ASBAREZ Online [08-04-2004]

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08/04/2004
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) Montana's Burns Becomes 40th Senate Supporter of Human Rights Measure 2) Press Undermined in Azerbaijan, Reports Human Rights Watch 3) Russian Lawmaker under Fire in Conflict Zone 4) Azeri Official Declares Armenia Will be Azerbaijan's in Coming Decades 1) Montana's Burns Becomes 40th Senate Supporter of Human Rights Measure WASHINGTON, DC--Montana Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) agreed this week to cosponsor the Genocide Resolution, S.Res.164, bringing the number of US Senators supporting this human rights measure to forty, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). "I am proud to join with 39 of my Senate colleagues in support of S.Res.164," said Senator Burns in a statement to the ANCA. "This legislation stresses the importance of remembering and learning the lessons of past crimes against humanity, including the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, and the Cambodian and Rwandan genocides, in an effort to stop future atrocities. Silence in the face of genocide only encourages those who would commit such atrocities in the future--a legacy which we cannot afford to pass on to our children." "Armenian Americans, in Montana and across the United States, join in thanking Senator Burns for his principled stand in defense of the fundamental right of all people to live free from the terrors of genocide," said ANCA-Western Region Executive Director Ardashes Kassakhian, who traveled to Montana in late July to meet with members of the state's Congressional delegation, along with local community activist Yedvart Tchakerian. "We have been very encouraged, in recent months, by the increasing effectiveness of our grassroots outreach in the Northern Plain states, with Senators from Montana and both North and South Dakota supporting the Genocide Resolution, and the governors of Idaho, Nebraska, and Montana issuing proclamations commemorating the Armenian Genocide." The Genocide Resolution marks the 15th anniversary of the US implementation of the Genocide Convention and reaffirms the commitment of the American people to this landmark treaty. It specifically cites the importance of applying the lessons of past genocides in order to make the world safe from future genocides. Senators John Ensign (R-NV) and Jon Corzine (D-NJ) introduced this measure in June of last year. Its companion measure in the US House, H.Res.193, led by Representatives George Radanovich (R-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), was adopted unanimously by the House Judiciary Committee last May and currently has 111 cosponsors. On July 15th, the US House passed an amendment, authored by Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA), which prohibited the government of Turkey from using US foreign aid dollars to lobby against the Genocide Resolution. Support for the Genocide Resolution has been widespread outside of Congress as well, with a diverse coalition of over 100 ethnic, religious, civil and human rights organizations calling for its passage, including American Values, National Organization of Women, Sons of Italy, NAACP, Union of Orthodox Rabbis, and the National Council of La Raza. For information about Senator Burns, who serves on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, visit: <; 2) Press Undermined in Azerbaijan, Reports Human Rights Watch NEW YORK (HRW)-Azerbaijan's government should act now to stop the deterioration of press freedom underway since the October presidential elections, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today. Azeri authorities have failed to prosecute police responsible for attacks on journalists, imposed crippling damages in civil defamation suits, and manipulated resources to pressure independent or opposition media outlets. "The political crackdown that followed last year's election has had a lasting, harmful effect on press freedom in Azerbaijan, said Rachel Denber, acting executive director of Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia division. "The government can reverse this by finally acknowledging that police have used excessive force against journalists covering demonstrations, and also by capping the crippling damages often levied in defamation suits." Azerbaijan's October presidential election, which the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe called "fraudulent," led to massive street demonstrations and excessive police violence to quell them. In the aftermath of the violence, the government then unleashed a crackdown against the political opposition and the independent and opposition media. Rapporteurs from the Monitoring Committee of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly are scheduled to arrive in Azerbaijan today to examine Azerbaijan's compliance with its commitments and obligations to the Council of Europe. The 18-page briefing paper, based on interviews in Azerbaijan with journalists, editors, government officials and media rights groups, details how the security forces attacked journalists during the demonstrations. While not a single security agent was held responsible, the authorities filed charges against an opposition activist who allegedly assaulted a pro-government reporter during a demonstration. A journalist for an independent wire service who was beaten by police at one of the demonstrations was subpoenaed to testify in court, but as a witness for the prosecution against opposition members accused of the post-election violence. His testimony about police severely beating him did not lead to any action against those responsible. "Impunity for police violence against journalists gives police a green light to use violence again," said Denber. Among those currently on trial for organizing the street demonstrations is Rauf Arifoglu, editor-in-chief of a leading opposition newspaper, Yeni Musavat. Human Rights Watch is calling for his immediate release pending the outcome of his trial. The Azeri government abolished pre-publication censorship in 1998, but has since then imposed considerable informal restrictions on the media, which have sharpened since last year's election. Government officials or those closely connected to the government are invariably the plaintiffs in civil defamation suits against independent or opposition media. Prohibitive fines imposed on these outlets have forced them to suspend publication, suggesting that the courts aimed primarily to cripple or close them. Television media is overwhelmingly pro-government. The Human Rights Watch briefing paper describes how the government informally manipulates private broadcast media, newspaper-distribution networks and printing presses, and blocks access to information for journalists working for the independent press. "Taken together, these are methods of control and intimidation, aimed at setting unreasonable restrictions on media content without resorting to formal censorship," said Denber. Since the election, the Azeri government has taken some measures to rectify abuses against journalists. On a joint initiative with the Press Council, a nongovernmental umbrella group, it established a permanent commission to prevent and resolve conflict between media representatives and the authorities. "The establishment of the permanent council is a welcome step, but it falls far short of what's needed to promote a free and independent media in Azerbaijan," said Denber. Human Rights Watch called on the Azerbaijan's government to ensure the founding of a genuinely independent public television station, abolish criminal libel, introduce caps on civil libel suits and prosecute those responsible for attacks on journalists. The briefing paper, Azerbaijan: Media, the Presidential Elections and the Aftermath, can be found at 3) Russian Lawmaker under Fire in Conflict Zone (Civil Georgia/Itar Tass)--Georgian Deputy Security Minister Gigi Ugulava refuted on August 4, reports that Georgian troops fired on Andrei Kokoshin, who chairs the Russian Duma's Committee for CIS affairs. According to the spokesman for South Ossetia Special Functions Ministry, the incident took place in the South Ossetian conflict area, near the village of Sarabuk. Pliyev said the car was attacked by Georgia. "According to the information available to us, the passengers in the car--Andrei Kokoshin and the co-chairmen of the Joint Control Commissions are alive," he stated. After the car came under fire, Georgian interior troops stationed in conflict zone heavily shelled Sarabuk. The village was fired on from a detour road. There have been no reports of civilian casualties, the spokesman said. Georgia refuted the accounts saying that the Ossetian side opened fire "in the direction of the Georgian peacekeepers, and the Georgian side responded to it," Ugulava told a press briefing. "This will always happen in case of an attack." "I declare with full responsibility, this was a provocation masterminded by the Ossetian side," Ugulava said, adding that had Georgia been notified of Kokoshin's visit to the breakaway region, it would have ensured his security. Meanwhile Interfax reported that the Georgian navy is ready to obey President Mikheil Saakashvili's order to prevent any vessel--except those on humanitarian missions--from entering territorial waters near the self- proclaimed republic of Abkhazia, Koba Bochorishvili, commander of the Poti marine division of the Georgian coast guard service, said on Wednesday. "We did receive the president's order that vessels that have violated the border should be stopped in territorial waters near the Abkhaz coasts and that fire should be opened on them if they disobey orders," Bochorishvili said. This warning also applies to passenger boats that could travel from Sochi to Sukhumi, he said. "Fire should be opened on all vessels that enter the Sukhumi port without the Georgian authorities' agreement. They should be sunk," the Georgian president said at a news conference on Tuesday. The Russian Foreign Minister reacted sharply on Wednesday in a statement that said any attempts to inflict damage or infringe the lives of Russian citizens "will be adequately rebuffed." "Official Tbilisi has taken an unprecedented step," the ministry stated. "This warning is addressed also to Russian tourists who make excursion trips by sea from Sochi to Novy Afon and Sukhumi." 4) Azeri Official Declares Armenia Will be Azerbaijan's in Coming Decades BAKU (RFE/RL)--Armenia will cease to exist as an independent state and its territory will be incorporated into Azerbaijan over the next three decades, a senior Azerbaijani military official was quoted as saying, taking anti-Armenian rhetoric in Baku to new heights. "Within the next 25-years there will exist no state of Armenia in the South Caucasus," Colonel Ramiz Melikov, the chief spokesman for Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry, said, according to the Baku daily "Zerkalo." "Those people have done so many nasty things to their neighbors that they have no right to live in this region." "Modern Armenia is built on historical Azerbaijani lands," he added. "I think that in 25-30 years' times its territory will again come under Azerbaijan's jurisdiction." Melikov was quoted in an extensive "Zerkalo" article that called on the Azerbaijani government to promptly restart the war with the Armenians and win back Mountainous Karabagh. The Azeri leadership regularly threatens to do just that, complaining about the international community's reluctance to end Armenian control of the disputed region. The most recent such threat came from President Ilham Aliyev last week. "Zerkalo" said Azeri military officials believe that their troops are prepared for renewed hostilities and that "the upcoming war will not be long-lasting." "Today the personnel of the Azerbaijani armed forces is not the one that existed ten years ago," Melikov said. "We substantially exceed Armenia with the size of the population and the number of soldiers. Soon the entire world will recognize Armenia as an aggressor country. That is why Armenia is now on the brink of defeat." Armenia has repeatedly dismissed such statements from Baku, saying that Azerbaijan would have long resumed the war without a warning had it been confident of victory. But its reaction to Aliyev's latest threats was unusually sharp, with the Armenian Foreign Ministry warning Azerbaijan of "disastrous consequences." The armed forces of Mountainous Karabagh Republic, on Tuesday, began a ten-day military exercise which officials say will test their combat-readiness during "defensive and counter-offensive operations." The war games followed a call-up of army reservists and will involve the use of live ammunition. Just last week "Zerkalo" quoted an unnamed Western diplomat in Baku as saying that the Azeri society and army are not prepared for war and that the West does not take its government's threats seriously. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2004 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets. From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress