Author: Andres-Papazian

Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
IWPR Caucasus Reporting #709
Nov 8 2013

Armenian Lawmaker Denounces Threats

Parties trade jibes after parliamentarian alleges head of state has a
gambling problem.
By Armen Karapetyan – Caucasus

An opposition politician in Armenia has been assigned police guards
after facing ferocious criticism from ruling party members because she
asked the president whether he indulged in gambling.

Zaruhi Postanjyan, a member of the Heritage Party, used the October 2
summit of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)
to ask President Serzh Sargsyan whether it was true he had lost 70
million euro in bets at a casino in Europe.

Sargsyan flatly denied this, saying he had not visited any casino in
Europe and did not have that kind of money. `I do not gamble in
casinos,’ he said.

Members of the president’s Republican Party, which dominates
parliament, were furious, and Postanjyan was sacked from the Armenian
delegation to PACE and replaced by a politician from the Rule of Law
party..

The speaker of Armenia’s parliament, Hovik Abrahamyan, issued a
statement condemning Postanjyan’s remarks.

`The guaranteed right to free expression of one’s political beliefs is
one of the cornerstones of democracy,’ he said. `However, the
expression of political beliefs is not an absolute right. Article 66
of the Armenian constitution states that the right of a deputy to free
expression is limited by the inadmissibility of defamation or
slander.’

Other members of the Republican Party also severely criticised her,
both in public statements and on their Facebook pages.

Khachik Asryan, deputy minister for sports and youth affairs, and a
member of the party’s ruling council, comparing Postanjyan to Ramil
Safarov, an Azerbaijani officer who murdered an Armenian at a NATO
meeting in Budapest in 2004.

`Zaruhi Postanjyan should be burned alive on a bonfire, but not like
Joan of Arc – like Ramil Safarov,’ Asryan said in an interview for the
news site.

The next day, Asryan qualified his remarks, saying he had meant the
politician should be burned in effigy. No disciplinary action was
taken against him, but his comments infuriated Postanjyan and her
allies.

`Armenia’s laws forbid defaming or threatening people,’ Postanjyan
told IWPR. `These laws also set out the punishment for such things.
However, we can see that the police and the prosecutors in Armenia are
taking absolutely no action when I am defamed and criticised by
representatives of the current government. It reminds me of the
inquisition in the Middle Ages, when people were burned to death for
their faith.’

Postanjyan’s Heritage party has not filed a legal complaints against
the alleged incitement, but demanded that the government `halt its
political persecution and abuse, and punish all officials who have
threatened her’.

Subsequently, in mid-October, two police officers were assigned to
guard Postanjyan.

In an interview for IWPR, Galust Sahakyan, deputy head of the
Republican Party, said, `You see – the government does worry about the
opposition member’s safety. Now no one can raise a finger against
Zaruhi Postanjyan.’

Sahakyan declined to comment on the threats and criticism made towards
her, saying only that `we are human, too, and we could hardly fail to
respond to Postanjyan’s defamation of the president’.

That was not good enough for Artur Sakunts, head of the Vanadzor
office of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly, a human rights
organisation. He told IWPR that Armenia was now a country `where
government representatives can openly issue threats and go
unpunished’.

`These events show once again that Armenia not only has an
authoritarian regime – you don’t even have the right to ask questions
that are displease the person at the head of this regime – it also has
laws that don’t work,’ Sakunts said. `Someone can threaten to burn a
person to death and still go unpunished. If the police acknowledge
that a threat exists and send officers to provide security for
Postanjyan, then why don’t they follow the threat to its roots?’

Armen Karapetyan is a freelance journalist in Armenia.

From: A. Papazian

Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijan
November 5, 2013 Tuesday

Zakir Hasanov demands to explain the words of the commander of the
102nd Russian base

On Monday, Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov received the OSCE Minsk
Group and the personal representative of the heads of the OSCE,
Andrzej Kasprzyk .

During the meeting, which was attended by the Chief of Staff Najmeddin
Sadikhov, the situation on the front line was discussed.

The Minister drew the attention of the co-chairs to the statement of
the commander of the 102nd Russian military base in Armenia, and
demanded an explanation on an official level.

The Russian co-chair Igor Popov did not exclude that the statement of
Colonel Ruzinsky was a “misunderstanding”, and promised to investigate
the matter.

In turn, Zakir Hasanov confirmed that Azerbaijan reserves the right to
liberate the occupied lands, the press service of the Defense
Ministry.

In an interview with the newspaper “Krasnaya Zvezda” on October 10,
the commander of 102 Russian military base in Armenia, Colonel Andrei
Ruzinsky said if Azerbaijan attempts to return Nagorno Karabakh under
its jurisdiction, the Russian troops will take part in the war on the
side of Armenia, ostensibly it is implied in the agreement within the
framework of the CSTO. -02D-

From: A. Papazian

CMHR teams up with Armenian Genocide Museum Institute

Winnipeg Sun, Manitoba, Canada
Thursday, November 07, 2013 05:58 PM CST

Photo: The Canadian Museum for Human Rights, as planned. (HANDOUT IMAGE)

Officials with the human rights museum have signed a deal with their
counterparts at the Armenian Genocide Museum Institute.

The deal, officially signed Thursday, will see the two museums
“exchange knowledge and expertise, educational materials, and
exhibitions,” amongst other things. The deal was facilitated with the
help of the International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights
Studies, a Canadian organization.

Approximately 1.5 million Armenians died during and after the First
World War when the leaders of the Ottoman Empire attempted to wipe out
their population for ethnic and religious reasons.

“This partnership will help bring the story of the Armenian genocide
to a wider audience, to the benefit of generations to come,” said Hayk
Demoyan, director of the Armenian Genocide Museum Institute.

The Winnipeg-based human rights museum is slated to open on Sept. 20, 2014.

From: A. Papazian

YEREVAN PRESS CLUB WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

NOVEMBER 1-7, 2013

HIGHLIGHTS:

“PRESS CLUB” IS BACK ON AIR

ETHICAL ASPECTS OF COVERING SIGNIFICANT TOPICS

NEWS.AM CORRESPONDENT INJURED IN DETENTION OF PROTEST ACTION PARTICIPANTS IN
DOWNTOWN YEREVAN

COORDINATOR OF ARMENIA TODAY CELEBRATED HALLOWEEN IN POLICE STATION

“PRESS CLUB” IS BACK ON AIR

On November 11, this season’s first talk show of the
“Press Club”
cycle, dealing with journalistic ethics, will go on air on “Yerkir Media” TV
company. The current cycle of the weekly TV talk show is produced by Yerevan
Press Club with the support of the Deutsche Welle Academy. A concrete
ethical issue will be considered by two discussants, defending opposite
perspectives, and four experts.

Watch “Press Club” on “Yerkir Media” on Mondays at 18.00 (with the rerun on
Saturdays at 10.55).

ETHICAL ASPECTS OF COVERING SIGNIFICANT TOPICS

On November 6-7, the international conference, “Ethical Reporting on Issues
of Public Interest”, was held in the Yerevan Congress hotel. The event was
organized by Yerevan Press Club with the support of the Deutsche Welle
Academy. Representatives of international organizations, state structures,
expert community, media and journalistic associations in Armenia, as well as
experts from Georgia and Moldova took part in the event. Reiner Morell,
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federative Republic of
Germany, Bettina Ruigies, Project Manager for the South Caucasus Deutsche
Welle Academy, and Boris Navasardian, President of Yerevan Press Club, made
opening speeches.

The panel discussions were devoted to the following topics: ethical aspects
of reporting on EU-Armenia relations (moderator – YPC President Boris
Navasardian, speakers – Editor of Eastern Partnership Weekly Newsletter
Heriknaz Harutyunian, author and anchor of “Urvagits” program on “Kentron”
TV Petros Ghazarian); the ethics of civic activism coverage (moderator –
Head of Media Diversity Institute-Armenia Artur Papyan, speakers – member of
civic initiative “Army in Reality” Tsovinar Nazarian and YPC project
coordinator Mikayel Zolian); copyright and new media (moderator – lawyer Ara
Ghazarian, speakers – media expert Mesrop Harutyunian and Head of
“Journalists for the Future” NGO Suren Degherian). The Executive Director of
the Moldovan Association of Independent Press Petru Makovei and Chairman of
the Board of Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics Zviad Koridze also took
part in all the three panels, presenting the experience of their own
countries and the international best practice.

In conclusion, the prospects for media self-regulation in the current
conditions of technical progress were discussed, for now citizens not only
consume news, but also generate it.

NEWS.AM CORRESPONDENT INJURED IN DETENTION OF PROTEST ACTION PARTICIPANTS IN
DOWNTOWN YEREVAN

On November 5, an incident happened to Gayaneh Aprunts, correspondent of the
News.am, in downtown Yerevan Mashtots Avenue during the dispersal of protest
action, organized by the oppositional movement United National Initiative.
The journalist, shooting the happenings, was in the way of policemen,
detaining an action participant: “I was shooting the traces of explosions on
the asphalt, with a jam next to me: police officers were trying to detain
Shant Harutyunian (leader of the movement – Ed.Note) and other activists. I
felt people approach me, turned around and immediately felt the weight of a
number of people on me. I hit my head against the car windshield; I felt a
blow in the eye and fell down. The camera fell off my hands and broke. I was
helped up onto my feet.” Gayaneh Aprunts’ report on the happenings was
published in the article “News.am
Reporter Attacked in Clashes in Yerevan”, posted on News.am on November 5,
2013. The video of the incident, shot by the Gyumri “GALA” TV company, was
attached to the story.

COORDINATOR OF ARMENIA TODAY CELEBRATED HALLOWEEN IN POLICE STATION

On October 31 evening, the coordinator of ARMENIA Today Argishti Kivirian
was taken to Arabkir Police Department of Yerevan along with three civic
activists. According to the ARMENIA Today information, dated November 1,
2013 (
“Coordinator of ARMENIA Today and Activists Were Taken to Police Station for
Attempt to Present President with Pumpkin”), the activists brought an empty
pumpkin as a gift to the RA President at his office on the occasion of
Halloween celebrations. Handing the pumpkin to the police officers, guarding
the residence, they continued their way, however were detained not far from
the residence, the article reports. According to the ARMENIA Today, the
activists were detained in the Police station for over 4 hours and were
later released, with an administrative action brought against them. Further
the article states that the participants of this action aimed to complain
against the actions of the Police, considering them illegitimate.

When reprinting or using the information above, reference to the Yerevan
Press Club is required.
You are welcome to send any comment and feedback about the Newsletter to:
[email protected]

Subscription for the Newsletter is free. To subscribe or unsubscribe from
this mailing list, please send a message to: [email protected]

Editor of YPC Newsletter – Elina POGHOSBEKIAN
____________________________________________
Yerevan Press Club
9B, Ghazar Parpetsi str.
0002, Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+ 374 10) 53 00 67; 53 35 41; 53 76 62
Fax: (+374 10) 53 56 61
E-mail: [email protected]
Web Site:

From: A. Papazian

THE WORLD STOOD BY AS THE HOLOCAUST BEGAN. HAVE WE MADE THE SAME MISTAKE WITH BURMA?

PETER POPHAM

Thursday 7 November 2013

World View: Diplomats have unique freedom of action – and sometimes
this is crucial

Robert Townsend Smallbones was an exemplary British diplomat who
earlier this year was posthumously awarded the British Holocaust Medal,
in recognition of the number of German Jews he saved from the death
camps by giving them British visas. But could he have done more?

The question is prompted by an exhibition opening on Monday at
Berlin’s Centrum Judaicum on the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht,
which gathers the impressions and dispatches of a host of foreign
envoys present in Germany in November 1938 as the “catastrophe before
the catastrophe” exploded around them.

Mr Smallbones liked the Germans. They are “habitually kind to animals,
to children, to the aged and infirm”, he told the Foreign Office.

“They seemed to me to have no cruelty in their make-up.” So, when
well-orchestrated Nazi mobs began burning synagogues, smashing shops
and homes and throwing Jews into concentration camps, it was an ugly
shock. In Frankfurt, he wrote, Jews were forced to kneel and place
their heads on the ground. When some of them vomited, “the guards
removed the vomit by taking the culprit by the scruff of the neck and
wiping it away with his face and hair”. These Jews were later taken
to Buchenwald and some beaten to death.

Many other envoys conveyed their disgust to their bosses back home. It
was “mediaeval barbarism”, “a disgusting spectacle”, they wrote. “The
scope of brutality,” wrote a French diplomat, was only “exceeded by
the [Turkish] massacres of the Armenians”.

Nor could the diplomats be in any doubt about the desperation of Jews
to leave Germany: 1,000 of them took refuge in the Polish embassy in
Leipzig. The US consul-general in Stuttgart reported: “Jews from all
sections of Germany thronged into the office until it was overflowing
with humanity, begging for an immediate visa.” But despite the
eloquent horror of the envoys, nothing happened. Washington was the
only country to recall its ambassador. No country broke off diplomatic
relations. No sanctions were imposed. Nor did other countries act on
the clear information that Germany’s Jews were in mortal danger. The
wealthy nations were no more generously disposed to the wretched of
the earth in 1938 than they are today.

The result was that the Nazis got away with Kristallnacht. The outside
world failed the test. As the historian Raphael Gross writes, the Nazis
“felt like pioneers who had just successfully entered new territory”.

November 1938 appears one of those occasions when diplomatic activity
could have made a real difference: a united reaction from the outside
world would undoubtedly have been condemned as “interference” but it
could just have halted “the catastrophe after the catastrophe”.

As the BBC comedy Ambassadors shows, diplomats have unique freedom
of action, hobnobbing with the ruling caste but also able to build
bridges to the oppressed. And sometimes this is crucial. In Burma,
during the decades of military rule, the willingness of British envoys
to go out on a public limb in support of the democratic opposition
was vital in showing the Burmese that the tyrannical status quo was
considered intolerable outside the country.

The converse is also true. The Pope, as Stalin pointed out, has no
divisions, but the status of Pope Pius XII during World War Two was
enormous. So when he refused to publicly denounce the persecution
of Roman Jews by the occupying Nazis it was easy for the Germans to
conclude that mass deportation would meet no serious impediment from
the Church.

Sometimes strategic hopes have to be sacrificed to the emotions of
the moment, when they are as strong as those produced by Kristallnacht.

Burmese Buddhists attacked and killed Rohingya Muslims in race riots in
June 2012, just as Aung San Suu Kyi was beginning her charm offensive
in the West. Everywhere she went, the priority of governments was
to make her welcome, so it passed with little comment that she had
failed to condemn the anti-Rohingya pogrom.

The violence has continued sporadically ever since, while Ms Suu
Kyi has yet to denounce it convincingly. It should have been made
clear right at the start that this was something the West would not
tolerate. Now it may be too late.

From: A. Papazian

YAIR AURON’S BOOK TO BE DISTRIBUTED IN DIASPORA COMMUNITIES

14:50, 8 November, 2013

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS. Author and Publicist Zori Balayan
presented 500 copies of Yair Auron’s book titled “The Banality of
Indifference (Zionism and the Armenian Genocide)” to the Ministry
of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia to be distributed in the
Armenian communities of Diaspora. The Press and Public Relations
Department of the Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia
informed “Armenpress” that the Minister of Diaspora of the Republic
of Armenia Hranush Hakobyan introduced “The Banality of Indifference
(Zionism and the Armenian Genocide)” and stated that notwithstanding
the book was published yet in late 1990s, it was translated into the
Armenian only in 2013 due to the efforts of publicist Zori Balayan.

The genocide of Armenians by Turks during the First World War was
one of the most horrendous deeds of modern times and a precursor of
the genocidal acts that have marked the rest of the twentieth century.

Despite the worldwide attention the atrocities received at the
time, the massacre has not remained a part of the world’s historical
consciousness. The parallels between the Jewish and Armenian situations
and the reactions of the Jewish community in Palestine (the Yishuv)
to the Armenian genocide, which was muted and largely self-interested,
are explored by Yair Auron. In attempting to assess and interpret
these disparate reactions, Auron maintains a fairminded balance in
assessing claims of altruism and self-interest, expressed in universal,
not merely Jewish, terms.

While not denying the uniqueness of the Holocaust, Auron carefully
distinguishes it from the Armenian genocide reviewing existing theories
and relating Armenian and Jewish experience to ongoing issues of
politics and identity. As a groundbreaking work of comparative history,
this volume will be read by Armenian area specialists, historians of
Zionism and Israel, and students of genocide. Yair Auron is senior
lecturer at The Open University of Israel and the Kibbutzim College of
Education. He is the author, in Hebrew, of Jewish-Israeli Identity,
Sensitivity to World Suffering: Genocide in the Twentieth Century,
We Are All German Jews, and Jewish Radicals in France during the
Sixties and Seventies (published in French as well).

© 2009 ARMENPRESS.am

From: A. Papazian

DOCTORS GIVE ONE MONTH TO SAVE LITTLE ANNA

November 08, 2013 | 10:15

YEREVAN. – The “Give Me Life” initiative informs that Anna Melikjanyan,
who is born in 2011, needs help.

The child is diagnosed with Scoliosis, which a medical condition
in which a person’s spine is curved from side to side. The child’s
illness threatens her spine, and this will put her life at risk.

The doctors in Armenia have told little Anna’s parents that she needs
to undergo immediate surgery abroad, since her life will be in danger
within the next one month.

The respective surgery costs 40,000 euros in Germany. To find this
amount, Anna’s parents rely on the help by all good people.

To help little Anna, account No.1570016083200200 is opened in Anna
Melikjanyan’s name at Ameriabank.

Her parents stand ready to provide all documents attesting to the
little girl’s illness and the costs for her treatment.

For more information please call +37498 705 508.

From: A. Papazian

TWO-YEAR INTERVAL MARKS IMPORTANT MOMENT IN SARGSYAN-ALIYEV MEETING

13:03 ~U 08.11.13

The upcoming meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders
is interesting in that it is taking place after two years’ interval,
says a political analyst.

“The meeting was scheduled for an earlier period, but it was postponed
due to the presidential election in Azerbaijan. So now the meeting
may take place even before the Vilnius Summit,” Sergey Minasyan told
a news conference on Friday.

He said neither Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev nor the
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (which brokers the peace deal over
Nagorno-Karabakh) have any big expectations from the meeting.

“Agreements will be reached to continue the talks at the meeting. But
no document will be signed, in all likelihood. The existing format and
the maintenance of status quo is advantageous to the Armenian side,”
he said, considering the Minks Group format the most optimal choice.

As for the meeting, the expert said that it will only enable the sides
to keep up with the dynamics of the negotiation process. “Negotiations
for negotiations; this is the only realistic approach to the Karabakh
conflict at the moment,” he noted.

Minasyan said he hopes President Aliyev will finally realize that
Azerbaijan’s continuing military threats are not only unrealistic
but also extremely dangerous for the country.

“The Ramil Safarov case gave Armenia a lever [to claim] that
Nagorno-Karabakh cannot be part of a country like Azerbaijan. Armenia
could have no better or more effective lever. We must realize very
well that there are formal standards of diplomatic ethics, which the
co-chairs have to maintain. But at the same time, there is the indirect
format of their activity not subject to publication,” Minasyan added.

From: A. Papazian

POLICE VIOLATED CITIZENS’ ‘RIGHT TO PROTEST’ IN ARMENIA – VIDEO

1.08.2013 20:11 epress.am

David Gevorgyan, detained during the clashes on Mashtots Ave. in
Yerevan on Nov. 5, claims that police actions against him and fellow
detainees were unlawful. At a press conference today, Gevorgyan said
he did not participate in the march. Upon learning that the street
was closed, he came to Liberty Square, where he was detained without
grounds and for 3.5 hours while in police custody he tried to find out
the reason for his detention. According to Gevorgyan, for hours police
officers were attempting to determine which officer detained him.

“Then they said there’s a criminal case under Article 316 Section 2
[“violence against a representative of the authorities”]. They drew
up the record of my arrest only 6-7 hours later,” said Gevorgyan,
who is not being charged.

Member of a prison monitoring group Nelly Harutyunyan said she visited
at least 10 of those arrested. According to her, their visitation
rights and their right to make calls were violated.

Also speaking at the press conference, political analyst Edgar
Vardanyan noticed that in “civilized countries” when citizens are
demonstrating disobedience, for example, when “anarchists smash the
windows of brand name stores and set buildings on fire”, police
officers wait for the demonstration to be held, and only then do
they begin to make arrests and detain people, “since citizens have
the right to protest.”

Update same day, 8:46 pm: An earlier version of this article translated
Edgar Vardanyan’s remarks as the “right to revolt”; however, the word
“protest” more accurately reflects the original statement.

From: A. Papazian

POLICE TAKE SHANT HARUTYUNYAN TO AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION

by Nana Martirosyan

ARMINFO
Friday, November 8, 17:35

The police have taken activist Shant Harutyunyan to an undisclosed
location.

ArmInfo’s correspondent reports from the scene that Harutyunyan’s son
Shahen and the Preparliament activists were waiting for him at the
building of the General Investigation Department. Before the police
sat Harutyunyan into the car, Shahen had cried that he was proud of
his father.

To recall, dozens of policemen and activists were injured as a result
of the clashes that followed a demonstration organized in the center
of Yerevan in support of activist Shant Harutyunyan, on 5 November.

Over 20 activists have been detained. The clashes started at 05:30 PM
when the demonstrators came across a police cordon. The police say
that the demonstration was not sanctioned. As was reported earlier,
the demonstrators were moving to Mashtots Park, when Shant Harutyunyan
tried to cross the street against the traffic lights. The police’s
attempt to stop him ended in a skirmish. Harutyunyan and his son were
detained. Some demonstrators began blowing up bottles with gasoline.

The police cordoned the road leading to the presidential palace.

Earlier Shant Harutyunyan organized a picket in Liberty Square. He
stood there with a poster saying “I am Declaring a Revolution!” A
criminal case has been instituted against 14 activists and 6 have
been released.

From: A. Papazian