Author: Antonian Lara

Berlin to host `I’m not a killer’ documentary performance

27.02.2010 16:17 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On March 5, within the framework of `100 Grad’
festival, `I’m not a killer’ film produced in documentary theatrical
style will be presented in Berlin’s Hebbel am Ufer theatre. The film
is a story telling about Armenian Genocide. Opening night of a play
was held in Berlin’s Heimathafen theatre on February 12, second
performance was on February 19.

5 actors and a musician (Armenian, Turkish, French and German origin
performers) will be citing extracts from shorthanded entries of
Soghomon Tehlirian’s trial, held in Berlin Criminal Court in 1921.

For the first time, the entries were published by `Berlin Publishing
Society for Politicians W8’in 1921. Afterwards, second edition of the
minutes was published by Tessa Hofmann, specializing in Armenian
studies, in 1980-1985.

`Every time, right before the performance, Tessa Hofmann, briefly
tells about the historical events. Afterwards, we (five actors) embody
all the characters, by citing records of the trial. The performance
aims to promote reconciliation and better understanding among nations
and countries involved in the process,’ performance actor Stepan
Gantralyan told a PanARMENIAN.NET reporter.

According to him, mostly Armenian audience attended the first
performance. Yet, during the second one, Germans, Turks and Kurds were
also present.

`All the tickets for performances were sold. About 80 to 100 people
were present,’ Stepan Gantralyan said.

Soghomon Tehlirian was a native of Erzinjan, an Armenian Evangelical
(Protestant) and Armenian Genocide survivor. During the Genocide he
watched his sisters raped and family butchered by Turks while on the
extermination marches, and although he too was injured and believed
dead, he escaped and recovered. With the organization and direction of
Shahan Natalie, Tehlirian assassinated the former Turkish Grand Vizir
Talat Pasha in Berlin, Germany in broad daylight and in the presence
of many witnesses on March 15, 1921 as an act of vengeance for his
role in orchestrating the Armenian Genocide.

Tehlirian was tried for murder, but was eventually acquitted by the
German court. The trial of Tehlirian was a rather sensationalized
event at the time, with Tehlirian being defended by three defense
attorneys, including Dr. Theodor Niemeyer, professor of Law at Kiel
University.
The trial examined not only Tehlirian’s actions but also Tehlirian’s
conviction that Talat Pasha was the main author of the Armenian
Genocide. The defense attorneys made no attempt to deny the fact that
Tehlirian had killed a man, and instead focused on the influence of
the Armenian Genocide on Tehlirian’s mental state. It took the jury
slightly over an hour to render a verdict of "not guilty" on grounds
of temporary insanity.

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic
destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during
and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres, and
deportations involving forced marches under conditions designed to
lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths
reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the
Genocide survivors.

To date, twenty countries and 44 U.S. states have officially
recognized the events of the period as genocide, and most genocide
scholars and historians accept this view.

ROA CHAMBER OF ADVOCATES CRITICIZES POLICE ACTIONS

2010/02/25 | 16:27

Society

The RoA Chamber of Advocates released a statement today criticizing
an attempt by an investigator attached to the Erebuni Investigative
Division to seize a computer belonging to "Sretenka-Konsul" legal firm.

The Chamber says that it received a complaint filed by attorney Ara
Zohrabyan regarding the illegal seizure of the computer containing the
firm’s legal documents. The Chamber points out that Armenia has agreed
to a number of international treaties guaranteeing the inviolability of
"attorney-client" privilege. It also criticizes recent police efforts
to prevent attorneys from contacting clients who have been detained
by law-enforcement.

FORUM SHINES SPOTLIGHT ON PLAN TO PRIVATIZE GLENDALE HEALTH CENTER

Asbarez
ht-on-privatization-plan/
Feb 26th, 2010

GLENDALE-More than 80 health care workers, patients, and community
members turned out this past Saturday for a special community-wide
forum shedding light on LA County Supervisor Mike Antonovich’s proposal
to privatize the Glendale Health Center. The Armenian Youth Federation
joined together with SEIU Local 721 to bring the issue directly before
the community and into the public’s awareness.

"With so many of the patients at the clinic being medically-underserved
Armenians, we could not help but get involved when we learned about
what was happening," said Serouj Aprahamian, Executive Director of
the AYF and emcee for the event. "As an organization dedicated to
social justice, we found it necessary to bring this issue out from
under the dark and inform our community about the threats posed by
privatization ."

The Glendale Health Center (GHC) is one of LA County’s most successful
primary care clinics, with over 3,500 patients and 11,000 patient
visits each year-the vast majority of whom are uninsured Armenian and
Spanish-speaking elderly. In October of 2008, Supervisor Antonovich
called for studying the feasibility of handing GHC over to a private
company. The details of the proposal have yet to be released to
the public.

Bob Schoonover, President of SEIU Local 721-the union representing
many of the health care workers at GHC-spoke at the forum about the
shrouded nature of the privatization plan. "If I was him [Antonovich],
and going to consider this, I would have a forum to let constituents
weigh in on it," he said. "Till today the results of the report have
not been made public."

Schoonover added that he personally relayed an invitation to the
Supervisor to attend the forum but got back no response.

Another speaker at the forum was Rosie Martinez, a public health nurse
with over 27 years of experience serving in LA County. She spoke
about how access to health care has been diminishing in Glendale
throughout recent years and pointed out that privatizing GHC will
lead to an influx of patients on the surrounding clinics, causing
even greater strain to health care in the area.

Marina Manukian, a nurse at GHC, also took to the podium, providing a
health care worker’s perspective on the proposed privatization. "Our
patients have confidence and trust in our staff," she explained.

"Privatizing the clinic will cut access to quality services for so
many who rely on it."

Also in attendance was Nina Martin, a patient at GHC who described her
experience there as caring and attentive in comparison with privately
run facilities. "With private doctors you wait and wait for hours
just to be seen," she said. "They overbook because there is a profit
motive. GHC doesn’t work like that. You go, see your doctor and they
give you the help you need."

Other speakers at the event included John Tanner, Executive Director
of SEIU Local 721, Richard Zaldivar, President and Founder of Wall
Las Memorias, and Nairi Nahapetian, candidate for California’s 43rd
Assembly District seat. A brief video titled "Misguided Priorities:
The Case for Glendale Health Center," was also shown. In addition,
attendees were broken up into groups where they discussed their health
care experiences and drafted letters to Antonovich calling for him
to drop the privatization plan.

Commitment cards were also passed out to the audience, encouraging
participants to get involved in the campaign to save the Glendale
Health Center. Many of the participants at the forum committed
themselves to staying vigilant and taking action on this important
issue affecting their community.

The first of such actions came just days after the forum, on February
23, when members of SEIU, the AYF and local constituents visited
Supervisor Antonovich’s office in Pasadena. They presented the letters
drafted at the forum to his staff and relayed their concerns to the
Supervisor’s Health Deputy, Phillip Chen.

"The fact of the matter is that it is up to us to be aware of what
is going on in our community and protect access to basic rights like
health care," said Aprahamian. "If they do not reach out and include
the people in the process, the onus is on the people to be involved
and make their voice heard."

STATEMENT OF THE NAGORNO KARABAKH REPUBLIC STATE COMMISSION ON PRISONERS OF WAR, MISSING PERSONS, AND HOSTAGES

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
2010-02-25 11:50

To get doubtful propagandistic dividends, the Azerbaijani authorities
keep cashing in on the humanitarian issues of prisoners of war,
manipulating impudently Armenian citizens in the Azerbaijani prisons.

The last more than obvious sample of this is the video-reel promoted at
the Azerbaijani websites, where the personages assert "the unbearable
conditions in the Armenian army and comfortable life in Azerbaijan".

Surely, even those in Azerbaijan realize that similar "revelations"
are the results of the local special services’ activity and quite a
clumsy attempt to lay the blame at somebody else’s door.

However, we cannot but worry about another side of this fact.

Manipulating cynically the Armenian prisoners of war and actually
making a laughingstock of them, the Azerbaijani authorities violate
the principles of international humanitarian law, in particular,
the Geneva Conventions providing certain rules of treatment of this
category of persons.

In this regard, we consider it suitable to remind that during the
Karabakh war the Azerbaijani party violated regularly the Geneva
Conventions canons, in particular, refusing to provide the NKR with
corresponding information about the prisoners, creating unbearable
conditions for the prisoners of war and hostages, exposing them to
mockeries and tortures, as a result of which the majority of them
deceased.

At the same time, already in the spring of 1992, the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic stated their full acknowledgement of the additional protocols
to the Geneva Conventions and unconditional implementation of their
provisions. The unconditional observance of the Geneva Conventions by
the NKR authorities was repeatedly confirmed by international human
rights and humanitarian organizations, including the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Considering the abovementioned, the NKR State Commission on
Prisoners of War, Missing Persons, and Hostages condemns strongly
the politicization of the purely humanitarian issue of prisoners of
war and hostages by official Baku.

At the same time, we call on the international structures concerned,
and first of all the ICRC, to react correspondingly to similar actions
of the Azerbaijani party and recommend it strongly to respect the
fundamental human rights.

TWO YEARS LATER

February 23, 2010

Yesterday the police hindered the march held by the young activists of
the Armenian National Congress, causing a scuffle. On February 19 was
the second anniversary of the tragic events of presidential elections
2008. Because of the occasion several hundred young people held a
protest rally in downtown Yerevan. The march reached the building
of the Central Electoral Commission from the ANC office located on
Koryun street. At the intersection of Abobyan and Sayat-Nova streets
the protesters made an attempt to break through a police cordon. The
police appealed to the participants to finish the march. Around the
corner of the CEC, on Koryun Street, the red berets attacked the
participants of the march. As a result, six activists, including the
son of the editor of the Haykakan Zhamanak Haik Gevorgyan named Vahagn,
were taken to the police station, and Sargis Ghazaryan was taken to
Grigor Lusavorich hospital. The policemen released the protesters
in 10 minutes. Further on, near the ANC office, the police arrested
another 5 activists, including Vahagn Gevorgyan. Protesters’ inquiries
about the arrested activists were met with silence.

Following this incident, the Armenian National Congress made
a statement condemning the unlawful action of the police, which
assaulted the activists instead of guaranteeing their security. It
is obvious that this activation of the police is connected with the
upcoming rally to take place on March 1. During the past several
months the ANC activists were holding various rallies and actions
every Friday in Yerevan. During these actions the police would just
mildly interfere. However, this time the police and the red beret
officers were ordered to demonstrate force to intimidate people
closer to March 1. And this happens in the case when the government
and governmental media outlets always repeat that the reputation of
the opposition is falling.

EDWARD NALBANDYAN PRESENTS TO THE NA THE BILL ON MAKING CHANGES IN THE LAW "ABOUT RA INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS"

re/id/591450/lang/en
2010-02-23

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 23, ARMENPRESS: Armenian Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandyan presented today to the National Assembly the bill on
making changes in the law "About RA International Agreements" for
adopting it in the first reading. With the suggested bill, Armenian
president, prime minister, foreign minister and relevant ministries
get an opportunity to annul or suspend an international agreement
before it enters into force.

E. Nalbandyan said that Armenia, according to the 18th Article of
the Vienna Convention, at any time before the signed agreement enters
into force, have a right not to become participant of that agreement,
clearly stating its intention.

According to him, as far as the procedures of the implementation
of that right in the inner-state regulation are not intended there
is a necessity to make a law establishing the order of signing of
the international agreements. "From the point of view of ensuring
necessary flexibility it is purposeful to intend not only suspension
of signing procedures but also an opportunity of annulling," the
foreign minister said.

In response to the question of the member of the Armenian "Heritage"
faction Armen Martirosyan whether the presented bill is connected
with the Armenian-Turkish protocols, E. Nalbandyan said that these
protocols are also international agreements and "in case of necessity
Armenia will undertake relevant steps".

Member of the NA’s foreign relations standing committee Shirak Torosyan
said the bill has been discussed in the committee and received a
positive conclusion. The discussions over the bill will continue in
the NA February 24.

RA DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER RECEIVES AMBASSADOR OF RF TO RA

Noyan Tapan
Feb 22, 2010

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 22, NOYAN TAPAN. RA Deputy Prime Minister,
Territorial Government Minister Armen Gevorgian met with Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of RF to RA Vyacheslav Kovalenko
on February 22. They exchanged thoughts over directions of CIS
further development. The sides expressed confidence that the period
of RF’s chairmanship in CIS will be used efficiently in the respect
of development of CIS member-countries’ cooperation and giving a new
spirit and significance to the structure.

According to the RA Territorial Government Ministry’s Press Office,
A. Gevorgian attached a special importance to the necessity of
deepening direct interrelations betwen RF and RA regions, which
has a strong potential and great prospect of cooperation. Mutual
visits outlined this year were also touched upon, in particular,
visits of RF Krasnodar territory and Orenburg Governors to Armenia
were touched upon.

The RA Deputy Prime Minister said that he will take part in the regular
session of the CIS Economic Council. Meetings with First Deputy Prime
Minister of RF Igor Shuvalov, RF Territorial Government Minister Viktor
Basargin are planned during the meeting. Possibilities of deepening
bilateral relations and expansion of mutually beneficial cooperation
between Armenia and CIS will be discussed during the meetings.

OSCE PA DELEGATION TO VISIT SOUTH CAUCASUS IN MID MARCH

news.am
Feb 23 2010
Armenia

March 9-16, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly delegation headed by President
Joao Soares and Special Representative on Nagorno-Karabakh and Georgia
Goran Lennmarker will pay a regional visit to South Caucasus.

First they will arrive in Georgia (March 9-10), thereafter — to
Armenia (March 10-13) and in the end — to Azerbaijan (March 13-16).

This is Soares’s first official visit to the region as President of
the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

Karabakh peace process, as well as the situation in the region after
the August 2008 war will be in focus in all three countries.

ARMENIAN SECURITY COUNCIL CHIEF, US DIPLOMAT DISCUSS BORDER ISSUES

Mediamax
Feb 22 2010
Armenia

Yerevan, 22 February: Secretary of the National Security Council of
Armenia Artur Baghdasaryan discussed issues of modernizing border
infrastructures and providing border security of Armenia with US
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Ann Ganzer in Yerevan today.

Mediamax was informed in the press service of the Security Council that
Artur Baghdasaryan presented the process of work carried out in this
direction and noted the importance of elaborating and implementing the
Border Security Strategy of Armenia in accordance with international
standards.

He noted that this issue is included in Armenia’s Individual
Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) with NATO.

TER-PETROSYAN IS READY

6926.html
15:02:24 – 23/02/2010

On February 23, the coordinator of the Armenian National Congress
Levon Zurabyan, advising all the political forces to get ready for
extraordinary election, said that the government is so failed that
the governmental forces started living with expectations for an
extraordinary election.

He said that this is not only the assessment of the opposition but
the atmosphere within the government is so that many of them have
this feeling too. Zurabyan says they have much information.

Zurabyan said that Congress has been getting prepared for the election
for long. He adds they are going to carry out this process.