PACE Monitoring Committee concerned about continuing arrests in Armenia
Strasbourg, 18.03.2008 – Meeting in Paris on 18 March 2008, the
Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe (PACE) expressed its deep concern about the arrest of more than
one hundred people in Armenia and the conditions in which such arrests
took place, following the events of 1 March during which eight people
died and some two hundred persons were injured.
In the opinion of the committee, the arrest of large numbers of
opposition leaders and of three Members of Parliament is inevitably
perceived as a crack-down on the opposition by the authorities and will
do nothing to ease the tensions in Armenia. The committee called on all
sides to refrain from any action that would increase the tensions and to
commit themselves to a genuine dialogue to resolve the current crisis.
The committee was informed by its envoy John Prescott of the main
conclusions arising from his fact-finding mission to Yerevan, on 7 and 8
March 2008, and called on all sides to accept Mr Prescott’s proposals
aimed at resolving the current crisis, in particular:
* the recognition by all sidesof the authority of the Constitutional
Court and its ruling on the outcome of the Presidential elections;
* the lifting of the state of emergency and the restoring of individual
human rights and freedoms;
* the release of all jailed activists who have not committed violent
crimes;
* the establishment of an independent inquiry into the circumstances
that led to the events on 1 March 2008 and the monitoring of the
on-going investigation process;
* the initiation of a dialogue between all political forces, in the
following areas:
– reform of the electoral framework with a view to regaining public
trust in the conduct and outcome of elections;
– reform of the political system with a view to providing a proper place
for the opposition in the decision-making process and governance of the
country;
– media reform, especially aimed at the creation of a truly independent
public broadcaster.
The Monitoring Committee noted that the dialogue between all political
forces could be initiated in the form of round tables under the aegis of
the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly.
The committee welcomed the fact that all political group leaders in the
Assembly have requested that a debate under urgent procedure be held on
the functioning of democratic institutions in Armenia during the April
part-session of the Assembly (14-18 April 2008).
PRESS RELEASE
Parliamentary Assembly Communication Unit
Ref: 199a08
Tel: +33 3 88 41 31 93
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The Parliamentary Assembly brings together 318 members from the national
parliaments of the 47 member states.
President: Lluís Maria de Puig (Spain, SOC) ; Secretary General of the
Assembly: Mateo Sorinas.
Political Groups: EPP/CD (Group of the European People’s Party); SOC
(Socialist Group); EDG (European Democratic Group);
ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe); UEL (Group of the
Unified European Left).