Monday, July 3, 2023
U.S.-Mediated Talks Rejected By Karabakh Armenians
• Nane Sahakian
Nagorno-Karabakh - Protesters hold a giant Armenian flag as they attend a rally
in Stepanakert, December 25, 2022.
Nagorno-Karabakh’s leadership turned down last month a U.S. offer to negotiate
with Baku on the Armenian-populated region’s “integration” into Azerbaijan, a
senior official in Stepanakert said on Monday.
“There was a proposal of a direct Stepanakert-Baku dialogue mediated by
America,” Artur Harutiunian, the parliamentary leader of Karabakh’s ruling
party, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “The issues that were supposed to be
discussed were, in essence, an agenda pushed by Azerbaijan.”
This is why, he said, Stepanakert refused to attend the U.S.-mediated talks
planned in an unnamed third country. The Karabakh leaders want to discuss
instead the lifting of the Azerbaijani blockade of the Lachin corridor and other
humanitarian issues, added Harutiunian.
The Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda claimed in mid-June that the United
States has issued an ultimatum to the Karabakh Armenians, saying that they must
negotiate on Azerbaijan’s terms or risk a “use of force.” Official Moscow was
quick to express concern over the report, with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman
Maria Zakharova effectively accusing Washington of resorting to “threats” and
“blackmail.”
Commenting on the report, the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan said only that Washington
welcomes any dialogue that could help to secure “the rights and security” of
Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian population.
The U.S. State Department raised eyebrows in Stepanakert and Yerevan in late May
when it welcomed “amnesty” offered to Karabakh’s leaders by Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev on the condition of their “surrender” to Baku. The
Armenian Foreign Ministry said Aliyev’s statement “contained clear threats” to
Karabakh’s security.
Armenian opposition leaders and other critics of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian
also denounced the State Department’s perceived pro-Azerbaijani stance. They
said it was made possible by Pashinian’s recognition of Azerbaijani sovereignty
over Karabakh.
The Karabakh president, Arayik Harutiunian, said last week that Karabakh will
continue to assert its right to self-determination despite mounting pressure
from Azerbaijan.
Another Armenian Judge Fired For Criticizing Authorities
• Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia- Judge Davit Harutiunian speaks to journalists, Yerevan, June 19, 2023.
Another well-known judge was ousted on Monday after accusing Armenia’s
government and state judicial watchdog headed by a political ally of Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian of seeking to control courts.
The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) also accepted government demands to dismiss
three other judges on the grounds that their past verdicts were overturned by
the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Some Armenia legal experts regard
these grounds as unconstitutional.
The Armenian Ministry of Justice initiated disciplinary proceedings against the
other, more famous and respected judge, Davit Harutiunian, after he claimed that
the SJC arbitrarily fires his colleagues at the behest of a single person.
“In my view, more than two dozen judges have been relieved of their duties in
various illegal ways,” he told reporters two months ago.
The Ministry of Justice responded by accusing Harutiunian of discrediting the
Armenian judiciary and jeopardizing its impartiality. The SJC, which is headed
by former Justice Minister Karen Andreasian, decided to oust him after several
hearings that were held behind the closed doors despite strong objections from
the judge, his lawyers as well as journalists.
The SCJ did not immediately specify the reason for the decision. Andreasian
refused to talk to the press both before and after its announcement.
Harutiunian condemned the decision while saying that he anticipated it. He said
he will appeal to the ECHR and file a “crime report” against Andreasian with
Armenian law-enforcement authorities over what he described as serious
procedural violations committed by the SJC.
“The Supreme Judicial Council must set an example for judges,” Harutiunian told
reporters. “But as we can see, the opposite is the case.”
Armenia - Karen Andreasian, head of the Supreme Judicial Council, chairs an SJC
hearing in Yerevan, June 29, 2023.
The sackings of the judges are bound to stoke opposition allegations that
Pashinian’s government is seeking to further curb judicial independence in
Armenia under the guise of Western-backed “judicial reforms.” They highlight the
Armenian authorities’ growing recourse to punitive measures against judges,
which was facilitated by a 2021 which Andreasian had helped to enact in his
previous capacity as justice minister. The number of disciplinary proceedings
against them has risen sharply in the last two years.
Last December, the SJC controversially fired a judge married to a vocal critic
of the government. The judge, Anna Pilosian, was officially punished for
excessive delays in the publication of verdicts handed down by her in four civil
cases.
Another Yerevan judge, Zaruhi Nakhshkarian, openly criticized Pilosian’s
sacking. Nakhshkarian lost her job in February because of that. Her ouster was
also initiated by the Ministry of Justice.
As justice minister, Andreasian repeatedly called for a mandatory “vetting” of
Armenian judges, an idea that prompted serious misgivings from European legal
experts. In February 2022, he stated that the SJC must fire scores of judges,
including those who openly accused the authorities of pressuring courts.
Andreasian was affiliated with Pashinian’s Civil Contract party until becoming a
member and then the head of the SJC in October. Another member of the judicial
watchdog resigned a few days after his appointment, saying that the SJC can no
longer protect judicial independence.
Karabakh Ballot Initiative Launched In Armenia
• Robert Zargarian
Armenia - Citizens sign a petition on Nagorno-Karabakh in Yerevan, June 29, 2023.
A group of Armenian political activists and public figures have begun collecting
signatures in support of their demands for making it a crime to recognize
Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.
They also want to criminalize any government decision to stop campaigning for
greater international recognition of the 1915 Armenian genocide in Ottoman
Turkey.
The ballot initiative dubbed Hayakve (Armenian vote) follows Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinian’s recent pledge to recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over
Karabakh through an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty. His statement has been
strongly condemned by the Armenian opposition and Karabakh’s leadership.
Avetik Chalabian, an opposition figure coordinating the initiative, said on
Monday that Pashinian made a “verbal statement that has no legal force” and that
Hayake aims to prevent him from formalizing his far-reaching plans.
Hayakve is specifically seeking two new articles of the Armenian Criminal Code
which would make recognition of Karabakh’s incorporation into Azerbaijan and
renunciation of the genocide recognition campaign crimes punishable by between
10 and 15 years in prison. Chalabian argued that this would be in line with a
1990 declaration of independence adopted by Armenia’s first post-Communist
parliament.
Armenian law requires the parliament to debate any initiative backed by at least
50,000 citizens. A petition signed by at least 300,000 Armenians must be put on
a referendum.
The current National Assembly is controlled by Pashinian’s Civil Contract party,
suggesting that the referendum is the only realistic way of enacting the
amendments demanded by Hayakve and endorsed by many opposition leaders.
Chalabian said he and other individuals leading the ballot initiative, among
them several well-known artists and intellectuals, will release weekly updates
on the number of signatures collected by them. He did not say how many citizens
have already backed the effort with their signatures.
Some mainstream opposition groups pledged earlier this month to stage street
protests against what they see as a “new capitulation” deal with Azerbaijan
planned by Pashinian.
Armenian Government Denies Ending Contacts With Karabakh Leaders
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian meets with Arayik Harutiunian, the
Karabakh president, in Yerevan, October 12, 2022.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Monday dismissed through a spokeswoman reports
that he and other senior Armenian government officials have ended regular
contacts with Nagorno-Karabakh’s leaders.
“In connection with these claims that have nothing to do with reality, we
consider it important to underline that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has
repeatedly mentioned intensive daily contacts with [Karabakh President] Arayik
Harutiunian,” Pashinian’s press secretary, Nazeli Baghdasarian wrote on Facebook.
Baghdasarian also dismissed allegations that Azerbaijan’s eight-month blockade
of Karabakh is now “off the agenda of the Armenian government.”
The “rumors” denied by her apparently include a weekend Facebook post by a
prominent Armenian investigative journalist.
“I spoke today with two Artsakh officials,” wrote Edik Baghadasarian. “They were
very upset not with the fact that food and medicine are running out but the fact
that Armenian officials do not answer their phone calls anymore.”
A rift between Pashinian’s government and Karabakh’s leadership has steadily
deepened ever since the Armenian premier stopped championing the Karabakh
Armenians’ right to self-determination more than a year ago.
Pashinian drew strong condemnation from the authorities in Stepanakert after he
pledged in May to recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh through an
Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty currently discussed by Yerevan and Baku.
“As for Armenia or various international bodies, I want to make clear that
nobody can strip us of our right to self-determination, an international norm,”
Harutiunian said last week.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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