Author: Torgomian Varazdat

AGAINST THE BLACK AND WHITE BACKGROUND

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on July 30, 2008
Armenia

According to ROUBEN HAKOBYAN, "The formation of the pro-Government
coalition did not bring use; it led to the polarization of society. If
the ARFD and ‘Rule of Law’ had remained inside the pro-opposition camp,
the internal political developments might have been more peaceful,
and there might be possibilities for some maneuver.

This kind of struggle against the black and white background is
very harsh.

The sooner the coalition quits the pro-government camp the more the
developments will become dynamic."

FOREIGN MINISTERS OF ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN TO DISCUSS WAYS OF RESOLUTION OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT IN MOSCOW: ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY

Trend News Agency
July 30 2008
Azerbaijan

The foreign minister of Armenia and Azerbaijan Edward Nalbandyan and
Elmar Mammadyarov will meet on 1 August in Moscow, Edward Nalbandyan,
the Armenian foreign minister said during the press conference on
30 July, Novosti-Armenia reported. "The meeting is organized by
the co-chairmen of OSCE Minsk Group. The ministers will meet both
tet-a-tet and with all three co-chairmen," minister said.

According to Nalbandyan, the parties will discuss Madrid proposals
of the co-chairmen on the basis of which the presidents of Armenia
and Azerbaijan stated their determination to continue the talks on
the resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

In November 2007, co-chairmen of OSCE Minsk Group presented basic
principles of the peaceful resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
to the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan. The co-chairmen believe
that the "Madrid proposals" are fair and balanced.

Nalbandyan said that Armenia is ready to continue talks further on
the basis of Madrid proposals.

"This is the way which will help us resolve the conflict," the Armenian
diplomat said.

The previous meeting of the two ministers took place on 6 June during
the informal summit of CIS head of states in St Petersburg.

DOES THE NEW UN COMMISSIONER HAVE ANY RIGHTS?

RIA Novosti
July 30, 2008

30/07/2008 20:41 MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Andrei
Fedyashin) – The appointment of Navanethem Pillay, a Tamil judge from
South Africa, as the United Nation’s new High Commissioner for Human
Rights, was unanimously endorsed on July 29.

On September 1, she will take up a post that many in the United Nations
consider cursed. It evokes many conflicting opinions, criticisms,
grievances, and fury because the person who occupies it has to deal
with violations of human rights, freedom of speech and assembly,
rights of women, seniors, teenagers, children, journalists and
incapacitated people – all in the motley company of 191 people.

Not a single commissar for human rights has left the position without
angry words, with the possible exception of Sergio Vieira de Mello,
who died in an explosion in Baghdad’s Canal Hotel in 2003 (aut bene aut
nihil). But he was in the job for less than a year. The overwhelming
majority of his predecessors and successors left office in a state
of gloom.

Former Irish President Mary Robinson left the post in 2002. Although
she did not resign (indeed, she extended her full term), she complained
that the position allowed her to do practically nothing – everything
involving rights was politicized to the utmost. She was particularly
critical of the Bush Administration.

Pillay’s predecessor, Louise Arbour from Canada, sincerely tried
to defend human rights, but her own country was the only one not
to thank her for her tireless efforts on this position. Even her
resignation was completely ignored. They say that the Canadian
government itself insisted that she should not prolong her term for
another four years. The story goes that Canada was under pressure from
the United States, which did not like Arbour’s criticism of Israel’s
conduct in the occupied territories. She once said that though the
death of Israelis from rocket fire was a tragedy, the shooting of
Israeli villages with primitive Palestinian weapons was not the same
as attacks on Palestinian lands by the Israeli army with tanks. After
this statement, the Canadian government made it clear to Arbour that
her own country would not support her nomination. A couple of months
ago she told the UN Secretary-General that she intended to quit.

Arbour had previously served as Carla Del Ponte’s predecessor as
chief prosecutor for the Hague Tribunal, where she presented official
charges to Slobodan Milosevic and other major Serbian defendants.

Pillay takes up her new position at a time when the entire structure
of the UN human rights agency is undergoing reform. Nobody knows
what will come of it (maybe not much, considering the past disputes,
clashes, and scandals over human rights). In 2006, the UN finally got
rid of the Human Rights Commission, which had existed since 1946, and
replaced it with the UN Human Rights Council. The commission’s 60th
anniversary was so miserable and shallow that Amnesty International
criticized UN members for giving it such a chilly farewell. After all,
the commission did make at least some contribution to the cause of
human rights.

The commission’s reorganization was long overdue. It was hard to
understand how it could defend human rights with such members. I
do not even want to mention them. The new Human Rights Council will
include 47 countries instead of the commission’s 53. The UN General
Assembly will elect the council’s members by a simple majority vote.

Before, the commission was elected by the UN Economic and Social
Council (ECOSOC), which always pushed it in the wrong direction and
eventually doomed it by choosing Libya as its chairman in 2003.

In this regard the new council is not very lucky, either. The
United States, the U.S. administered Marshal Islands and Palau,
and Israel all voted against its formation. Washington is still
boycotting the new agency, and without its involvement it will not
be that effective. Publicly the United States objects that there is
no guarantee that the council will not admit nations which regularly
violate human rights. In fact, it does not want to adopt commitments
to a body that would inevitably criticize it for torture and illegal
detention of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay and the CIA’s secret prisons
for "special rendition", as well as fight against terrorism without
respect for human rights all over the world.

Russia has become a member of the council. Some 137 of the 191 UN
member states voted for it. Azerbaijan and Ukraine have also been
admitted, while other post-Soviet republics – Armenia, Georgia,
Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, and Lithuania were not elected, despite their
ardent desire to join the council. Moscow has already said that
it will use its membership of the council to raise the issues of
violations of the human rights of the Russian-speaking population in
Latvia and Estonia, glorification of Nazism, and harassment of war
veterans. However, it will continue to strongly oppose any debates
on human rights in Chechnya. Although the human rights situation
in Chechnya is satisfactory, it should be noted that almost all UN
members have this in common – they are ready to discuss human rights
violations everywhere but not at home.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is the Council’s
executive body.

Even before Pillay’s official appointment, quite a few skeptics were
arguing that her service record is not befitting of this position.

First, her entire career has been in criminal law, not human rights.

Initially, she was a judge, and later on chaired the International
Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR); in 2003 she was a member of
the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. Crimes are
very different from human rights. Perhaps more importantly, even
in her work as a criminal lawyer Pillay has never been seen as an
enthusiastic champion of human rights. As Kenneth Roth, executive
director of Human Rights Watch, said, let us see "how Pillay will
stand up to big powers when they violate human rights."

She faces a very difficult task, even with a budget of $150 million
a year.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF ARMENIAN COMMUNITY IN CRIMEA

ARMENPRESS JULY 29

Armenian President Serzh Sargsian who is in Crimea, Ukraine,
accompanied with the Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, visited
July 28 Yalta’s St. Hripsime church where the president and Catholicos
met with the hundreds of representatives of the Armenian community the
major part of which came to participate in the event dedicated to the
650th anniversary of the St. Cross monastery complex and consecration
ceremony of St. Cross Church.

After the greeting speech of the Catholicos, President Serzh Sargsian
expressed his joy over visiting St. Hripsime and meeting compatriots.

PREVENTING NUCLEAR SMUGGLING

Voice of America
July 28 2008

In the post-Cold War era, the global black market for nuclear
technology has proliferated at alarming rates, and the international
community is taking action. According to the International Atomic
Energy Agency, there were more than one thousand confirmed cases of
illicit nuclear trafficking or incidents of such materials outside
legitimate control between 1993 and 2006.

Armenia has become the latest country to help fight nuclear
proliferation. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian finalized an anti-nuclear
smuggling agreement in Washington on July 14. The plan — outlined in
twenty-eight steps — presents a detailed approach for the Armenian
government to prevent, detect and respond to the illegal trading
of nuclear materials. Ten of the twenty-eight steps involve ongoing
efforts that need completion, while the remaining eighteen represent
new initiatives.

This marks the fifth joint action plan carried out by the Nuclear
Smuggling Outreach Initiative, the NSOI. The NSOI is a U.S. program
that assists countries with a high smuggling threat to counter
underground nuclear trafficking. It has previously partnered with
Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia, and the Kyrgyz Republic. And it seeks
to conduct similar bilateral agreements with twenty additional at-risk
countries. More information on the NSOI is available at nsoi-state.net.

Detecting the smuggling of nuclear materials is a complicated
task. According to a 2002 study by Harvard University, for example,
about four kilograms of plutonium – roughly the size of a soda can
– can potentially be enough material for a bomb. With millions of
trucks, trains, ships, and planes crossing international borders
daily, discovering pirated nuclear materials requires extensive and
cooperative efforts. Due to the vast scope of nuclear proliferation,
the NSOI is just one of many programs launched by the U.S. and other
countries to combat the problem.

In 2003, authorities in Georgia — Armenia’s neighbor to the north
— arrested an individual attempting to smuggle six ounces of highly
enriched uranium into Armenia. The new anti-nuclear smuggling agreement
will help the U.S. and Armenia prevent nuclear materials from falling
in the hands of those who would use them for harm.

AZG Armenian Daily #143, 26/07/2008

Armenia-Turkey

ARMENIA SUBJECT TO EVERYDAY DISCUSSION IN TURKEY

On June 23, as Azg Daily already informed, head of the Turkish
Historical Society prof. Yusuf Halacoglu was dismissed from his
office. On the previous day, as "Hurriet" informed on July 24, the
Armenian Constant Representative to the UN Armen Martirosian attended
a reception organized at the "Turkish House" in New York, organized by
Foreign Minister Ali Babacan.

As Babacan had arrived in the USA in order to ensure assistance in the
coming election of UN non-permanent members, Mr. Martirosian was asked
whether Armenia shall support the candidacy of Turkey or not. The
Armenian diplomat answered that Armenia has not received any help
request from Turkey.

On July 24 Babacan held a press conference. But the press conference
turned out to be dedicated rather to the Armenian representative’s
participation in the July 22 reception and the dismissal of Halacoglu,
rather Turkey’s chances in the UN elections.

Babacan said that Armenian representative to the UN Armen Martirosian
was invited to the reception by the Turkish side; therefore the
dismissal of Halacoglu cannot be perceived either as caused by Armen
Martirosian’s visit to the "Turkish House" in New York or by Turkey’s
willingness to improve its relations with Armenia.

The Turkish Foreign Minister underscored, "Indeed we are willing to
create atmosphere of dialog and improving our relations with
Armenia. Of course many circumstances affect appointments to different
offices in different institutions. Anyways it is wrong to see any
links between those two matters".

Babacan reminded the reporters that the after the presidential
elections the President, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister
of Turkey congratulated the newly-elected authorities of Armenia. He
said that Turkey’s number one goal in its relations with Armenia is to
minimize the controversies and complicated issues.

Then Babacan talked about flights and bus transportation between the
Armenian and Turkish towns, about Armenian employees in Turkey, about
growth of commodity turnover growth between Armenia and Turkey, etc,
etc. He said Turkey cannot neglect Armenia’s troubles with
Azerbaijan. He added that Turkey is making friendly gestures towards
Armenia and that the latter is expected to act likewise in return.

The Turkish Foreign Minister assured that all the controversies may be
settled through talks and emphasized creating a joint Armenian-Turkish
science committee to study together the 1915 events.

The speech of the Foreign Minister of Turkey causes us a great deal of
thought. It is very important that these are not vague demands, but
clear official statements. Anyways those statements themselves are not
that important as their frequency and response of the press
are. Turkey’s everyday press is full of statements and news about
Armenia, which at least makes the Turkish citizens to realize the
necessity of establishing contacts with Armenia. In the meanwhile the
Armenian questions becomes part of the daily agenda of the official
Ankara.

By H. Chaqrian, translated by A.M.

Mediamax news agency, Armenia
July 25 2008

YEREVAN SAYS ETHNIC ARMENIANS FACING "POLITICAL PERSECUTION" IN
GEORGIA

Yerevan, 25 July: The Armenian Foreign Ministry is monitoring "the
developments in [Georgia’s] Samtskhe-Javakheti Province, maintaining
daily communications at different levels and directions," an official
representative of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Tigran Balayan, told
Mediamax while commenting on the recent developments in Georgia’s
Armenian-populated Samtskhe-Javakheti Province.

Balayan expressed hope that "the situation will be settled calmly and
within the law".

On 24 July the Armenian opposition New Times Party made a statement
calling on the Armenian authorities to react to the situation in
Samtskhe-Javakheti Province.

"The situation recently again started to deteriorate in the
Armenian-populated Javakheti. Forces that try to maintain the national
identity of Armenians are facing political persecutions by the
Georgian authorities," the statement said.

TIGRAN SARGSIAN: "EVERYTHING IS DONE SO THAT NO NORM OF LAW IS VIOLATED IN ARMENIA"

NOYAN TAPAN

JU LY 24

During the July 23 meeting of the RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsian
and PACE Chairwoman Luis Maria de Puig, who is on a visit in Armenia,
the interlocutors touched upon the process of the fulfillment of PACE
Resolution N1609 under the title Activity of Democratic Institutions in
Armenia and proposals of Resolution N1620 on the latter’s fulfillment.

At the beginning of the talk the PACE Chairwoman underlined that in
Council of Europe no one wants to see Armenia in a difficult situation,
so, like the Commissioner for Human Rights of Council of Europe, who
had arrived in Armenia before that, she also has come to encourage,
to stimulate so that the country moves forward and records success
in the fulfillment of the above mentioned resolutions.

Luis Maria de Puig noted the necessity of bringing out the truth about
the events of March 1-2. She spoke on such issues as the activity
of the NA Ad Hoc Commission and, connected with it, the proposal of
creating an independent working group introduced by the Commissioner
for Human Rights of Council of Europe; the arrest of the people
connected with the events of March; the legal field of regulating the
sphere of activity of the National Television and Radio Commission;
the opportunities of providing mass media with full freedom; the
enlarging of the authorizations of the opposition.

Touching upon the problem of the arrested, the PACE Chairwoman noted
that the Council of Europe can not tolerate political prisoners in
one of its member countries. "This is not acceptable for the Council
of Europe. But the thing is not about people who have committed a
crime. If crimes have been committed accompanied with violence it
should be differentiated: they have no connection with politics. What
is out of criminal sphere should be taken into account and the
prisoners having no connection with all this should be set free",
Luis Maria de Puig said.

T. Sargsian noted that in the solution of these problems the
authorities bear greater responsibility and well realize it introducing
very definite initiatives aimed at solving the existing problems. The
Prime Minister particularly spoke about wide cooperation of government
with NGOs and representatives of the opposition. "We are going to
continue our initiative of building bridges with the opposition,
and if the opposition takes this opportunity the situation in our
country will change", T. Sargsian said.

As regards the people towards whom the law enforcement bodies undertake
measures, in T. Sargsian’s belief, the authorities fully understand
the seriousness of the problem, and it is evident for everyone that
politicizing these court procedures is extremely dangerous for the
country. So, according to the Prime Minister, everything is done so
that no norm of law is violated.

According to the report provided to Noyan Tapan by the Information
and Public Relations Department of the RA government, during the the
talk the interlocutors touched upon the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
settlement process.

Taking the occasion of the meeting with PACE Chairwoman, the RA Prime
Minister expressed his concern with the formulation passed in the
Council of Europe June session, according to which, the development
of Azerbaijan’s democracy is connected with the restoration of the
territorial integrity. T.

Sargsian considered such a formulation extremely dangerous, endangering
the current negotiations process and an improper approach to European
system of values and basic provisions. The principle of territorial
integrity, according to the Prime Minister, is an equal norm of
rights, like the right of self-determination, and insisting that the
development of democratic institutions in Azerbaijan is difficult
without the restoration of territorial integrity is a step backwards
from the values adopted by PACE.

RA MFA TO GO ON PROMOTING KARABAKH DIPLOMATIC SERVICE’S DEVELOPMENT

DE FACTO
24.07.08

RA MFA will go on rendering all-sided assistance to further development
of Nagorno-Karabakh’s diplomatic service, RA Deputy FM Arman Kirakosian
stated in Stepanakert on Wednesday.

Kirakosian heads a delegation of RA MFA, which participates in the
measures arranged for 15th anniversary of Karabakh MFA.

Speaking of the way the NKR MFA had passed, Kirakosian noted that
Karabakh MFA had been established under hard conditions; however,
at present it is a completely formed structure.

Kirakosian also attached importance to joint activity and realization
of programs to resolve the issues Armenian nation faced.

The delegation of RA MFA also participated in the ceremony of unveiling
a monument to killed warriors-liberators in the town of Askeran.

A working meeting of the two Republics’ MFAs was held in the second
half of the day, Novosti-Armenian Agency reports.

MISSING BOYS MAY BE ON WAY TO SYRIA
Larry Altman

Long Beach Press-Telegram
July 23 2008
CA

WESTCHESTER: Mothers say three boys have been taken away by their
fathers.

Two Westchester brothers allegedly abducted their three boys from
their ex-wives and might be on their way to their native Syria,
the mothers said Tuesday.

John Silah, 47, and George Silah, 46, have not been seen since they
took their sons for vacations last month.

Both men had previously threatened to take their sons and move out of
the country, said the mothers, Christine Jeanbart and Zanni Meguerian.

"They have friends in Syria, relatives in Turkey, friends in Canada,"
Jeanbart said. "I would say they are either trying to flee to Syria
or they are across the border waiting to get passports for the kids."

Missing is Jeanbart’s son, Greg, who turns 10 years old today. He
was last seen June 23 with his father, John.

Also missing are Meguerian’s sons, Alex, 12, and Zaven, 8, who were
picked up that day by their father, George.

Greg attends Holy Martyrs Armenian Elementary School in North
Hills. Alex and Zaven go to school at Westchester Lutheran Church.

"I can’t even describe to you the emotions," Meguerian said.

"I went from being completely distraught and literally almost
bedridden. I was weak and crying until I just couldn’t stand on
my feet."

Slowly, she gained strength and has reached out to the media. "I’m
just praying every day."

Meguerian said she knew something was happening when her former
husband asked her repeatedly for her sons’ passports. She wouldn’t
hand them over because he had previously threatened to take the
children to Syria.

Her former husband, George, insisted that he was taking the boys on
the Disney Wonder cruise ship to the Bahamas following a trip to Big
Bear. John and his son also were going.

Both men had rights under custody agreements to have the children
for summer vacations. Meguerian said she knew they could travel with
birth certificates.

"I was uncomfortable," Meguerian said. "I told my children, `Make
sure you talk to me every day."’

Meguerian told her son Alex to call her as soon as they arrived in
Big Bear on July 2. She heard nothing. Her calls to his cell phone
went straight to voice mail.

She asked the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, which
covers Big Bear, to check on them. The Silahs and their children
never arrived.

Both women went to Los Angeles police, but were told they could not
file a report because both men had rights to their sons.

The mothers checked with the Disney cruise line in Florida. The men
and boys never boarded the ship on July 6.

Meguerian called the Syrian Embassy and has determined the men and
boys have not entered that country.

"You just never think this is reality until you are living it,"
Meguerian said. "It’s every parent’s worst nightmare."

Both women will be in court today to ask a judge to void their custody
agreements and grant them sole custody.

"I was planning to throw (Greg) a pool party," Jeanbart said. "That’s
what he wanted. I’m just going to pray that he comes back."

Los Angeles police Lt. Richard Mossler, who heads the detective
bureau at the Pacific Division, said the disappearances appear to
have been planned.

The men lived with their parents on 81st Street in Westchester. The
women said the parents flew to Syria about a week before their
children disappeared.

The Westchester house is empty.

"It was cleaned out by the landlord thinking that it was abandoned,"
Mossler said.

Police are focusing on finding the children, but are aware of
allegations against both men that they stole millions of dollars from
people in an investment scam.

Their aunt, Stella Silah, charged that her nephews stole $650,000 of
the equity on her Mar Vista home.

"The bank is going to sell it," she said. "I am going to be out on
the street. They are devils."

Neither mother believes her former husband will harm the children. They
just want them back, especially since they believe the law sides with
men in custody issues in Syria.

"I just want Greg back," said Jeanbart, who last spoke to her son
July 2, when she believed he was headed to Big Bear. "I would tell
Greg at this point, `Mommy is coming to get you, Greg, no matter where
you are. Mommy is going to get you back home. I am not giving up."’