Author: Kalantarian Kevo

L’ACCORD ENTRE L’ARMENIE ET L’UE SERA SIGNE D’ICI LE MOIS DE NOVEMBRE

L’accord entre l’Armenie et l’Union europeenne sera signe d’ici le
mois de novembre. ” Si tout se passe comme prevu … il sera paraphe
avant la fin de cette annee, au sommet de Vilnius. Il pourra alors
etre applique a titre provisoire dès l’an prochain “, a declare Gunnar
Wiegand, le negociateur en chef de l’UE.

” Il s’agit d’un accord politique et economique “, a declare Wiegand
lors d’une conference de presse avec le vice-ministre des Affaires
etrangères Zohrab Mnatsakanian.

Selon Wiegand, cet accord est probablement le plus long et le plus
detaille que l’Armenie n’ait jamais conclu. Les negociations ont
commence en juillet 2010, en accord avec le programme du Partenariat
oriental. Les six anciennes republiques sovietiques pourront signer
l’accord en echange de reformes politiques et economiques dans
leur pays.

” Nous avons parcouru un long chemin et je suis très heureux de dire
que nous sommes a l’etape finale de ce processus de negociation. Nous
avons essentiellement clôture toutes les questions en suspens relatives
au volet politique de l’accord “, a declare Wiegand.

L’accord de libre-echange entre l’Armenie et l’UE permettra de donner
un coup de pouce significatif a l’economie armenienne, en imposant
notamment la levee de toutes les barrières commerciales, mais aussi
l’harmonisation des lois et règlements economiques de l’Armenie avec
la legislation europeenne. Ce qui se traduira par un ” coup de pouce
significatif ” a l’environnement commercial de l’Armenie.

L’accord d’association portera sur une ” vaste gamme de secteurs et
de domaines de cooperation economique où de nombreuses normes de l’UE
seront transposees dans la legislation armenienne “.

Le president du Parlement, Hovik Abrahamian, et d’autres hauts
legislateurs armeniens vont se reunir pour discuter des reformes
legislatives correspondantes aux normes de l’UE. Cet accord devrait
permettre egalement de simplifier les procedures administratives pour
l’obtention des visas. Erevan s’est engage a accelerer le rapatriement
des immigres clandestins armeniens qui vivent dans l’UE.

jeudi 21 mars 2013, Laetitia ©armenews.com

AZERBAIJAN HANDS TWO CIVILIANS OVER TO ARMENIA

Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
March 20 2013

Two Armenian citizens interned in Azerbaijan were returned to Armenia
today under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red
Cross, the body’s representative told Trend.

The civilians were handed over to Armenian officials on the road
between the Azerbaijani town of Gazakh and the Armenian town of Ijevan.

The Red Cross’ delegates had visited the civilians before their
repatriation in order to assess the way they were treated and the
conditions of internment.

.

ARMENIA: WILL ALTERNATIVE SERVICE REFORM KEEP JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES OUT OF JAIL?

EurasiaNet.org, NY
March 19 2013

by Gayane Abrahamyan

Amid ongoing tension with Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh peace
process, controversy is growing in Armenia about a proposal that
would liberalize the terms of alternative service for religiously
motivated conscientious objectors to the draft.

Under Armenian law, all men between the ages of 18 and 27 are
required to serve two years in the armed forces. Although Armenia
has had a law on alternative service since 2004, its provisions have
“not been applied in practice,” asserted human rights activist Avetik
Ishkhanian. Men who refuse for religious reasons to perform alternative
service under the supervision of military personnel often have received
prison terms.

Members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses – a Christian-oriented sect that
espouses millennial beliefs and whose members shun military service –
have been particularly affected: Over the past decade, 274 Jehovah’s
Witnesses have done jail time for failing to fulfill alternative
service obligations, according to Ishkhanian. The Armenian government
has long been under international pressure to scrap the practice of
jailing conscientious objectors. In November 2012, the European Court
of Human Rights ordered the Armenian government to pay 112,000 euros
($142,338) in damages to 19 Jehovah’s Witnesses who were so treated.

The Armenian parliament approved the alternative service amendments
in their first reading on March 18 by a 103-1 vote. After the vote,
MPs sent the amendments back to the government for some tweaking. No
information was immediately available about what changes the MPs
were seeking.

The lone MP to vote against the amendments was Shushan Petrosian,
a member of the governing Republican Party who is also a well-known
singer. “This is an issue when I just can’t agree with the government
and with my party colleagues, ” Petrosian said. “My belief is that
every boy who has no health problem should serve in the Armenian army.”

Under the amendments in their present form, military personnel would
no longer supervise work done as an alternative to military service,
and the number of required months of alternative service would be
reduced to 30 from 42. “We need this law because the one we have is
not effective, and at this moment more than 80 people have preferred to
go to prison and are now in penitentiaries, rather than do alternative
service,” Justice Minister Hrayr Tovmasian commented to EurasiaNet.org.

For Jehovah’s Witnesses spokesperson Tigran Harutyunian, the amendments
offer a welcome break from the past, when believers had to opt
for either a three-year prison term, or alternative service that
“contradicted their religious beliefs” and involved “humiliating”
working conditions. Alternative service currently includes street
cleaning, as well as hospital maintenance and guard work, mostly in
psychiatric hospitals. District military officers are required to
supervise the work done at least once a day. “We are hoping now that
there will, in fact, be an alternative,” said Harutiunian.

Not all members of the governing Republican Party of Armenia are
content with the potential changes. Concerns persist, amid a rise
in Karabakh ceasefire violations, that Armenia cannot afford to let
able-bodied men to avoid military service. When Justice Minister
Tovmasian submitted the amendments to parliament on February 27, MP
Hayk Babukhanian complained that the amendments would give a “green
light” to “sectarians” to effectively draft-dodge. Babukhanian and
other Republican Party MPs predict that many young Armenian men will
join religious groups specifically to avoid military service.

“The growth of sect numbers in our country is already a matter of
national security,” Babukhanian told EurasiaNet.org. He claimed that
“various research” shows that “300,000 to 350,000 Armenians today
belong to some denominations.

Human rights advocate Avetik Ishkhanian cited Babukhanian’s comments on
sects to point out “how intolerant our lawmakers are toward religious
minorities.” Armenia has no state religion, but the Armenian Apostolic
Church is viewed as central to the country’s historical identity.

While some Republican Party MPs are clearly disgruntled, senior party
leaders in parliament, such as Koryun Nahapetian, chair of the Standing
Committee on National Security and Internal Affairs, are strongly
supportive. “These legislative changes and amendments of some other
related laws will guarantee that the law [on alternative service]
truly serves its purpose,” Nahapetian said. “After all, the right
to freedom of religion and conscience is first of all established in
the Constitution of Armenia, and it is our duty to protect it.”

Some human rights activists believe that the government is less
interested in defending civil rights than it is in avoiding additional
negative rulings by international courts. “The government is not
worried about protecting the rights of religious minorities, but
is seriously concerned about the cases it has been losing,” said
Mikael Danielian, chairperson of the Helsinki Association, a human
rights watchdog.

Independent MP Edmon Marukian, who, as a human rights activist in
2003, took part in discussions about the alternative-service law,
contends that the government has only itself to blame for the costs
incurred. “It was clear right from the beginning that … people
will refuse to serve on religious grounds, and, rather than creating
favorable conditions to use their potential somewhere else, the
state has convicted them, used taxpayers’ money to keep them in
penitentiaries, and is now paying 100,000 euros in compensation for
illegal imprisonment,” Marukian said.

The parliamentary debate over the amendments is continuing, but
Marukian feels certain they will be adopted. “After all, it’s a
government project, and [the Republicans] make up the government,
so they won’t go against it.”

Editor’s note: Gayane Abrahamyan is a reporter for ArmeniaNow.com
in Yerevan.

ARMENIAN EX-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE’S SUPPORTER SPEAKS OF NEW SYSTEM – VIDEO

TERT.AM
21:16 ~U 20.03.13

Zhirair Sefilyan, Sardarapat movement member, conducted the 4th
meeting of the civil council in Yerevan’s Freedom Square, on Wednesday.

The aim of the struggle is to create a new Armenian state and
structural reforms.

“That is, from now on we must think of the system to replace the
present agenda. We have lately heard much that Raffi Hovannisian has
no team. Fortunately, we have found the mechanism of uniting the best
sons of our people round the idea of new state,” he said.

“We are creating a new Armenia using the potential of not only
Armenia’s residents, but also all Armenians. We have to clarify what
kind of state we are speaking about and elaborate a program. We need
a change of political generations, which means a change of quality,”
Mr Sefilyan said.

As regards Raffi Hovannisian’s hunger strike, Mr Sefilyan considers
it a wrong step.

“Mr Hovannisian should continue visiting Armenia’s regions, using
modern technologies to maintain contacts with the Diaspora. By visiting
Armenia’s regions he would make the struggle better organized and
victory would be easier to gain,” he said.

DECLINE OF IRAN’S RIAL WILL AFFECT NUMBER OF IRANIANS VISITING ARMENIA FOR NOWRUZ CELEBRATION

19:30, 20 March, 2013

YEREVAN, MARCH 20, ARMENPRESS: Number of Iranians visiting Armenia
for celebration of Iranian new year Nowruz may decline comparing
to the previous year. This was noted by Iranian extraordinary and
plenipotentiary Ambassador to Armenia Mohammad Reisi in the interview
with Armenpress. According to him the main reason of the number
decrease is the decline of Iranian rial exchange rate against the
US dollar.

“Pitifully, number of visitors has already decreased. Among core
reasons are economic issues which are connected with economic
restrictions of the United States against Iran,” Reisi noted. Another
reason highlighted by Ambassador is treatment of some tourism agencies
of Armenia which try to get super profit.

In accordance with data of Armenian Police, Armenpress was provided
with, there are no incidents with Iranians’ involvement recorded in
Nowruz period in 2012.

According to Head of Tourism department of Armenian Ministry of
Finances Mekhak Apresyan, there is possibility that number of Iranian
tourists will be the same as last year. In 2010 about 120,000 Iranians
crossed Armenian border while in 2012 number of Iranian tourists in
Armenia reached 150,000.

Cultural center of Iranian Embassy is organizing a concert of Iranian
music on the occasion of Nowruz, which will take place on March 23
in Arno Babajanian Hall.

ENERGY MINISTER DOES NOT DENY OWNING VANADZOR-KHIMPROM

Thursday,
March 21

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Armen Movsisian did not
deny owning Vanadzor-Khimrom chemical factory during a talk with the
correspondent of “Zhamanak” daily. Responding to a question about that,
he gave an evasive answer: “You know, a few days ago I read that I
own 70% of Ukraine’s metallurgy industry. I would be glad to own it”.

When asked if the price of natural gas supplied by Russia will
increase, Movsisian said the negotiations will continue in the summer
and probably end in the autumn. In his words, in any event the gas
price may increase next year. Armen Movsisian did not say how much
the gas price will rise.

TODAY, 11:27

Aysor.am

SERJ TANKIAN TO GIVE CONCERTS IN RUSSIA

MARCH 21, 12:15

Front man of System of a Down, singer and composer Serj Tankian will
give concerts in Moscow and Saint Petersburg this September.

American singer of Armenian decent will perform songs from his albums
“Elect the Dead Symphony” and “Orca”, Life Star reported.

The concerts will be held in Moscow and Saint Petersburg on September
27 and 28 respectively. He will also perform in Ukraine accompanied
by national ensemble of soloists “Kyivska Kamerata.”

NEWS.am STYLE

AKHALKALAK CITY COUNCIL PUSHES FOR ARMENIAN AS REGIONAL LANGUAGE

10:30, March 21, 2013

The Akhalkalak City Council has filed a request with the Georgian
Parliament to grant Armenian the status of a regional language,
this according to The Messenger Online.

City Council member Sargis Uzounyan proposed the initiative,
arguing that since Georgia supports EU integration it must adhere
to policies aimed at protecting and encouraging the languages of
national minorities.

The Akhalkalak City Council is mostly made up of Armenians.

SHOOTS OF DUAL POWER
Aghassi Matevosyan

12:14 20/03/2013
Story from Lragir.am News:

The first sketches of the idea of a shadow government are already
shown to the society. Those are responsible steps which need a
thorough analysis and elaboration. One must admit that the future of
the movement will depend on the steps taken in this direction. The
time of political statements and calls has already passed. The society
expects real steps, successful ones, small steps which will, however,
produce results.

In this transition period the main goal of the movement is to establish
dual power which is visible and tangible. Different calls on abrupt
activities for change of power will continue to be heard in the
political field and different algorithms may be offered. But everyone
understands that if the word “velvet” is often heard in these calls,
the word “velvet” is dual power, and the viability and resources
of the illegitimate government will be neutralized in parallel with
forming a legitimate government with its resources (including by way
of gradual redistribution of resources).

Forming dual power is a complicated process. A government that has
usurped state resources is not sleeping, and the resource will be used
to smother its clone and executor as soon as it is born. Creation
of a strong and healthy embryo will be the guarantee that the child
will leave. A sick embryo will be attacked by viruses overwhelming
the environment.

Now a circumstance of inefficiency is noticed. In order to sustain
the power of BAREV along with the government which has usurped power
and ensure continuity of the resource of confidence received from
people it is necessity to stress not only human resource but also
structural change. It is necessary to change people’s attitude to
public administration systems. In other words, before announcing
names of shadow ministers it is necessary to prove that the given
ministry or institution is needed for optimal public administration
or provision of public services.

Why? Because one of the weaknesses of the government is that it is
a mess. Institutions have been established not on the basis of the
principle of optimization of public services but out of the desire to
appoint their friends or acquaintances to one position or another. The
government is a worn patchwork, and it cannot be mended, it must be
thrown away and replaced by a comfortable and nicely dress made to
measure for the government.

GENOCIDE DES TUTSI : AGATHE HABYARIMANA DEBOUTEE EN APPEL

Publie le : 20-03-2013

Info Collectif VAN – – “Le travail des experts
designes par les juges Nathalie Poux et Marc Trevidic a ete confirme
ce 19 mars 2013 par la chambre d’instruction de la Cour d’Appel de
Paris. La defense avait demande a la Cour de confirmer l’ordonnance
des juges d’instruction Nathalie Poux et Marc Trevidic et de rejeter
l’appel interjete par Agathe Habyarimana. Telle etait egalement la
position de l’Avocat general qui avait clairement pris position pour
le respect du travail des experts et des juges d’instruction. Ce 19
mars 2013, la Cour d’Appel de Paris a suivi la position de l’Avocat
general et de la defense. Elle a declare l’appel de madame Agathe
Habyarimana et de ses proches non fonde. La defense rappelle que
cet arret s’inscrit dans la continuite de l’instruction qui a mis
en evidence le caractère fantaisiste des accusations formulees a
l’encontre des militaires du Front patriotique rwandais, l’absence de
preuve fiable et des manipulations graves de la justice francaise. Les
developpements recents montrent en outre que desormais les recherches
doivent s’orienter vers les extremistes hutus voire dans certains
cercles en France, proches de ceux-ci.” Le Collectif VAN relaye ici
le communique de presse diffuse par l’Ambassade du Rwanda en France
le 19 mars 2013.

Legende photo: Mme A. Habyarimana avec sa famille

La cour d’Appel de Paris deboute l’appel d’Agathe Habyarimana et
ses proches

COMMUNIQUE DE PRESSE -Ambassade du Rwanda en France

Mardi 19 mars 2013

Rwanda – 6 avril 1994 : ce 19 mars, le travail des experts designes
par les juges Nathalie Poux et Marc Trevidic est confirme par la
chambre de l’instruction de la Cour d’Appel de Paris. Reaction des
personnes visees par l’ordonnance de Monsieur Bruguière.

Retroacte :

Les juges Marc Trevidic et Nathalie Poux ont designe un collège
d’experts charges de verifier les hypothèses des sites de lancement
qui pouvaient servir au depart des missiles ayant abattu le 6 avril
1994 en soiree le Falcon ayant a son bord les presidents rwandais et
burundais. Le collège d’experts s’etait rendu au Rwanda en 2010 et
le 10 janvier 2012, avait conclu que le site le plus vraisemblable
pour le tir des missiles etait situe au camp Kanombe, ecartant du
meme coup l’hypothèse d’un tir provenant de Masaka, contrairement a
l’ordonnance de Monsieur Bruguière.

Certaines parties civiles essentiellement liees a Madame Agathe
Habyarimana, ont tente, et pour cause, ecarter ce rapport qui etait
totalement defavorable a leur thèse. Elles ont essaye de provoquer
la nullite de la mesure d’expertise voire d’obtenir une nouvelle et
seconde expertise ou encore des complements d’enquetes. Toutes ces
demandes avaient ete rejetees par ordonnance des juges Trevidic et
Poux prononcee en juin 2012. Les juges avaient cependant ordonne
aux experts de fournir des eclaircissements sur un point technique
concernant l’impact de la trajectoire des avions sur le tir des
missiles, ce que la defense avait accepte. La majorite des parties
civiles avaient accepte l’ordonnance du juge. Seul le meme groupe
minoritaire proche d’Agathe Habyarimana avait interjete appel devant
la chambre d’instruction de la Cour d’Appel de Paris.

Les parties ont longuement plaide le 29 janvier 2013.

La defense avait demande a la Cour de confirmer l’ordonnance des juges
d’instruction Nathalie Poux et Marc Trevidic et de rejeter l’appel
interjete. Telle etait egalement la position de l’Avocat general qui
avait clairement pris position pour le respect du travail des experts
et des juges d’instruction.

Ce 19 mars 2013, la Cour d’Appel de Paris a suivi la position de
l’Avocat general et de la defense. Elle a declare l’appel de madame
Agathe Habyarimana et de ses proches non fonde.

La defense rappelle que cet arret s’inscrit dans la continuite de
l’instruction qui a mis en evidence le caractère fantaisiste des
accusations formulees a l’encontre des militaires du Front patriotique
rwandais, l’absence de preuve fiable et des manipulations graves de
la justice francaise. Les developpements recents montrent en outre
que desormais les recherches doivent s’orienter vers les extremistes
hutus voire dans certains cercles en France, proches de ceux-ci.

Pour les personnes visees a tort par l’ordonnance du magistrat
Jean-Louis Bruguière, cette decision doit faciliter le prononce
d’une ordonnance de non-lieu a leur benefice. Le prononce du non-lieu
n’exclut pas la poursuite des recherches dans les milieux extremistes
hutus et dans les cercles qui les soutenaient, ce a quoi les magistrats
se sont d’ailleurs deja atteles.

Pour les militaires injustement vises par l’ordonnance de Monsieur
Bruguière,

Leurs avocats

Leon Lef Forster, Avocat au barreau de Paris

Bernard Maingain Avocat au barreau de Bruxelles

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TELECHARGER : Communique de presse