Author: Tvankchian Parkev

RA APPEAL CRIMINAL COURT KEEPS UNCHANGED SMBAT AYVAZIAN’S MEASURE OF PUNISHMENT

Noyan Tapan

Jan 27, 2009

YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, NOYAN TAPAN. On January 27, RA Appeal Criminal
Court kept unchanged the November 19 2008 sentence of Yerevan Kentron
and Nork-Marash communities’ general jurisdiction court, by which
Smbat Ayvazian was found guilty of committing crimes envisaged by
part 4, Article 235, RA Criminal Court (getting, selling, keeping,
moving or carrying illegal arms, ammunition, explosives) and by part
1, Article 316 (using violence to a power representative) and was
sentenced to 2 years’ imprisonment and fine of 300 thousand RA drams.

According to the RA Cassation Court’s Spokesperson, the appeal
complaint was brought by the defenders of S. Ayvazian’s interests.

Photo 1 of 3

Michael Joseph Martin outside the Armenian church in Dhaka

©2009 Google – Map data ©2009 AND, NFGIS, Europa Technologies – Terms of Use

Bangladesh’s last Armenian prays for unlikely future

DHAKA (AFP) – Michael Joseph Martin is guarded about his exact age and
reluctant to accept he will be the last in a long line of Armenians to
make a major contribution to the history of Bangladesh.

Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital, was once home to thousands of migrants
from the former Soviet republic who grew to dominate the city’s trade
and business life.

But Martin, aged in his 70s, is now the only one left.

"When I die, maybe one of my three daughters will fly in from Canada
to keep our presence here alive," Martin said hopefully, speaking
broken Bengali with a thick accent. "Or perhaps other Armenians will
come from somewhere else." Martin came to Dhaka in 1942 during World
War II, following in the footsteps of his father who had settled in
the region decades earlier.

They joined an Armenian community in Bangladesh dating back to the
16th century, but now Martin worries about who will look after the
large Armenian church in the city’s old quarter.

"This is a blessed place and God won’t leave it unprotected and
uncared for," he said of the Church of Holy Resurrection, which was
built in 1781 in the Armanitola, or Armenian district.

Martin — whose full name is Mikel Housep Martirossian — looks after
the church and its graveyard where 400 of his countrymen are buried,
including his wife who died three years ago.

When their children, all Bangladeshi passport-holders, left the
country along, Martin became the sole remaining Armenian here. He now
lives alone in an enormous mansion in the church grounds.

"When I walk, sometimes I feel spirits moving around. These are the
spirits of my ancestors. They were noble men and women, now resting in
peace," said Martin, who is stooped and frail but retains a detailed
knowledge of the Armenian history in Dhaka.

Marble tombstones display family names such as Sarkies, Manook and
Aratoon from a time when Armenians were Dhaka’s wealthiest merchants
with palatial homes who traded jute, spices, indigo and leather.

Among the dead are M. David Alexander, the biggest jute trader of the
late 19th century, and Nicholas Peter Poghose who set up Bangladesh’s
first private school in the 1830s and died in 1876.

Martin, himself a former trader, said the Armenians, persecuted by
Turks and Persians, were embraced in what is now Bangladesh first by
the Mughals in the 16th and 17th centuries and then by the British
colonial empire.

Fluent in Persian — the court language of the Mughals and the first
half of the British empire in India — Armenians were commonly
lawyers, merchants and officials holding senior public positions.

They were also devout Christians who built some of the most beautiful
churches in the Indian subcontinent.

"Their numbers fluctuated with the prospects in trading in Dhaka,"
said Muntasir Mamun, a historian at Dhaka University.

"Sometimes there were several thousand Armenians trading in the Bengal
region. They were always an important community in Dhaka and dominated
the country’s trading. They were the who’s who in town. They
celebrated all their religious festivals with pomp and style."

The decline came gradually after the British left India and the
subcontinent was partitioned in 1947 with Dhaka becoming the capital
of East Pakistan and then of Bangladesh after it gained independence
in 1971.

These days, the Armenian Church holds only occasional services on
important dates in the Orthodox Christian calendar, with a Catholic
priest from a nearby seminary coming in to lead prayers at Christmas.

Martin said the once-busy social scene came to a halt after the last
Orthodox priest left in the late 1960s, but he is determined to ensure
the church’s legacy endures.

"Every Sunday was a day of festival for us. Almost every Armenian
would attend the service, no matter how big he was in social
position. The church was the centre of all activities," he said.

"I’ve seen bad days before, but we always bounced back. I am sure
Armenians will come back here for trade and business. I will then rest
in peace beside my wife."

Hosted by
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Armenian Journalist Hopes Obama Administration Will Protect Foreign
Workers Rights at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Armenia, Broadcasting Board of Governors, FreeMediaOnline.org, Georgia,
International Broadcasting, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Russia,
Surrogate Broadcasting, Ukraine, Voice of America –

by tedlipien –
January 22, 2009 – 09:32 America/New_York – 1
009/01/22/armenian-journalist-hopes-obama-administ ration-will-protect-foreign-workers-rights-at-radi o-free-europeradio-liberty/

Anna Karapetian, journalist from Armenia fired by RFE/RL

FreeMediaOnline.org & Free Media Online Blog, January 22, 2009, San
Francisco ‘ Anna Karapetian, a journalist from Armenia who in radio
broadcasts funded by the U.S. government reported on human rights
abuses in her country, is one of many people around the world who see
Barack Obama’s inauguration as a hopeful beginning of a new era of
change in Washington. Ms. Karapetian hopes that with Mr. Obama’s
strong commitment to protecting workers’ rights, the new administration
will end the policy of a U.S. government agency which can arbitrarily
fire its foreign journalists working abroad and denies them many of the
basic labor law protections available to Americans citizens and
residents of other democratic countries.

The policy in question was instituted by the Broadcasting Board of
Governors (BBG), the Federal government agency which manages privatized
U.S.-funded international broadcasting stations, such as Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and Alhurra Television. Ms. Karapetian
became one of the victims of the policy when she was fired from her
broadcasting job at RFE/RL in the Czech Republic after almost 12 years
of employment, which she describes as `impeccable,’ with `very good’
and `excellent’ performance reviews.

Legal cases against RFE/RL’s employment practices have been filed by
the dismissed employees with the Czech Supreme Court, the Czech
Constitutional Court, and the European Court of Human Rights in
Strasbourg. Reports critical of their treatment have appeared in Czech
media and included statements of support from Czech politicians. In yet
another major embarrassment for the BBG, one of the most respected
world statesmen, former Czech president and human rights activist
Vaclav Havel, promised to personally monitor the cases of the fired
employees.

The PR problem created by these cases and the damage to America’s image
abroad can be traced back to the actions of a relatively small group of
unelected U.S. government officials. Less than ten men and women,
selected by the leadership of their political parties, appointed by the
President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, serve at any one time on
the bipartisan Broadcasting Board of Governors. Most of them are
political loyalists and private businessmen without much foreign policy
and human rights advocacy experience.

During the eight years of the Bush Administration, the BBG, which is
responsible for RFE/RL’s personnel policies, greatly intensified its
efforts to subcontract U.S. international broadcasting operations to
privatized institutions. One of the major attractions of subcontracting
was the realization by BBG members that unlike U.S. government
employees, foreign workers hired abroad can be easily dismissed at any
time and for any reason, or no reason at all, under the so-called
`employment-at-will’ doctrine. At the same time, the BBG was
eliminating programs and terminating employment of American journalists
working at the Washington-based Voice of America, which it also
manages, while transferring Federal funding to these privatized
stations.

After her employment was terminated by RFE/RL, Anna Karapetian, mother
of three minor children, found out that unlike VOA journalists employed
in Washington, D.C., and unlike her American colleagues working at the
RFE/RL headquarters in the Czech Republic, she did not have the
protection of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC),
the Federal Civil Rights Act, and many other U.S. anti-discrimination
laws. The Czech government made sure that locally-hired Czech employees
would have the full protection of the Czech labor law, but at the
insistence of the BBG it allowed RFE/RL to exempt foreign journalists
working for RFE/RL in Prague. They were placed under the Communist-era
law, still on the books, which was used to facilitate the Soviet
domination of Czechoslovakia after 1968.

The influential Czech, quite pro-American newspaper, `Lidove noviny’
wrote in an editorial:

`Prague headquarters of RFE/RL, which pretends to be a messenger of
freedom, democracy and the rule of law, behaves as an employer in such
a way as if the principles it heralds are relevant `just’ for the whole
planet but not for what is going on inside that estimable organization
itself.’ Read Anna Karapetian’s Open Letter.

This legal limbo was specifically sought by the BBG and RFE/RL to
prevent court challenges by foreign-based journalists against adverse
personnel actions. Shocked and angered by how she was treated by her
U.S. taxpayer-supported American employer, Anna Karapetian wrote in an
open letter to freedom of the press and human rights organizations that
non-American and non-Czech RFE/RL employees working in the Czech
Republic, who often come from semi-dictatorial countries of the former
Soviet Union, have `about as much legal protection as the inhabitants
of Guantanamo: not in the country of their origin, not in the place of
their presence, nor in the United States.’

While the BBG’s actions now appear to many as wrong and hypocritical,
during the Bush Administration, both Republicans and Democrats serving
on the BBG, became convinced that it would be easier for them and
better for the White House’s war on terror to manage U.S. international
broadcasting as a series of private businesses exempt from many U.S.
government laws and regulations. These political appointees
consistently eliminated programs at the Voice of America, where
journalists enjoy significant independence and strong legal protections
against arbitrary actions by management and were viewed as being
opposed to the BBG’s and Bush Administration’s plans to transform U.S.
international broadcasting. While BBG members claimed that their
strategy would result in greater effectiveness and savings of
taxpayers’ money, they have created multiple broadcasting units with
multiple executive and administrative positions, which independent
studies and media reports described as wasteful and lacking proper
programming and fiscal accountability. ProPublica.org: Report Calls
Alhurra a Failure

The fact that the neoconservative privatization agenda was led and
implemented by a number of prominent Democrats on the BBG, including at
least two former members with close links to Vice President Biden, may
not bode well for Ms. Karapetian’s hopes for significant reforms at the
BBG and at RFE/RL during the Obama Administration. As a U.S. Senator,
Vice President Biden was a major patron of a former BBG member, Norman
Pattiz, founder of the now failing U.S. radio syndicate Westwood One,
who pushed hard for the elimination of VOA broadcasting services,
including its Arabic Service, and was the primary force behind the
establishment of privatized stations, such as Radio Sawa and Alhurra
Television for the Middle East. Many RFE/RL and VOA journalists still
hope, however, that President Obama and his close advisors will pay
attention to media reports of mismanagement at the BBG. According to
the latest Federal Human Capital Survey (FHCS), the employees of the
Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) have recently given the BBG Board
members and the officials of the International Broadcasting Bureau
(IBB) the worst ever rating for good management and placed the BBG at
the very bottom of Federal agencies. Broadcasting Board of Governors
Rated Worst Than Ever By Its Employees and As One of The Worst Federal
Agencies

During the last months of the Bush Administration, Edward E. Kaufman,
another former Democratic BBG member who is now a U.S. Senator from
Delaware and was previously Joe Biden’s chief of staff, worked closely
with BBG’s former Republican chairman, neoconservative Bush appointee,
James K. Glassman, who later became the U.S. Under Secretary of State
for Public Diplomacy. They agreed to terminate VOA radio broadcasts to
Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, and India. Thanks to highly effective
coordination behind the scenes by the BBG executive director, Jeffrey
Trimble, who was formerly acting president of Radio Free Europe/Radio

Liberty, the Board succeeded in taking VOA radio programs to Russia off
the air just 12 days before the Russian military forces attacked
Georgia last summer and then refused to resume them.

On December 31, 2008, the BBG also ended VOA radio program to Ukraine
just hours before Russia cut off the flow of natural gas supplies to
Ukraine and the rest of Europe. Only one BBG member, Blanquita Walsh
Cullum, the only working journalist serving on the Board, was reported
to have voted against these program cuts and reportedly also opposed
many of the management practices supported by other BBG members. The
other current BBG members are: Joaquin F. Blaya, D. Jeffrey Hirschberg,
and Steven J. Simmons. The BBG web site still lists Condoleezza Rice as
an ex-officio member, even though she is no longer the Secretary of
State and therefore no longer sits on the Board.

Ted Lipien, president of San Francisco-based media freedom nonprofit
FreeMediaOnline.org, said that while privatized U.S.-funded
broadcasting to Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union was highly
effective at times during the Cold War, `this so-called ‘surrogate’
broadcasting model turned out to be totally outdated and inappropriate
for providing news to the Middle East and the former Soviet republics
under drastically different conditions.’ Lipien pointed out that for
most of the Cold War, RFE/RL journalists, who were based in West
Germany, enjoyed20far greater legal protections, as well as being
protected from intimidation by communist security services, than the
current RFE/RL journalists based in Prague and elsewhere behind the
former Iron Curtain.

In addition to eliminating U.S. jobs and severely limiting the rights
of overseas-based foreign journalists, the privatization of U.S.
international broadcasting during the Bush Administration also produced
major fiscal and editorial scandals at the newly established private
stations and at RFE/RL. Both Republican and Democratic BBG members
hoped that these private entities would be far more effective than the
Voice of America in delivering programs against Islamist extremism. But
the loosening of programming and fiscal controls and employment
protections for journalists combined with the BBG’s marketing policy
designed to maximize audience size regardless of local media conditions
led to numerous editorial failures at the privatized entities. At the
same time, as a result of BBG’s actions, some of them taken within the
last few weeks, the Obama Administration found itself without radio
broadcasts by the Voice of America from the United States to many
countries around the world.

Unlike VOA journalists, many broadcasters at the privatized stations
do not have extensive experience in reporting news about the United
States and American politics. Some broadcasters, especially at Alhurra
Television and Radio Sawa, have been accused of lacking basic
journalistic training. U.S. and international media outlets reported
that Alhurra aired unchallenged statements by Holocaust deniers and
RFE/RL was criticized by a Russian human rights organization for giving
extensive airtime to a Russian politician known for his racist comments
about ethnic minorities, Jews, and Blacks. FreeMediaOnline.org reported
that the BBG also failed to protect RFE/RL journalists and other
employees who are Russian citizens and work in Russia. There is strong
evidence that these employees are subject to blackmail and other forms
of intimidation by the Kremlin’s secret police. `U.S. Taxpayers Pay for
Spreading Racist Views on Radio Liberty in Russia: What Would Barack
Obama Say If He Knew¦’ Use this link to the ProPublica.org web site
to view the Alhurra Holocaust report (with English subtitles) as an
example of what the BBG’s marketing strategy has produced at these
privatized U.S.-funded stations:

Ms. Karapetian points out in her open letter that foreign journalists
employed by RFE/RL face serious risks from security services of local
dictators when they work in their own countries and lack legal
protections if they work at RFE/RL headquarters in the Czech Republic.
But despite her accusations of mistreatment, she defends RFE/RL as a
journalistic organization with a distinguished history that is still
much needed by audiences in countries without free media. She also
expressed concern that the personnel policies applied to foreign
journalists at RFE/RL are damaging U.S. reputation abroad and give
encouragement to authoritarian leaders in the former Soviet republics.
According to Ted Lipien, the lack of basic job security and legal
protections makes foreign journalists employed by RFE/RL far more
vulnerable to threats from the security services of the countries to
which they broadcast. Their family members who live in those countries
are also subject to intimidation.

Ms. Karapetian ended her letter with an appeal to press freedom and
human rights advocates to contact the current RFE/RL president, Jeffrey
Gedmin, and urge him to put into action a statement from his recent
speech that `We have as RFE/RL our intellectual and moral compass¦ We
also need to lead by example¦’. Anna Karapetian is hoping that being
true to President Obama’s promise of change, his administration will
show greater respect for the rights of foreign journalists employed by
U.S.-funded international broadcasters. (Some media reports use
`Karapetyan’ as the spelling of her last name.)

Despite the reported failures on the part of the BBG, RFE/RL continues
to play a vital role in many countries and, according to Ted Lipien of
FreeMediaOnline.org, can be more effective in other countries if some
of the failed policies of the Board of Broadcasting20Governors are
reversed. The ability to tell America’s story to the world in Voice of
America broadcasts, however, has been largely destroyed by the
privatization policies of the BBG during the past eight years.
Journalists at VOA and RFE/RL hope that the Obama Administration will
institute quick reforms in the use of `soft power’ in communicating
with the world. America’s image abroad would be improved by restoring
Voice of America broadcasts and by putting an end to the shameful
practice of restricting rights of foreign journalists who work on
behalf of the United States, Lipien said.

The Obama Transition Team official responsible for international
broadcasting is Ernest J. Wilson III, Dean of the USC Annenberg School
for Communication. His email address is: [email protected].

If you wish to protest or comment on the treatment of foreign
journalists working for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the
Broadcasting Board of Governors, you may also send emails to:

Jeffrey Gedmin, RFE/RL President, addressed to Mr. Martins Zvaners,
Associate Director of Communications: [email protected]

Jeffrey N. Trimble, BBG Executive Director, addressed to the BBG
Office of Public Affairs, [email protected]

Football champion of Armenia, Pyunik Yerevan, sold

2009-01-24 14:11:00

ArmInfo. President of the Football Federation of Armenian, businessman
and MP Ruben Hayrapetyan has sold the football champion of Armenia,
Pyunik Yerevan, to businessman and MP Samvel Aleksanyan, reports the
spokesman of the club Vahan Daniyelyan.

EU OFFICIAL DISCUSS KARABAKH, ENERGY ISSUES IN AZERBAIJAN

Azad Azarbaycan TV
Jan 21 2009
Azerbaijan

[Presenter] The EU thinks that the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict is a
serious obstacle for the implementation of energy projects between the
EU and regional countries. Taking these factors into consideration,
visiting EU Commissioner [for External Relations and European
Neighbourhood Policy] Benita Ferrero-Waldner urged the parties to
the conflict to find a common denominator as soon as possible.

[Benita Ferrero-Waldner, speaking in English with Azeri translation
superimposed, addressing the joint briefing] There are three main
issues on the agenda of our discussions in Azerbaijan. The first one is
a peaceful settlement to the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. I think that
Azerbaijan and Armenia should resolve the conflict by peaceful means
once and for all. This will affect the development of the region’s
energy sphere. The second issue is [the EU initiative of] Eastern
Partnership. Association agreements are expected to be signed within
this partnership. These agreements will cover the simplification of
visa issues. The third priority is cooperation in the energy sphere.

EQUAL COMPROMISE – OBJECTIVE OF OSCE MINSK GROUP

Panorama.am
18:02 23/01/2009

"The objective of the OSCE Minsk Group in the conflict of Nagorno
Karabakh is to come to a balanced and equal compromise," said the
Ambassador of France to Armenia Serge Smessow in a meeting with
the journalists.

He has mentioned that in a few days the Foreign Ministers of Armenia
and Azerbaijan are going to have a meeting which will be followed by
another meeting of the Presidents of both countries.

The Ambassador rejected to give any comments on the conflict of Nagorno
Karabakh and its solution. "I would like not to give any comments
on this regard as France has its Ambassador – the co-chairman,"
said S. Smessow.

HUMAN RIGHTS STAGNATE IN 2008 SAY REPORTS BY GARY FEUERBERG

The Epoch Times
Jan 21 2009
NY

WASHINGTON, D.C. In the year 2008, proponents of democracy and human
rights faced a sophisticated opponent intent on undermining the
influence of free nations like the U.S., according to two recently
released reports.

Human Rights Watch and Freedom House, independently, concluded in their
respective 2009 world reports, that authoritarian regimes mounted an
anti-human rights campaign to prevent reform. They also agreed that
the Obama administration will need to make human rights the number
one priority if the U.S. is to restore its position as a leader in
this realm.

"These human rights opponents defend the prerogative of governments
to do what they want to their people," said Kenneth Roth, executive
director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), at a press conference at the
National Press Club on Jan. 14. Roth was referring to countries like
Algeria, Egypt, Pakistan, China, and Russia, with the tacit support
of even ‘free’ countries like South Africa and India.

Today, a country would not dare to openly speak against human rights,
said Roth. The principles in the Declaration of Human Rights that
was signed 60 years ago have become too ingrained in international
diplomacy to openly oppose them.

"They hide behind the principles of sovereignty, non-interference,
and Southern solidarity, but their real aim is to curb criticism of
their own human rights abuses or those of their allies and friends,"
said Roth.

In effect, these nation states, which Roth labeled as "the spoilers,"
dominated intergovernmental discussions of human rights, and
effectively prevented the United Nations from taking action against the
"severe repression in Uzbekistan, Iran, … the Democratic Republic
of the Congo," and from creating the multilateral agreements that
could ease troubles in Burma, Darfur, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe.

Freedom House Director of Research and author of the Freedom House
report, Arch Puddington, said that what set off the reaction against
democracy and reform was the "color revolutions" in 2003-05 in Georgia,
Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan, where several post-communist societies ousted
autocratic and/or corrupt officials, mostly non-violently.

"Powerful regimes worldwide have reacted to ‘color revolutions’
with calculated and forceful measures designed to suppress democratic
reformers, international assistance to those reformers and ultimately
the very idea of democracy itself," said Puddington.

Especially after the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, "a number of
governments took measures to repress domestic opposition, weaken
independent media, and hinder democracy assistance efforts by NGOs
based in the United States and elsewhere," writes Puddington.

Freedom House’s report was released on Jan. 12, when Puddington spoke
at a teleconference.

Freedom House and Human Rights Watch agree that the Bush administration
dropped the ball on human rights, and allowed the authoritarian states
to take the initiative on human rights–unfortunately, in a negative
direction. The Obama administration will need to make human rights
its first priority in its foreign and domestic policy in order to
seize the initiative back, according to both HRW and Freedom House.

HRW maintained that the Bush administration largely withdrew from
the defense of human rights after deciding to combat terrorism
without regard for an "enemy combatant" being subjected to torture,
extraordinary renditions (enforced disappearances) to foreign
countries, and indefinite detentions for detainees at Guantanamo Bay
without charges or trial.

Highlights of the Reports Russia continued to lose ground on Freedom
House’s measurements. Last year, Dmitry Medvedev, Vladimir Putin’s
successor as Russian president, "won an election in which opposition
candidates were marginalized through laws and regulations that have
effectively made Russia a one-party state…," writes Puddington.

Increasingly repressive practices at home and in Chechnya made
Russia more willing to undermine international intervention for human
rights. Russia on the UN Security Council blocked critical resolutions
on Burma and Zimbabwe, notes Roth. And Russia bullies other European
governments to ignore their crimes in Chechnya.

Freedom House’s political rights scores for Non-Baltic former Soviet
Union countries have deteriorated in recent years to the point
that the area ranks below any region, including the Middle East and
North Africa. These countries include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia,
Kyrgyzstan, and Moldova. In Armenia, for example, over 100 people were
incarcerated after voting in the presidential election and violence
was used to disperse opposition protesters.

Generally speaking, the year’s most significant gains for democracy
happened in South Asia, says Freedom House. Pakistan’s status
improved from Not Free to Partly Free when military rule ended and
free elections were held. The same upgrades in status occurred in
two other Asian states: Bhutan and Maldives, which successfully held
elections. Bangladesh, Nepal, Malaysia, and Thailand also registered
modest gains.

The successes of democracy in Asia–Taiwan, South Korea, and
multi-ethnic-religious diverse, India and Indonesia–"[refute] the
theory that democracy is not compatible with Asian culture," in spite
of being home to some of the world’s most brutal repressive regimes,
namely, China, North Korea, Burma, Vietnam, and Laos.

Surprisingly, India, the world’s largest democracy, seems less
interested in promoting democracy and human rights in other countries
than in its own, says Roth. Of Sudan, North Korea, Cuba, and Belarus,
India blocked or abstained or voted against resolutions or actions
that would address their human rights conditions.

One reason for India’s lack of enthusiasm for human rights is the
notion–a deeply ingrained view–that human rights is a Western concept
and international protection of human rights is a continuation of
colonialism, according to Roth.

Iraq, although still "not free," was the only country in the Middle
East to show improvement due to "reductions in violence, political
terror, and government sponsored Shia militias," according to Freedom
House. Afghanistan declined in freedom status to ‘not free,’ due to
"rising insecurity" and increases in "corruption and inefficiency in
government institutions."

China was the big disappointment this past year when the leadership of
the Communist Party failed to live up to its promises of more openness
and respect for human rights as host of the Olympic Games. The regime
cracked down on bloggers and internet journalists, placed human rights
lawyers under house arrest, jailed democracy advocates and persecuted
protesters, according to Freedom House. Christians and Falun Gong
adherents were also "subject to stepped-up controls," says Puddington.

China’s nascent judicial system suffered some setbacks last year. A
defense attorney’s right to meet with criminal suspects in detention
did not apply to cases involving "state secrets," says HRW report. The
Ministry of Justice "threatened to not renew the licenses of a
dozen Beijing lawyers who had publicly offered to represent Tibetan
protesters."

Lawyers were also prevented from representing the victims of the
"shoddy construction of schools that collapsed in the Sichuan
earthquake" and the "dairy companies’ poisoning of baby formula,"
says HRW.

Both reports noted China’s persecution of the Tibetans and the
Uighurs in Xinjiang. The March 14 protests in Tibet led to scores of
Tibetan killed and police and Communist Party authorities arresting
or fining Tibetans "suspected of passing information abroad," says
the HRW report. Monks in Lhasa told foreign journalists of a "massive
‘patriotic education campaign’ launched by the [regime] in monasteries
and places of worship," says HRW.

In Xinjiang, the Chinese Communist authorities even prohibited Moslems
from fasting during Ramadan. HRW reported that in February, China
published regulations that prohibited 23 types of "illegal" religious
activities, including praying in public or at wedding ceremonies.

The Two Reports at a Glance The Human Rights Watch’s 19th annual
report, World Report 2009, is a 564-page volume that reviews and
summarizes human rights practices in the past year to Nov. 2008,
in more than 90 countries and territories–from Afghanistan to
Yemen–with a special chapter on the United States.

Freedom House’s "Freedom in the World 2009," examines the state of
freedom of just about every country in the world–193 as well as 16
strategic territories. Using a wide variety of indicators of freedom in
a metric, Freedom House classifies nations into three broad categories:
free, partly free, and not free. These categories are represented by
46 percent, 32 percent, and 22 percent of the world’s 193 countries,
respectively.

The worst offending countries in the ‘not free’ category were unchanged
from last year: North Korea, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Libya, Sudan,
Burma, Equatorial Guinea, and Somalia plus two territories, Tibet
and Chechnya.

Some other ‘not free’ countries were not a whole lot better, e.g.,
China, Cuba, Eritrea, Laos, Saudi Arabia, and Zimbabwe.

Nearly all changes in the scores on political rights and civil
liberties that occurred in 2008 were within each of these broad
categories. But a handful of countries changed across the broad
categories with one ‘free country becoming ‘partly free’ and a few
moving between ‘not free’ and ‘partly free’ status. In Sub-Saharan
Africa, Mauritania was a ‘partly free’ country that was downgraded
to ‘not free,’ because "the military ousted a democratically elected
leader and imposed restrictions on the press and freedom of assembly,"
says Puddington.

Most changes in scores within the three broad categories of freedom
status moved in a less free direction, but the downturns were not huge.

Freedom House describes itself as "an independent nongovernmental
organization that supports the expansion of freedom in the
world. Freedom is possible only in democratic political systems
in which the governments are accountable to their own people; the
rule of law prevails; and freedoms of expression, association, and
belief, as well as respect for the rights of minorities and women,
are guaranteed." Founded in 1941, Freedom House is widely recognized
as providing the definitive assessment of a country’s freedom status.

Human Rights Watch is an independent organization since 1978, dedicated
to defending and protecting human rights. By focusing international
attention where human rights are violated, HRW seeks to build intense
pressure for action and raise the cost of human rights abuse.

RA FM: IT’S UNCLEAR WHETHER AZERBAIJAN IS READY FOR KARABAKH CONFLICT RESOLUTION

PanARMENIAN.Net
21.01.2009 18:51 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ At atmosphere of mutual trust should be created for
resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. If Yerevan reacts to every
outburst of Baku’s anti-Armenian propaganda, the situation may reach
a deadlock, Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said when responding to
a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter’s question during today’s news conference.

"The Moscow declaration states that Yerevan and Baku should spare no
effort for resolution of the conflict. However, it’s still unclear
whether Baku is ready for it or not," he said.

During their November 2 meeting, the Presidents Dmitry Medvedev of
Russia, Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia and Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan
pledged to intensify negotiations to end the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

The declaration envisages resolution of the conflict on the basis of
principles and norms of the international law as well as agreements
and documents concluded in this framework.

Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev also instructed their foreign
ministers to activate the negotiation process, in collaboration with
the co-chairs of the OSCE’s Minsk Group.

AGREEMENT ABOUT PEACE MAKING ACTIVITY OF COLLECTIVE SECURITY TREATY ORGANIZATION COMES INTO FORCE

ArmInfo
2009-01-19 17:49:00

ArmInfo. The Agreement about peace making activity of Collective
Security Treaty Organization [CSTO] has come into force, press
secretary of CSTO Vitaliy Strugovets told ArmInfo.

He also added the Agreement was signed by the heads of the CSTO
member-states on 6 October 2007 at the summit in Dushanbe. It was
ratified by Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia on 14 July, 18 November
and 29 December 2008 respectively. The forth state that implemented
the inner-state procedure necessary for the Agreement to come into
force, was Russia.

The Agreement says that participation of the CSTO in the
peace-making activity will become ‘an instrument for enhancing
its international positions, authority and political weight in the
world and regional affairs’. The Agreement envisages creation of the
permanent peace-keeping forces of the CSTO, which will be trained
according to the single programmes and take part in the regular joint
exercises. The CSTO peace-keeping forces will be able to take part in
the peace-making operations at the territory of the CSTO member-states
as well as in other regions by the decision of UN Security Council.

THOUSANDS OF TURKS SIGN PETITION FOR ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
by Geries Othman

AsiaNews.it
Jan 19 2009
Italy

The new sensitivity is the result of the death of Hrant Dink, the
journalist killed two years ago. People connected to his murder
are also part of the trial involving Ergenekon, the clandestine
ultranationalist group accused of planning a state coup.

Istanbul (AsiaNews) – "My heart does not accept that the people are
insensitive to the great tragedy that the Ottoman Armenians experienced
in 1915. I reject this injustice, and sharing their pain and sentiment,
I ask for forgiveness from my Armenian brethren." This is the online
petition, more courageous than any before it, launched by three hundred
Turkish intellectuals (journalists, writers, university professors)
to ask for official recognition of the genocide of the Armenians
during the first world war. It has been circulating on the internet
for a month, and has already been signed by 27,650 Turkish citizens.

It may not be a petition that will change the intransigence always
shown by Turkish governments toward the genocide of the Armenians,
but it is certainly a sign that something is changing in the nation’s
public opinion.

This is certainly one of the most significant results of the blood
shed two years ago by Hrant Dink, the Armenian Turkish journalist
shot to death on the streets of downtown Istanbul. Sentenced to six
months for "insulting the Turkish identity," on the basis of article
301 of the constitution, for having dared to speak, as an Armenian,
of genocide in the pages of his weekly Agos and in interviews that
he gave to publications abroad, he became "the enemy of the Turks,"
and was essentially condemned to death by the same state justice that
should have defended a citizen and his right to speak.

It was January 19, 2007, when he was killed by a young
ultranationalist. Two years later, it seems increasingly clear that the
killing of the founder and director of Agos – the subject of a trial
still far from any conclusion – expresses all of Turkey’s problems:
anti-Armenian and anti-Christian nationalism, limits on the freedom
of expression, the overweening power of the security forces and some
politicians, and the country’s difficulties in coming to terms with
the past.

18 men are accused in the Dink trial. They are Ogun Samast, the
young man who pulled the trigger, and his 17 accomplices, with very
different backgrounds, but united by ultranationalist fanaticism. And
it is no accident that in this major trial that has been shaking all of
Turkey for more than a year, because of the involvement of well-known
political and military figures, there are more men implicated in Dink’s
murder. Yes, among the 86 people arrested in the case of Ergenekon,
in the clandestine ultranationalist group that united bureaucrats,
retired military officers, nationalists, and criminal gangs, there
is Veli Kucuk, a retired general who had threatened Hrant Dink with
death, and Kemal Kerincsiz, the lawyer who had repeatedly sued Dink for
"denigrating the Turkish identity," and also Fuat Turgut, the lawyer
for the man who ordered Dink’s murder.

The killing of Dink was a shock for all of Turkey: everywhere
there were gigantic photos of the slain journalist, candles in the
street, 100,000 pro-democracy activists at his funeral with signs
reading "We are all Armenians." No one would ever have expected
such visible and stirring participation. The solidarity of the
democrats and intellectuals is encouraging, and there are more and
more supporters for Agos, with thousands of new subscriptions, and
there is encouragement from the online petition, but there is still
rigidity and strong opposition.

Almost a century later, it is still difficult to confront the
genocide of the Armenians in Turkey. So in spite of the fact that
Turkish president Abdullah Gul has recently come out in support of
the internet campaign, and has affirmed that everyone has the right
to express his opinion freely, former ambassadors and diplomats
have raised protests, calling the campaign a mistake and contrary to
national interests. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after the
angry reactions from some of the nationalists, has distanced himself
from the appeal of the intellectuals who are asking for forgiveness
from the victims: "I reject this campaign," he has said, "and I do not
support it. I have not committed any crime, why should I apologize?"

So ten days ago, six Turkish judges presented a petition asking for
the punishment of those who organized the campaign. As if this were not
enough, Arat Dink, the son of the Armenian journalist, is now on trial
with a possible sentence of six months, under the infamous article
301, and the accusation of "insulting Turkish identity." Behind the
charges is the publication in Agos (of which he became editor after
the assassination of his father) of an interview Hrant gave to the
news agency Reuters in July of 2006, and in which he makes reference
to the genocide of the Armenian people.

But how long can this stubborn opposition continue? When on September
6, 2008, President Gul visited Yerevan, the capital of Armenia,
to watch a soccer game between Turkey and Armenia, unlike the
other heads of state he refused to enter the museum (in the photo)
displaying documentaries and photographs of the genocide. Nonetheless,
an increasing number of Turkish tourists and journalists are visiting
this museum. "More than 500 Turks came here in 2008. That is an
enormous number for us, unprecedented," says Hayk Demoyan, director
of the museum. "At first, they are always shocked. They are disturbed
by what they see, and deny it. But after this, most of them begin to
question the history of their own country. Without a doubt, they are
different when they go back home." This is exactly what Hrant Dink
maintained, in defense of the Turkish people that he loved. When he was
asked how it was possible that the Turks would not admit the genocide,
he responded that this was not because of cynicism or hypocrisy,
but "because they think that genocide is a horrible thing that they
would never do, so they cannot believe that their ancestors would
have done it. They deny it mainly because they do not understand it,
they don’t know anything about it. They see it only as a threat to
their identity."

The assassination of Hrant Dink has brought to light a stirring
of solidarity and awareness that was unthinkable just a few years
ago. These are signs of hope, hope in a process that will certainly
be slow and long, difficult and contested, but that will lead Turkey
to come to terms with this "black hole" in its history, from which it
will emerge stronger. Many, in fact, have no doubt: if this syndrome
of denial is not overcome, with the opening of a serene discussion
about all the chapters of modern Turkish history, it will be very
difficult for the country to carry out its transformation from an
authoritarian state to a democratic state based on the recognition
of universal rights. What is at stake is not so much the past, but
rather the future of Turkey. "A process is needed," Dink asserted in an
interview with Radikal in 2006, "in which information and expression
are set free. With this development of our democracy, as we gradually
come to understand it, our consciences will also become active. There
must be freedom of expression. A Turkey that is not able to talk with
itself will have nothing to say to the Armenians . . . We do not intend
to remain stranded in history. What counts is safeguarding our future."