On Oct. 19, thousands of protesters gathered in Yerevan to call on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to punish Armenia for failing to comply with its resolutions concerning the March 2008 post-election unrest, including the imprisonment of opposition members.
The protest was organized by the opposition coalition—which includes the Armenian National Congress (ANC)—to coincide with the Council of Europe’s “Forum for the Future of Democracy,” being held from Oct. 19-21.
Protesters gathered outside the site of the forum, and although no serious injuries were reported, various sources have reported heavy police presence and the blocking of roads to Liberty Square.
Police also prevented ANC representative Vladimir Karapetyan and others from passing a letter on to forum participants. Karapetyan told journalists that the protest would show “what a police state we are living in.”
“We just have to struggle for victory of democracy every day, every hour. There is no other way. Armenia’s future is conditioned by this,” Aram Sargsyan, chairman of the Political Council of Republic Oppositional Party, told the gathered crowd.
Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Armenia’s first president and head of the ANC, said that “European institutions must realize that a lenient policy toward the Armenian authorities and attempts to change the human rights situation by means of reforms do not produce any effect. The incumbent authorities only understand ultimatums and sanctions,” reported News.am.
Stepan Demirchyan, the chairman of the People’s Party of Armenia, spoke about election fraud, calling it a blatant human rights violation. Levon Zurabyan, a member of the ANC, said the rally was held to remind the international community and forum participants about the reality of human rights in Armenia, citing the 13 political prisoners still behind bars, and the lack of independent television.
Some protesters were dressed in black-and-white striped prisoner uniforms with the names of current prisoners displayed on their chests.
Armenian MP Zaruhi Postanjyan from the Heritage parliamentary faction—a participant at the forum—was reportedly among the protesters. Earlier this month, Postanjyan delivered a speech before the Monitoring Committee of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) demanding the release of the 13 prisoners and an investigation of the March 2008 events (including the 10 deaths and the legality of involving Armenia’s armed forces; media censorship; and the need for electoral reform).
According to Haykakan Zhamanak, the Armenian Times Daily, Council of Europe secretary Thorbjorn Jagland “may visit political prisoners in Armenian jails after a request by a group of local non-governmental organizations.”
Authorities insist that there are no political prisoners in the country, and those who were jailed following the March 1, 2008 post-election unrest were convicted for committing crimes. The March 2008 protests occurred during the presidency of Robert Kocharian and resulted in the deaths of 10 individuals, including a police officer and a soldier, a number of injuries, and the arrests of opposition members, some of whom have since been released. Political parties have since been banned from holding protests at Liberty Square.
Nanore Barsoumian
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For the average Armenian with our idealistic notions of everything Armenian, this is very troubling news. At a very high level, we can equate this to the evolution of democracy in Armenia after decades of centralized and controlling culture. The problem is that we expect progress and that , with time, the value system of the Armenian will emerge… that is the value system that we perceive. Hvae our values changed or been influenced by the period of 1920-1991?
I am certain this is the subject of much debate ,,, but one thing is clear… it must be resolved for Armenia to advance. It hurts to see this aired publically, but that in itself is the democratic process. Let us pray that our leaders get through this so that Armenia can thrive.