WORKPLACES USED AS ORGANIZATIONAL HUBS, CO-OPTED IN SERVICE OF SERZH SARGSYAN: US DIPLOMAT
epress.am
09.08.2011 13:29
During and following the 2008 presidential election, US diplomats
frequently heard accounts of workplaces being used as “organizational
hubs” in support of the candidacy of new president Serzh Sargsyan,
as well as a place for harassment and intimidation of opposition
supporters, wrote then US Charges d’Affaires in Yerevan Joseph
Pennington in a diplomatic cable sent to the US State Department
recently published by WikiLeaks.
The cable mentions a Apr. 16, 2008 meeting between an embassy official
and Karine Davoyan, a professor of English and Public Relations at
the Russian State University of Tourism and Service for 8 years.
Pennington notes that the university is “officially supervised (and
funded in part)” by the Russian government, though in practice it
operates as a sovereign institution run by its Rector, Mushegh Asoyan.
Davoyan recounted her experiences in the weeks preceding and
following the Feb. 2008 presidential election and Mar. 1 crackdown
on demonstrations.
“Davoyan’s teaching methods included organizing debates between
students, conducting public opinion polls and bringing students to
US Embassy film presentations. Late last year the Rector summoned her
to his office and told her he didn’t like her propagation of American
values in his institution and that she should make her teaching more
nationalistic. He said he could easily fire her simply by calling in a
few students and dictating to them the text of a complaint against her.
“During the presidential campaign she was again summoned to the
Rector’s office, where she was interviewed by two NSS agents,
who apparently were called in by the Rector. They asked about her
previous work (which included two years as a translator for the Greek
Ambassador) and asked if she campaigns for any political candidates in
her class. She said she never campaigns for anyone, but when students
ask for her opinion, she expresses it along with her reasoning, but
never seeks to impose her views. One of the NSS agents apparently
agreed that she had a right to do this, and that seemed to be the
end of the matter.
“When the election period began, the Rector declared that this is
a pro-Russian university, so its staff should support a pro-Russian
President, i.e. Serzh Sargsyan. Despite the Rector’s efforts, many
professors and department heads gradually began to support Levon
Ter-Petrossian (LTP) and Davoyan would meet them at rallies (both
before and after the election), and at their request would provide
them LTP campaign DVDs.
“On Mar. 15, the Rector called a staff meeting and in front of everyone
discussed Davoyan’s behavior, labeled it unacceptable and issued her a
severe public reprimand. He claimed that evaluations by students had
given her very low marks for her teaching. His denunciation went on
for nearly an hour, during which time none of the other staff stood up
for Davoyan, although some later called to offer support and criticize
the Rector’s action. Another professor reportedly began to survey
students to determine whether such an evaluation had indeed occurred,
and was called in by the Rector’s wife (who also works in the school,
apparently as his enforcer) and warned she could suffer the same fate
as Davoyan.
“Davoyan told Emboff [embassy official or officer] that during her
eight years at the school she had consistently received very high marks
from students. She characterized the staff meeting as something out
of the Stalin era, when the head of an institution would target one
employee for his/her political views and discuss the case in front
of the entire staff as a warning to them all not to step out of line.
Davoyan has not returned to the school since that incident, but says
students keep calling her and asking her to return. They even went
to the Rector to demand her return, only to be told that “students
don’t like her way of teaching.” Her contract with the university
expires in September and she does not expect it to be renewed.
“Davoyan’s account seems of a piece with many we have heard about
workplaces being turned by the GOAM [Government of Armenia] into
operations used to support Sargsyan or punish opposition supporters…
It is not clear whether the Rector is serving as a political enforcer
at the GOAM’s behest, or is acting on his own initiative. However,
given the way such institutions have been co-opted in the service of
Sargsyan in recent months, it seems likely that his methods would be
met with approval. ,” reads the cable.