizens were not entitled to study in 2004 to assess the situation of take their cases to the Constitutional Court. the Armenian judicial system. Its report In 2005 this restriction was lifted (as from published in December 2004 was highly 1 July 2006), provided that the applicant critical of the performance of the Armenian has exhausted all other legal remedies, and judiciary and courts. The situation did not the case at issue concerns the constitution- improve in the course of 2005. ality of a legal provision. In addition, now ABA/CEELI assessed as negative, inter the ombudsman can file a case to the alia, the selection and appointment pro- Constitutional Court to ascertain whether

HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION IHF REPORT 2006 ARMENIA 29

Armenian laws, decisions of the National that he had been chained when the guard Assembly, presidential orders and decisions had beaten him. It also turned out that the made by the central government and local socio-psychological service had not met governments do not contradict the consti- with the prisoner and that the medical tution. service had given him a painkiller after the incident but failed to record the many in- Torture and Ill-Treatment10 juries he had sustained to his skull, face, Armenian law and police practices did and one ear. The NGO observer group not provide sufficient protection against tor- concluded that it would have been impos- ture and ill-treatment. The provisions in the sible for the inmate who had been chai- criminal code related to police interrogation ned up to put up such resistance as to jus- were not amended, and no detailed regu- tify the excessive use of force by the guard, lations on police interrogation were estab- and qualified the incident as amounting to lished. Police training did not include ade- torture. They appealed to the responsible quate information on professionalism and authorities to take appropriate measures, on international human rights standards. including conducting a forensic medical Armenia has not ratified the Optional examination without delay. The Ministry of Protocol to the UN Convention against Tor- Justice, however, qualified the incident as ture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degra- a commensurate use of force. ding Treatment or Punishment, nor has it N In another case concerning the same made a statement under article 22 of the prison, convict A.A., who had already been UN convention, recognizing the authority subjected to beating by wardens in anoth- of the UN Committee against Torture to re- er prison, told the NGO observers that war- ceive and review individual petitions sub- dens had beaten him with rubber bludg- mitted by persons who claim that a viola- eons and a metal rod. He showed injuries tion of the convention has taken place. resulting from torture on his head and oth- No police who resorted to torture or er parts of his body. During the meeting, other ill-treatment were prosecuted in the observers also witnessed a guard kick- 2005 under criminal law. ing another inmate in the adjacent room. Following the transfer of penitentiaries The prison director promised to conduct to the Ministry of Justice and the formation an inquiry and relay its results to the NGO of a group in 2004 of NGO observers to observers but failed to do so by the end of monitor conditions in prisons, the latter re- the year. ported that the use of torture and ill-treat- Usually NGO observers were granted ment in penitentiaries was on the de- access to medical files and were allowed crease. However, during their visits to the to take pictures when visiting prisons. Nubarashen penitentiary in May through However, prior to a 19 August meeting August 2005, the observers received infor- with an inmate that was on hunger strike, mation about violations of inmates’ rights. the NGO observers were told that they N On 4 May, the NGO observer group were not allowed to take pictures in the was informed that M.E., a life sentenced prison, and they were refused access to prisoner in Nubarashen, had been subject- the medical files of three convicts who had ed to violence by a prison guard. The pri- complained about their treatment even son director confirmed that he had sanc- though the convicts had submitted their tioned the use of a rubber truncheon written consent to that effect. against M.E. who had allegedly resisted a The NGO observer group’s experience penitentiary officer. The prisoner claimed showed that it was premature to contend

IHF REPORT 2006 HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION 30 ARMENIA that torture was no longer practiced in N On 4 December, Republic party mem- Armenian penitentiaries. It noted that the bers Sasha Sayadian and Arayik Khalafian fact that only a few cases about the use of were taken to the police station in the torture were known was apparently not at- town of Charentsavan and held there for tributable to the absence of torture but 20 hours. They were advised not to take probably to other reasons, including fear of part in the opposition rally due to be held inmates to report such cases, and lack of on 9 December. trust in the observers. The police public relations and infor- In addition, reports continued to be re- mation department stated that all reports ceived about the ill-treatment of individu- of arbitrary arrests and holding demonstra- als at the time of arrest and while held in tors and opposition members in police sta- police stations. tions without grounds were not true. On 30 November, the National Secu- Arbitrary Arrest and Detention rity Service searched Raffi Hovhannisian, As soon as the 27 November referen- the first foreign minister of independent dum results were declared and large-scale Armenia, when he was boarding a plane, protests broke out, police launched or- looking for documents containing “state chestrated operations against participants secrets.” Hovhannisian was on his way to of the protests. According to the opposi- Kiev to attend an international public fo- rum on democratic elections. tion political parties, over 40 members of NDU, Heritage and Republic parties were Conscientious Objection taken to police stations for their participa- tion in protest actions staged against the The Law On Alternative (Military) Ser- results of the referendum. vice came into force in December 2003. As per article 5 of that law, the length of al- N In the wake of the 2 December oppo- ternative military service is 36 months, sition rally, police officers virtually kid- while that of alternative labor service is 42 napped from the streets about 30 demon- months, both under the ultimate oversight strators who were members of the Repub- of the Defence Ministry. Since the law lic, Heritage and the NDU political parties. came into force, all applications to alterna- In the course of the police operation, Kar- tive service have been submitted by en Saghatelian, a member of the Republic Jehovah’s Witnesses and one from a party, as well as Levon Petrossian and Molokan. Misha Sukiassian, sympathizers of that par- As of the end of 2005, not a single ty, were forced into a police car. Others person was serving alternative labor serv- who experienced the same fate were Ed- ice. Criminal proceedings were instituted gar Hakobian, member of Heritage party, against 22 Jehovah’s Witnesses and one as well as Margarita Manukian and her Molokan in 2004 who had interrupted husband Vrezh Yeranossian, both NDU their alternative labor service because of its members, who were held for three hours military nature and unacceptable condi- and then released. The chairman of the Ar- tions: even though they were working in menian Helsinki Committee and an attor- civilian institutions (such as hospitals), ney, who went to police stations of the they were under military control and sur- central district and of Malatia district to pro- veillance by military police. They had to vide legal assistance to those arrested work from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a were not allowed to meet with the ar- week and were not allowed to leave the restees. hospital premises.11

HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION IHF REPORT 2006 ARMENIA 31

By the end of 2005, 13 Jehovah’s ter of Yerevan to sell their apartments in Witnesses and one Molokan had been giv- order to build new houses for private busi- en prison sentences between 24 and 42 nesses and apartments. Those residents months for desertion and/or for leaving who refused were evicted with a court their place of duty without permission. warrant. According to the Armenian om- Hovhannes Aslanian died in a car accident budsman, about 176 citizens were forced on the way to his trial. As of the time of to sell their property or were deprived of it this writing, the trials of eight persons who in 2005. had refused to carry out alternative labor According to article 28 of the constitu- service because of its military nature were tion, the alienation of property for public still underway. Six of the defendants were and state needs can take place only in ex- being held in pre-trial detention. ceptional cases and on the basis of law, N Criminal proceedings had been filed with adequate compensation given in ad- against 20-year-old Boris Melkumian for vance. The authorities used the land and refusing to serve in the military, but the civil codes as the law in question. charges were dropped after he took up al- The ombudsman issued a special re- ternative labor service in a mental hospital port on the development of land parcels in in Sevan. When he interrupted this service, Yerevan City center, giving a detailed pres- judicial proceedings were resumed. In the entation of the violations of law and hu- first instance court of Sevan (Gegharkunik man rights, including the right to a fair trial region) he stated that he had not correctly and to protection by court, and the failure understood the law and had assumed that of authorities and courts to stop such vio- his service would have nothing to do with lations. the military. Had he known that alternative The housing project, which continues service remained linked to the military, he in 2006, is based on a governmental de- would not have opted for it and would cree according to which the land plots that have been given a milder penalty for draft had been taken “for state needs” were giv- dodging. Melkumian, and three other en without a tender to seven companies, Jehovah’s Witnesses who had served in which enjoy protection at the highest level the same mental hospital, were sentenced of public officials. President Kocharian is a to three years imprisonment. sponsor of the project. It is common know- ledge that one of the shareholders of Viz- N Another 19 Jehovah’s Witnesses from kon Ltd., one of the seven companies, is Armenia and one from Karabakh were the former minister for environmental pro- sentenced to one to four years imprison- tection, Gevorg Vardanian, while Grisha ment for draft evasion because they had Harutiunian is deputy director of the Natio- refused to carry out any form of compul- nal Security Service of Griar. sory service. At the end of 2005, Hov- Another governmental decree pro- hannes Khachatrian was being held in cus- vides for the payment of an additional sum tody and his trial was still ongoing. of money for those residents who decide and sign a contract within only five days to Property Rights sell their apartments. The value of the In 2005, there were numerous cases apartments has been put at only about 33- of authorities violating the right to housing 50% of their market value. and property rights as authorities and pri- Those who refused to produce any vate entrepreneurs forced residents of documents or to allow for a valuation of Buzand and Amirian streets in the city cen- their homes were forced to do so by the

IHF REPORT 2006 HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION 32 ARMENIA officers from the Department for Enforce- ted to the National Assembly in 2006. As ment of Writs. of this writing, NGOs or intergovernmental N Lilia Ghazarian, a resident in Buzand organizations had not commented on it. Street, is one of hundreds who were evict- According to the 2001 census, ethnic ed from their homes before the houses minorities constituted 2.2% of the coun- were demolished. She suffered a heart at- try’s population. This figure encompasses tack when coming home one day, seeing 11 ethnic communities: the Assyrians, that the staircase had been destroyed and Yezidis, Kurds, Russians, Greeks, Molokans, that all her belongings had been taken Jews, Poles, Ukrainians, Georgians and away by officers of the Department for Germans. The largest groups are Yezidis Enforcement of Writs. Ghazarian was (40,620), Russians (14,660), Assyrians pressed to sell her apartment for EUR (3,409), and Kurds (1,519). All ethnic 15,170, at less than 25% of the market groups are scattered throughout the coun- price - had she decided to sell within five try but there are some villages in which mi- days in the spring of 2005, she would norities constitute a significant part or the have received an additional EUR 9,800. majority of an ethnically mixed population. Real estate agents outside the project Ethnic minorities have not formed refused to get involved because they were their own political parties and are not rep- afraid of losing their licenses: agents that resented in the National Assembly. They had valued the property upon the owners’ are, however, represented in the bodies of request in the Northern Avenue, had their local self-government, holding the position licenses revoked. of a village head in some localities. In The measures taken by Armenian au- 2004, the government allocated to ethnic thorities with respect to the case at issue minorities a building for cultural events, have been unconstitutional as no laws and a certain amount (equivalent to over have been adopted to justify the forced EUR 82,000) was included in the 2005 selling of apartments and evictions. When state budget to be used for the renovation reviewing the disputes, the courts have ig- of the Center of National and Ethnic nored the fact that the decrees issued by Minorities of Armenia. According to gov- the government have not been in line with ernment sources, about EUR 16,300 are the Armenian constitution. What is more, annually allocated to ethnic minorities’ on 7 October, Vahe Grigorian, an attorney NGOs to be used for the implementation who defended the rights of the former res- of their projects. idents of Buzand Street who refused to sell Ethnic minorities are provided the right their homes, was detained and charged to learn and teach their mother tongue in with extortion and of document forgery in secondary schools, and this right is gener- an unrelated old case.12 Local monitors be- ally respected. For example, Assyrian is lieved that his detention was a result of his taught in some villages. However, almost continuous defense of citizens’ rights. all ethnic minorities complain about the lack of qualified teachers and adequate National and Ethnic Minorities school materials. The Russian community Armenia is party to the European is in a better situation since it gets educa- Framework Convention for the Protection tional materials from Russia, where also of National Minorities (since 1998) and the required specialists are trained. the European Charter for Regional or Yezids, Kurds, Ukrainians, Russians and Minority Languages (since 2002). A draft Greeks have newspapers published in law on national minorities, will be submit- their own languages.

HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION IHF REPORT 2006 ARMENIA 33

Endnotes 1 Of all respondents, 15.5% thought that corruption had remained unchanged, 4.5% as- sumed it had decreased, and 17.1% stated that it was hard to say if it had increased or decreased 2 See IHF, Human Rights in the OSCE Region: Europe, Central Asia and North America, Report 2005 (Events of 2004), at www.ihf-hr.org/documents/doc_summary.php?sec_ id=3&d_id=4057. 3 According to the NGO “Choice Is Yours” that observed the elections. 4 The ruling coalition consists of the Republican Party of Armenia, the Armenian Revolu- tionary Federation (ARF), and Orinats yerkir (Rule of Law Country) political parties, and President Kocharian. 5 Most irregularities mentioned in this section were reported by “It’s Your Choice,” an NGO operating under the patronage of the US-based National Democratic Institution (NDI). 6 Law “On Making Amendments and Addenda to the Republic of Armenia Law ‘On Con- ducting Meetings, Assemblies, Rallies and Demonstrations’; OSCE/ODIHR Comments on the Draft Law of 4 October 2005; Opinion no. 290 / 2004 CDL-AD(2005)018 adopted by the Venice Commission at its Plenary Session, Strasbourg, 8 February 2005. 7 Article 225 of the criminal code. 8 Article 258 of the criminal code. 9 See also Arbitrary Arrest and Detention, below. 10 See also Arbitrary Arrest and Detention, below. 11 See also IHF, Human Rights in the OSCE Region: Europe, Central Asia and North America, Report 2005 (Events of 2004), at www.ihf-hr.org/documents/doc_summa- ry.php?sec_id=3&d_id=4057. 12 For details, see www.vahegrigoryan.org.

IHF REPORT 2006 HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION