OLD MAN’S CORPSE FOUND IN UNIVERSITY IN ARMENIAN
news.am
March 26, 2012 | 18:00
YEREVAN. – Corpse of en electrician Razmik Pertosyan, 70, was found in
the State Polytechnic University of Armenia in his office on Monday,
chancellor of the university Vostanik Sarukhanyan told Armenian
News-NEWS.am adding the expertise will reveal whether it was a sudden
death or something else.
To note, there were no traces of violence on the corpse, besides,
police prepares materials on the case.
OMBUDSMAN ASSESSES SITUATION IN THE MILITARY
Tert.am
26.03.12
After unveiling its report on the 2011 developments in the justice
sector, the Human Rights Defender’s office has presented the its
assessments on the situation in the military.
The report, prepared by Ombudsman Karen Andreasyan, highlights the
shortcomings and problems in the Defense Ministry’s activities,
as well the positive progress observed in the past year.
Shortcomings and problems identified
Some cases of deaths occurred in the RA Armed Forces were conditioned
by the problems resulting from non statutory relations and insufficient
effectiveness of the prevention measures undertaken by officer
personnel.
Some officers serving in the RA Armed Forces expressed their desire
to denounce the agreement of military service; however, supreme
commanders made unreasonable delay in the process and in some cases
a differentiated approach was displayed towards the officers.
Numerous complaints were received from servicemen concerning the fact
that the servicemen without any disciplinary penalty were not released
from service after the 24 months service prescribed by the law which
was reasoned by different justifications not deriving from the law.
Persons having service postponement because of health condition were
forced to appear for the second examination earlier than the period
of postponement.
By the decisions of the Central Military-medical Commission under
the Ministry of Defense 500 servicemen were recognized as unfit
for military service and were early discharged. Such a number of
early discharged servicemen testifies to the fact that military
commissariats were unsuccessful in efficient organization of detailed
medical examination when conscripting into the military service.
The compulsory military service in the Central Apparatus of the RA
Ministry of Defense was carried out by uncertainty of a number of
conditions and criteria of the military service that is being carried
out in the military station close to populated area. In some cases
these conditions were breached.
Compulsory military servicemen’s relocation to the Central and Garrison
Military Prosecutor’s offices for continuation of the service included
corruption risks: existence of compulsory military service in these
bodies in not acceptable.
The measures undertaken by the management of the Ministry of
Defense towards preventing corrupted enrichment of state officials
in the system of the Ministry were not sufficient. Existence of such
corruption phenomena considerably threatens the productivity of the
Ministry’s activities and contributes to the increase of human rights
violations made by this state body.
The issue of housing conditions of many servicemen remained unresolved.
Positive developments
In 2011, Ministry of Defense Hotline received about 1370 calls,
of which 650 were set in process and received a positive solution;
the remaining 720 were registered as a false alarm.
The Ministry of Defense built and rebuilt about 5 residential
buildings, in the result about 210 soldiers were provided with the
service apartments (about 90 servicemen in the city, and about 120
servicemen in the regions).
According to official data, in 2011 the death cases were significant
reduced in the RA Armed Forces as compared to previous years.
A number of military barracks, medical centers, canteen buildings,
etc. were renovated in compliance with typical structures.
In 2011 in order to exclude non-statutory relationship, the following
methodological guidelines have been developed by the Defense Minister
and delivered to troops: special message “Commander is solder’s best
friend”, methodological guidelines “For immediate increase of the
fighting spirit and alertness of the Armenian Army”, “For immediate
increase of military discipline”, “For immediate increase of military
discipline and prevention of emergency cases and accidents”. The
explanatory work for military units and discussions with participation
of staff and commanders were carried out, as well as methodological
guide “Crimes against Military Subordination Order and Statutory
Relations between Servicemen” was prepared and delivered to the troops.
In October 2011, the Defense Minister, the Military Prosecutor and
the Human Rights Defender had a working meeting to discuss issues
connected with struggle against crimes and human rights protection
in the Armed Forces which resulted in the creation of a group working
to prevent crimes in the RA Armed Forces.
In 2011 the handbook “On Human rights and Fundamental Freedoms of
the Armed Forces Personnel” was translated with the support of the
OSCE Office in Yerevan and the “Human Rights in the Armed Forces”
training program was developed.
Before the introduction of the course in the Armed Forces and
military educational institutions, with the support of the OCSE
Office in Yerevan lectures on human rights in the Armed Forces and
their protection mechanisms were delivered to all military units and
military educational institutions of the RA Ministry of Defense;
deputies of the heads of military units and stations, lawyers and
other specialists were present at the lectures.
With the support of the OCSE Office in Yerevan the draft of the
handbook “Leadership in the Armed Forces’ was developed which aims
at the development of the relations between the personnel of the
Armed Forces, establishment of new management methods and means and
prevention of non-statutory relations. After analysis of the textbook
by the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces Supreme Headquarters
Staff steps will be taken for the introduction of the same course.
Working groups composed of the deputy Defense Minister and deputy head
of the Armed Forces Supreme Headquarter were sent to military units
deployed in the border of the country and remote areas, whose goal
was to personally meet with staff members as well as to make orders
aimed at strengthening the discipline and understand the moral and
psychological conditions of the servicemen.
A constructive cooperation has been underway between the Ministry of
Defense and the Human Rights Defender’s office in consideration of
complaints, solution of existing problems and in raising awareness
on human rights protection in the RA Armed Forces.
Karen Andreasyan, Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia
TURKEY’S ARMENIAN DEPUTY PATRIARCH ATTENDS VATICAN’S FORMER REP. FUNERAL
PanARMENIAN.Net
March 26, 2012 – 08:34 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net – According to Sunday’s Zaman, leaders and
representatives of Turkey’s various religious communities attended the
funeral of Monsignor Georges Marovitch, a former Vatican diplomatic
official in Turkey, who passed away on March 22 morning at the age
of 81.
Roman Catholic Bishop Louis-Armel Pelâtre, the apostolic vicar of
Istanbul, as well as Turkey’s Syriac Catholic Deputy Patriarch Yusuf
Sag, Turkey’s Armenian Deputy Patriarch Aram Ateshyan, Å~^iÅ~_li Mayor
Mustafa Sarıgul and many other prominent figures attended the funeral.
Marovitch was buried in the Feriköy Roman Catholic Cemetery after
the funeral, which was held at Å~^iÅ~_li Saint Esprit Church. The
ceremony was officiated by Pelâtre. Marovitch’s life accomplishments
were enumerated while hymns were sung.
SARKOZY TO BAR RADICAL MUSLIM PREACHERS FROM ENTERING FRANCE
PanARMENIAN.Net
March 26, 2012 – 14:52 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net – France will bar radical Muslim preachers from
entering the country to participate in an Islamic conference next
month as part of a crackdown after shootings by an al Qaeda-inspired
gunman, President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday, March 26.
According to Reuters, Sarkozy, who has announced plans to punish
those viewing Islamist Web sites and going abroad for indoctrination,
said he would block the entry of some imams invited to a congress
organized by the Union of French Islamic Organizations (UOIF).
The UOIF, one of three Muslim federations in France, is regarded as
close to Egypt’s Islamist Muslim Brotherhood.
“I have clearly indicated that there certain people who have been
invited to this congress who are not welcome on French soil,” Sarkozy
told France Info radio.
He cited Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian cleric based in
Qatar who is one of the most prominent Sunni Muslim clerics in the
Arab world and a household name in the Middle East due to regular
appearances on the Al Jazeera news channel.
A former member of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, Qaradawi is independent
of the group but remains close to it. Sarkozy said the situation was
complicated because the imam holds a diplomatic passport and does
not require a visa to enter France.
“I indicated to the Emir of Qatar himself that this person was not
welcome on the territory of the French republic,” Sarkozy said. “He
will not come.”
Qaradawi was denied a visa to visit Britain in 2008 on grounds of
seeking to “justify acts of terrorist violence or disburse views that
could foster inter-community violence”, a Home Office spokeswoman said
at the time. The cleric had defended Palestinian suicide bombers in
Israel and attacks on U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq.
‘OUR VOTERS ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT’: ZARUHI POSTANJYAN ON OPPOSITION CANDIDATES
epress.am
03.26.2012
Nominated in the no. 4 electoral district for the upcoming
parliamentary election, Heritage Party MP Zaruhi Postanjyan informed
Epress.am that she has no main competition.
“Because I have been nominated to serve the people. I have no problems
with anyone – to call him a main competitor,” she said.
Recall, also nominated in the same district are Pan-Armenian National
Movement (HHSh) party leader Aram Manukyan, former editor of the daily
168 Zham (“168 Hours”) Satik Seyranyan, Armen Yepjemyan and Artak
Sargsyan from the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, and Aleksan
Minasyan (no party affiliation).
Asked by Epress.am whether the nomination of two opposition candidates
(her and Aram Manukyan) in the same constituency won’t perhaps result
in more votes for the ruling party, Postanjyan said:
“I don’t think so because there are different perceptions and different
approaches in the opposition arena; that is, our voters are completely
different.”
ISRAELI CITIZEN TRIES TO SMUGGLE RELIGIOUS PICTURES OUT OF ARMENIA
news.am
March 26, 2012 | 13:19
YEREVAN. – Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) on Sunday thwarted
an attempt to smuggle religious pictures out of the country.
A 63-year-old Israeli citizen, by the name of Davit Hanoch, was
inspected for a second time at Ayrum train station while crossing
Armenia’s national border, and as a result eighteen undeclared
religious pictures were found in his luggage, NSS informed Armenian
News-NEWS.am.
A criminal case is launched.
EDWARD NALBANDIAN: NO BREAKTHROUGH ACHIEVED BECAUSE OF AZERBAIJAN’S NON-CONSTRUCTIVE POSITION
armradio.am
26.03.2012 10:46
Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian issued a
statement on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Minsk process.
“20 years ago this day by the decision of the Foreign Ministerial
Council of the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe
the Minsk process of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement
was launched. As a result the Minsk Group and its Co-Chairmanship
were formed with the goal to reach a peaceful settlement through
negotiations, based on the basic principles of international law.
The Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship of Russia, the United States and
France, is the only mediation structure dealing with Nagorno-Karabakh
issue with the relevant mandate of the international community.
The Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group have made an important contribution
to the preservation of the ceasefire, to the reducing of tension
in the conflict zone, to the continuation of negotiations between
the sides and elaborating principles for the peaceful settlement
of the conflict. In the preservation of ceasefire the Co-Chairs are
effectively cooperating with the Personal Representative of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office who has also an important role to the preservation
of ceasefire.
Thanks to the efforts of the Co-Chairs the wholeness of the principles
and elements was elaborated as a basis for the settlement of the
issue, and which are reflected in the joint statements of Presidents
Medvedev, Obama and Sarkozy made at the G8 Summits in L’Aquila,
Muskoka and Deauville.
President of Russia’s consistent efforts with the full support of
the Presidents of the USA and France, with an aim to bring closer
the positions of the sides on basic principles, gave certain results.
Despite the expectations of the international community and Armenia’s
constructive stance, the Kazan meeting initiated by the President
Medvedev did not become a breakthrough.
If a breakthrough has not been achieved in the conflict settlement
until today, it is not because of the lack of efforts by the Co-Chairs,
but due to the non-constructive approach by one of the sides, which
is consecutively rejecting the proposals made by the Co-Chairs,
which is not refraining from the illusion of solving the issue
through use of force, which is not willing to negotiate directly with
Nagorno-Karabakh, a core party to the conflict.
Committed to the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue through
exclusively peaceful means, Armenia highly appreciates the continuous
and consistent efforts of the Co-Chair countries-Russia, the United
States and France, and believes that thanks to mediation efforts in
exactly this format it would be possible to reach a settlement of
the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.”
ARMENIA PRESIDENT IN SEOUL CRITICIZES AZERBAIJAN PRESIDENT’S ‘OBVIOUS MISINFORMATION’
epress.am
03.27.2012
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is disseminating misinformation
regarding Armenia’s Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant, Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan said at the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit, taking place
in Seoul Mar. 26-27, referring to statements that the plant presents
a danger to the region.
“The Azerbaijani president’s obvious misinformation stated here
about the Armenian nuclear power plant doesn’t surprise me because
spreading lies about Armenia has long been the modus operandi in
Azerbaijan. By the way, not only everything having to do with Armenia
and Nagorno-Karabakh, but also the international community documents
adopted by us and you are presented in a distorted manner from the
highest platforms. They distort even the well-known resolutions on
Nagorno-Karabakh at the UN Security Council, forgetting that they have
begun military actions, that they have refused to terminate them,
and that they are the ones who everyday make bellicose statements
and refuse to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis
of international law,” the Armenian leader, as reported by the
president’s office.
After Chernobyl and Fukushima, Sargsyan continued, many approach the
future of nuclear energy with reservations. In some special cases, as
in the case of Armenia, he said, there are few alternatives – to ensure
stable development and improved standards of living for the population.
In Sargsyan’s opinion, it would be appropriate to consider energy,
including nuclear, safety as a whole with other, related issues.
According to him, the fight against turning energy resources into
malicious political capital is no less important. The consequences
of this are felt strongly particularly by those countries that have
fewer natural energy resources and are forced to find other ways to
energy independence.
“Two of Armenia’s four immediate neighbors, violating the norms of
international law, for two decades non stop have kept our country in
a blockade – among numerous other issues, not leaving alternatives
in the choice of paths to energy independence,” he said.
CONFERENCE ON RURAL AND AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENT TO BE HELD IN TSAKHKADZOR
hetq
12:14, March 27, 2012
On 28-29 March Heifer Armenia Program Annual Conference (HAPAC) will
be held under the “Social Capital as a Driving Force for Rural and
Agriculture Development” motto in Tsakhkadzor, Armenia.
The conference will be attended by around 60 participants; among them
representatives of the RA Ministry of Agriculture, the Agriculture
Project Implementation Unit, project holders, community leaders and
partners of Heifer Armenia.
A series of essential trainings on Pasture Management, Dairy
Production and Rural Cooperation will be delivered to the conference
participants. The event will be closed through a Round Table on the
Challenges of Rural Cooperation in Armenia.
Since 1999, Heifer, a non-profit, humanitarian organization, has
implemented 58 projects in Armenia assisting more than 8000 rural
families to improve their livelihoods. Only in FY 2011 Heifer Armenia
supported 934 rural families.
GENERAL MANVEL BACKS NEPHEW’S RIVALS
Panorama.am
27/03/2012
The confrontation between MP Hrant Grigoryan and his uncle, chairman of
Yerkrapah Volunteer Union Manvel Grigoryan continues, Hraparak reports.
“Neither the General nor any of his friends run in constituency No.20
where Hrant Grigoryan runs for parliament but Grigoryan is likely to
back one of his nephew’s rivals,” writes the paper.
According to the daily, Eduard Antonyan, a majority candidate in
this constituency, has declared he is backed by Manvel Grigoryan and
his son, Karen Grigoryan. If so, it appears that Manvel Grigoryan,
RPA’s proportional candidate, works against RPA-backed candidate
Hrant Grigoryan.