Author: Felekian Ara

AZERIS CRITICISED ON HUMAN RIGHTS
By Matthew Collin

Story from BBC NEWS:
europe/6247776.stm
Published: 2007/06/28 01:16:47 GMT

Human rights body Amnesty International has criticised Azerbaijan for
its treatment of thousands of people from the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh
region.

Many of those displaced by the fighting between Azeri and ethnic
Armenian forces in the 1990s face discrimination and poverty, Amnesty
says in a report.

It estimates more than 600,000 Azeris remain isolated despite a
ceasefire.

The energy-rich former Soviet republic has one of the world’s worst
problems with internally-displaced people.

More than 600,000 Azeris have not been able to return to their homes
since the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh in 1994, the report says.

They remain a cause of huge concern for a relatively poor country with
a population of only eight million, despite its booming oil economy.

Some still live in run-down collective housing or refugee camps,
others in newly-built settlements in remote locations where work is
hard to find.

Amnesty International says this has caused them to become isolated
and segregated, and to suffer more from poverty and illness.

Long-term impact

Earlier this year, the UN praised the Azeri government’s efforts to
address some of these problems by closing some of the worst tent camps
but it also said more should be done to improve living conditions.

Azerbaijan effectively lost the war with Armenian forces over
Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Azeri government insists it will eventually regain control over the
territory, although little progress has been made in peace negotiations
in more than a decade.

The long-term impact of the conflict also continues to affect
neighbouring Armenia.

Some 400,000 Armenians fled their homes during the war. Many of them
still live in desperate conditions, just like their counterparts
in Azerbaijan.

MP: ACTION PROGRAM OF ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT REFLECTS CURRENT REALITIES, FUTURE CHALLENGES

ARKA
Jun 28 2007

YEREVAN, June 28. /ARKA/. The action program of the Armenian Government
for the upcoming five years reflects the current realities and
the challenges that the country faces in the given period of time,
said Gagik Minasian, Chairman of Standing Parliament Committee for
financial-crediting and budget issues of the Armenian Parliament.

The Program is also based on the results of the work done in Armenia
in the previous several years.

"Our state managed to implement economic policy and provide fairly
good results despite the quite unfavorable conditions such as strained
relations with the neighboring countries, limited opportunities of
transit routes and no outlet to the sea," Minasian said. This is
proved by the two-digit economic growth recorded in the country in
the last several years, he added.

"Apart from that, during the implementation of the Poverty Reduction
Strategic Program, Armenia’s achievements were in excess of the
indicators set in the program," Minasian said.

He also attached importance to the achievements in the field of
democracy as social achievements alone will be transient without the
development of democracy.

Commenting on Heritage party’s having voted against the government
program Minasian pointed out that the statements of the party’s
representatives do not reflect the reality, The government program
for 2008-2012 was approved by the country’s parliament on June 26,
with 94 voted for, 7 MPs from Heritage parliament group voted against
and 9 MPs Orinats Erkir opposition party abstained from the voting.

The government program envisages 8-10% annual growth of GDP, which
will allow Armenia moving to the list of the countries with medium
income by the end of 2009. Under the program, the government planned
minimum of 10% increase in annual investment volume, 10% increase in
urban employment and 105,000 new jobs.

The government also intends to provide the investments-GDP ratio
within the range of27-30% and achieve the required volume of capital
investments mainly through private investments. The program provides
for improvement of the country’s taxation system, simplification of
tax legislation, expansion of tax base and even distribution of tax
burden through reduction in "shadow" economy.

Major reduction in poverty is considered one of the main objectives
of the government to be achieved through increase in pensions. The
government is also to increase financing of the social sector,
healthcare and culture, science and education.

Two coalition parties – Republican Party of Armenia and "Prospering
Armenia" voted for the program, together with Armenian Revolutionary
Federation Dashnaktsutiun party that cooperates with coalition.

According to leader of Heritage parliament opposition group Raffi
Hovanissian, the parliament group of Heritage party doubts that the
provisions of the program relate to the current realities.

REPRESENTATIVES OF HELSINKI ASSOCIATION ARE SURE LEVON GULIAN HAS BEEN KILLED

Noyan Tapan
Jun 27, 2007

YEREVAN, JUNE 27, NOYAN TAPAN. "Levon Gulian was killed and died
because of torture inflicted upon him," the participants of the June
26 press conference held on the initiative of the Helsinki Association
claim. Ruben Martirosian, the expert of the association, who has taken
part in about 350 autopsies, "has never seen a corpse tortured to that
extent throughout his practice". According to him, Levon Gulian had
fallen at least 4-5 times as there were five haemorrages in different
parts of his head.

R. Martirosian drew journalists’ attention to the discrepancies
concerning the time of Levon Gulian’s death: it is mentioned in the
"Case Details" section in the official conclusion of the forensic
examination that the corpse of Levon Gulian was discovered at about
14.30 on May 12 near the principle administration building of the
Criminal Investigation of the RA Police, and in the statement made
by the police on May 22, it is mentioned that Levon Gulian "tried to
escape through the window of the room at about 15.20 and fell down,"
and that he died because of the injuries received from the fall.

According to the representatives of the association, one of the
questions suggested by the preliminary investigation has also remained
unanswered in the mentioned conclusion: the question of how long
L. Gulian remained alive after receiving his injuries. R. Martirosian
also drew attention to that circumstance, according to which no
food was discovered in the stomach of the dead by the post mortem
examination, though he had had lunch at home: the only explanation
is that Levon Gulian had a concussion of the brain as a result of
the injuries and vomited the whole content of the stomach.

The representatives of the association have no special confidence
in the impartiality of the experts invited from abroad, who did not
want to meet with representatives of the mass media, as well as with
the legal successor of Levon Gulian.

Jemma Gulian, the widow of L. Gulian, expressed her dissatisfaction
with the fact that though "an open investigation" was promised, the
legal successor of L. Gulian made great efforts to get the conclusion
of the forensic investigation. The legal successor also does not have
any information of whether anybody has been accused in the case.

Mikayel Danielian, the Chairman of the association, declared that
their association has been engaged in 7-8 cases concerning torture
and inhuman attitudes, but the defendants were punished in only one
of these cases.

HEIKE RENATE PEITSCH: I AM CONVINCED THAT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ARMENIA AND GERMANY WILL DEVELOP

PanARMENIAN.Net
25.06.2007 16:03 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "During the recent years the Armenian-German
relations were represented at the highest level. I would like to point
out to the visit of Armenian President Robert Kocharian to Germany
and the visit of German Foreign Minister Stienmeier to Yerevan in
February," German Ambassador to Armenia Heike Renate Peitsch said in
an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net.

"We are proud that Germany is the second, after the United States,
donor-state for Armenia. Our countries are cooperating in political and
economic fields, not to mention cultural cooperation which includes
numerous exhibitions, concerts, film shows. I am convinced that the
relationship between Armenia and Germany will develop," she said.

KARS-AKHALKALAKI RAIL PROJECT WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED EVEN WITHOUT US SUPPORT, AZERI POLITICAL SCIENTIST SAYS

ArmRadio.am
26.06.2007 17:53

The project of construction of the Kars-Tbilisi-Baku-Akhalkalaki
railway will be accomplished even without US support. Georgia,
Turkey and Azerbaijan possess enough means to accomplish the project,
political scientist Haledin Ibrahimli told "Novosti Azerbaijan,"
commenting on the US Congress Subcommittee decision to block the
financing of the rail project "I expected that the events would
develop this way, since initially, when the project was announced,
US spoke against it, but it will change nothing," Ibrahimli said. In
his opinion, this decision of the Congress is the continuation of
the balanced US policy.

"The US is aspiring to hold its positions both in Azerbaijan and
Armenia, thus trying to bring the latter out of the field of Russian
influence, which has not yielded any fruit yet," the Azeri political
scientist added.

ARMENIAN AND GREEK PRESIDENTS DISCUSSED AN ENTIRE SPECTRUM OF BILATERAL RELATIONS

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.06.2007 18:44 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Armenian President Robert Kocharian hosted
his Greek counterpart Karolos Papoulias currently in Armenia with
state visit, the RA Presidential Press Office reports. At the meting
the sides discussed an entire spectrum of bilateral relations, as
well as cooperation issues in the framework of European structures,
regional and world problems.

After a tete-a-tete meeting between the two presidents negotiations
continued in larger format. During talks the two sides discussed
priority driven directions in economic cooperation and opportunities
to activate them.

FOOTBALL: UEFA CANCEL ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN QUALIFIERS OVER DISPUTE
Groningen, Netherlands

Agence France Presse — English
June 24, 2007 Sunday 9:46 AM GMT

European football’s ruling body UEFA has ended a dispute between
Armenia and Azerbaijan over match venues by cancelling their two
European qualifiers.

The countries, who are both in group A of the qualifying tournament
for the 2008 European Championships, are scheduled to meet on September
8 in Azerbaijan and four days later in Armenia.

However they have been at loggerheads since Azerbaijan refused to
host Armenia for the first match.

Believed to be at the centre of the dispute is the Azerbaijan region
of Nagorny Karabakh, which is populated mainly by Armenians.

Azerbaijan proposed instead that both matches be played at a neutral
venue. Armenia refused, leading to a stalemate.

UEFA announced here the day after the European under-21 Championships
– won by hosts the Netherlands – that it has simply cancelled the
two qualifiers, leaving both countries with zero points from a
possible six.

Armenia currently sit fifth in group A with seven points while
Azerbaijan prop up the group on five. Poland are the group leaders
with 19 points, ahead of Portugal (14) and Serbia (14).

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAINTAINED MILITARY PARITY BETWEEN ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
25.06.2007 14:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The House of Representatives has maintained
military parity between Armenia and Azerbaijan and provided $68
million in U.S. economic aid for Armenia, the Armenian Assembly of
America reported.

The Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill,
which passed by a vote of 241 to 178, also allocates up to $6 million
for Nagorno Karabakh in humanitarian assistance.

Additionally, the legislation calls for $3 million in Foreign Military
Financing (FMF) and $500,000 in International Military Education and
Training (IMET) for both Armenia and Azerbaijan. Funding to Armenia,
although less than the nearly $75 million Congress appropriated
in FY 2007, was almost double the Administration’s request of $35
million. The bill also maintains Section 907 of the Freedom Support
Act.

"The Armenian Assembly thanks the leadership of House State Foreign
Operations Appropriations Subcommittee Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-NY)
and Ranking Member Frank Wolf (R-VA) as well as the bipartisan support
of the Subcommittee Members, which includes Armenian Caucus Co-Chair
Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) along with Caucus Members, Jesse Jackson (D-IL),
Adam Schiff (D-CA), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Ben Chandler (D-KY), Steve Israel
(D-NY), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Betty McCollum (D-MN) and Steven Rothman
(D-NJ)," said Executive Director Bryan Ardouny.

"U.S. assistance to Armenia and Karabakh will help strengthen economic
development and offset the impact of the Turkish and Azeri blockades,"
Ardouny added.

"We will continue to advocate for $75 million for Armenia and $10
million for Nagorno Karabakh as the bill moves through the legislative
process."

Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues Co-Chair Frank Pallone,
Jr. (D-NJ), in reference to the passage of the bill said, "I strongly
believe that U.S.

investment is essential to Armenia. Sadly, the people of Armenia are
still faced with the devastating impact of Turkey’s and Azerbaijan’s
illegal dual blockade, costing Armenians an estimated $720 million
annually.

Despite these obstacles, Armenia continues to successfully implement
economic and democratic reforms. As a result of these reforms,
supported by U.S. economic development programs, Armenia’s economy
has grown by more than 10 percent in each of the past 6 years."

Pallone also added, "I hope to work with Chairwoman Lowey and Ranking
Member Wolf over the coming months to explore the possibility of
increasing this aid to previous levels of $75 million. Unfortunately,
the President’s FY 2008 budget request called for 20 percent more
military aid to Azerbaijan than to Armenia. That request was a
clear breach of an agreement struck between the White House and
Congress in 2001 to maintain parity in U.S. military aid to Armenia
and Azerbaijan."

A1+

MEDIA CONTROL IS OBVIOUS
[05:54 pm] 22 June, 2007

Most of the countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
are suffering under new forms of media control that are severely
limiting independent news media, according to a report issued today by
Freedom House.

The report, `Muzzling the Media: The Return of Censorship in the
Commonwealth of Independent States,’ describes a contemporary model of
censorship in the former Soviet Union that is achieved through a mix
of state-enabled oligarchic control, broadcast monopolies of
presidential `families,’ and judicial persecution, as well as subtle
and overt forms of intimidation. The report’s findings are derived
from Freedom of the Press, Freedom House’s annual global survey of
media independence.

Freedom House Executive Director Jennifer Windsor said that `while the
old Soviet model of complete state domination of news media has been
cast aside, a new and in many ways equally pernicious model of media
control in the CIS has emerged.’

Of particular concern is the sharp downward decline in many CIS
countries in the last several years. During this time, the report
cites four major trends that have emerged: intensified control over
mass media, particularly television; tighter legislation curbing media
freedom; increased attention to international broadcasting; and
greater control of print media.

The survey’s most recent findings show that ten of the twelve
post-Soviet states are ranked Not Free, indicating that these
countries do not provide basic legal, political, and economic
guarantees and protections for open and independent journalism. Of the
ten Not Free countries, none is moving in the direction of more
freedom and most have a decidedly downward trajectory. Of the 195
countries examined in the survey, three of the ten worst press freedom
abusers – Belarus, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan – are found in the CIS.

Despite the best efforts of authorities, however, some degree of
independent reporting persists in authoritarian CIS states, due to the
commitment of enterprising and courageous journalists, as well as the
possibilities offered by new technologies.

`The Internet is a principal alternative and challenger to media
hegemony in the CIS,’ said Christopher Walker, Freedom House director
of studies and the report’s author. `But while the Internet remains
relatively free in Russia and other post-Soviet countries, it is
quickly becoming a target for regulatory intervention by the
authorities.’

Absent the rule of law and meaningful legal protections, the CIS is
also one of the world’s most dangerous places for
journalists. Intimidation, physical violence, and even murder of
reporters and editors have become commonplace for news professionals
who investigate political and corporate corruption. Journalists in
virtually every CIS country have been victims of contract killings or
otherwise met death under suspicious circumstances. In Russia alone,
at least two dozen journalists have been killed since President
Vladimir Putin assumed office seven years ago.

The report notes that press freedom’s trajectory in the CIS was not
always so dire and that an opening of the press had been achieved in
the aftermath of the Soviet Union’s collapse. By 1994, six of twelve
countries in the former Soviet Union had risen to the Partly Free
category in Freedom of the Press. A decade later, a profound reversal
had taken place, with eleven countries ranked Not Free by 2004.

Race in Yerevan dedicated to the International Athletics Day

armradio.am
23.06.2007 14:12

This morning hundreds of runners aged 14 to 60 participated in a race
from the Republican Square to the Victory Bridge held in Yerevan. It
was dedicated to the International Athletics Day and was organized
under the aegis of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The participants of the race were greeted by the President of the
International Olympic Committee, Belgian Jacques Rogge. Participants of
the race were awarded special IOC diplomas.