Category: News

USA to expand military ties with Azerbaijan – US congressman
Trend news agency
27 May 04
Baku, 27 May: “We welcome the Azerbaijani peacekeepers’ involvement,
along with the US military, in the fight against international
terrorism,” Congressman Curt Weldon, vice chairman of the House Armed
Services Committee, said at a meeting with Azerbaijani Defence Minister
Safar Abiyev on 26 May.
The US Congressman’s mission in Baku is to expand military cooperation
between the USA and Azerbaijan, Weldon said. He highly praised
Azerbaijan’s role in regional security issues. The USA intends to
make greater efforts for settling the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict,
he said. “The USA will continue its relations with Azerbaijan as with
its strategic partner,” he said.
Defence Minister Abiyev stressed that Azerbaijan is working shoulder
to shoulder with the USA in NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme and
in the struggle against international terrorism. Since the first days
of its independence, Azerbaijan has given preference to integration
into Europe and the USA and firmly has kept to this position, Abiyev
said. He also provided the congressman with detailed information
about the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict.

Germany to allocate 6m euro to Armenia for reconstruction of power stations
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
26 May 04
[Presenter] As a result of the two-day (25-26 May) working session
of the Armenian-German financial and technical cooperation it was
confirmed that Germany will allocate Armenia a grant of 6m euros in
July. This financial aid will be channelled to the reconstruction
of small hydroelectric power stations. During the 11 months of the
Armenian-German cooperation programmes the Germans assisted Armenia
with more than 150m euros.
[Correspondent over video of meeting] A protocol adopted during the
two-day interparliamentary session of the Armenian-German financial
and technical cooperation, confirmed and signed over some champagne,
was headed by Armenian Finance and Economy Minister Vardan Khachatryan
and the head of Transcaucasus and Middle Asia Department of Germany
Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, Wolfgang Armbruster.
[Wolfgang Armbruster, captioned, in Germany with Armenian voice
over] Our cooperation is within the framework of the economic
reforms achieved by the Armenian government. These are water supply,
reconstruction of small hydroelectric power stations, assistance to
the communities, health programmes, etc.
[Correspondent] The finance and economy minister said that all the
programmes have been discussed one by one. There is a problem in the
water supply system which is being resolved in Armavir town and also
10 communities. Noragung company is implementing the programme.
Similar programmes will be implemented in Lori and Shirak
Regions. Among the republic’s regions, Armavir is the first which
will have a 24-hour quality water supply system. Lori and Shirak will
follow after Armavir this year.
An additional programme on the reconstruction of small hydroelectric
power stations will be confirmed in Bonn in July.
The next interparliamentary negotiations will be held in Bonn, in
the spring of 2005.
Susan Badalyan, “Aylur”.

Armenian leader favours integration into “family of democratic countries”
Mediamax news agency
27 May 04
Yerevan, 27 May: Armenian President Robert Kocharyan said in Yerevan
today that “Armenia will continue its way to full integration into
the family of democratic countries, which requires lengthy and
consistent work”.
According to Mediamax, Kocharyan said this at a meeting with the
ambassadors of foreign countries to Armenia, whose residences are
outside Armenia.
“Attaching special importance to Armenia’s close cooperation with
European and other international organizations, we believe that
our country should keep abreast of the modern world,” Kocharyan
said. According to him, loyalty to the complementary policy, which
became the basis of Armenia’s foreign policy several years ago,
has yielded rather serious results.
Speaking about the economic situation in the country, Kocharyan added
that the first stage of reforms had ended. This is proved by the
stable pace of economic growth and good macroeconomic indices, which
have been maintained over the last few years. Despite this, Kocharyan
said, part of Armenia’s population lives on the verge of poverty, and
a solution to this problem is the Armenian government’s priority today.
Kocharyan said that he welcomed the idea of an annual meeting in
Yerevan between the non-resident ambassadors. According to him, regular
meetings of this kind with the diplomats, who do not permanently
live on Armenian territory, “will allow us to present the processes
in the country in a better way”.

ARMENIAN EXPERTS’ VIEW ON ARMENIA’S FUTURE
A1 Plus | 15:48:39 | 27-05-2004 | Politics |
Only in 10 years Armenian will be reckoned among middle-level
countries, more than a half of 50 experts having participated in My
View on Future survey conducted by Armeian Center for National and
International Studies think.
46% of respondents think Armenia will be weak country, and only 4%
are convinced Armenia will turn into mighty state.
The Center has conducted also another expert-opinion survey on Armenian
foreign policy and its relations with superpowers.
The results of the survey were presented at the seminar-discussion
held in the Center on Thursday.
To the question whether cut in the U.S. humanitarian aid and financial
assistance will have impact on your family 72% respondents said “no”,
6% didn’t know what to say and 22% said “yes”.
Yerkir newspaper’s Editor-in-Chief Spartak Seiranyan reacting to the
question said he found the question irrelevant to the purpose and
wondered how such a question could help to have an idea of Armenian
foreign policy.
50% of respondents attach importance to the idea of improving
Armenian-Turkish relations and opening the border. 40% voiced their
disapproval over the idea and 10% didn’t respond.
It is remarkable that 30% of questioned experts are from state-owned
institutions and 70% from private enterprises.

FORMER PRO-GOVERNMENT POLITICIAN WANTS TRANSITION OF POWER
A1 Plus | 17:58:19 | 27-05-2004 | Politics |
Former head of parliamentary standing commission on foreign affairs
and now Liberal-Progressive Party leader Hovhannes Hovhannisyan said
Thursday he was unhappy about foreign policy pursued by Armenian
leadership.
Hovhannisyan, who was engaged in foreign policy for four years,
voiced alarm at Armenia’s future saying the current authorities’
short-sighted foreign policy put Armenia’s security in danger. He
said the republic was gradually being removed from the EU programs.
Today, Liberal-Progressive Party celebrates 100 days of its
foundation. The party addressed Armenian people and all political
forces urging them to prevent Armenia from becoming Russian interests’
stronghold. Policy must be changed and the republic leadership ousted
from power, the address says.

ARMENIAN LAWMAKERS ATTACH NO IMPORTANCE TO INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS’ OPINION
A1 Plus | 17:25:37 | 27-05-2004 | Politics |
Armenian National Assembly’s members spoke Thursday on international
institutions’ assessment of Armenian processes, often not so pleasant.
People MP parliamentary group’s member Vahram Baghdasaryan shares
Freedom House organization’s opinion, according to which Armenia is
an authoritarian state. In his words, little progress is seen in the
republic. To speed up the progress It is necessary to find out what
hobbles it, he said.
Levon Lazarian, an MP from Dashnaktsutyun, one of the ruling coalition
three parties, is convinced Armenia is quite stable and democratic
country. He thinks international organizations’ judgments shouldn’t
be taken seriously, as they are subjective.
Other lawmakers shared his opinion. Nobody disputed his statement –
the opposition MPs were absent from parliament discussion.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT
A1 Plus | 20:32:05 | 27-05-2004 | Politics |
Amnesty International organization has issued its annual report. The
organization placed it on record that hundreds of the opposition
supporters had been arrested during both presidential and parliamentary
elections in Armenia. Facts of stealing ballot box and committing
violence against international observers were mentioned in the report
as well.
Some 100 people were tried and convicted behind closed doors, the
report says.
Amnesty International also says in its report that justice principles
were infringed in the trial of Nari Hunanyan, the key perpetrator of
the October 27 terrorist attack: “There is some concern in Armenia
that justice failed”.
At the same time, the report noted with satisfaction that Armenia
managed to abolish death penalty ahead of the trial end.

NEW TV CHANNEL TO BROADCAST SOON
A1 Plus | 19:05:05 | 27-05-2004 | Social |
New outlet is to appear on media field. Erkir Media TV channel will
start broadcasting in May 28. This day broadcasting duration will be
only four hours. In ten days broadcasting time will be extended.
The TV company director Rubina Ghazaryan says there are some technical
problems.
She says the channel won’t be politically-oriented.
The company’s executive director said the channel would try to be
objective.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ANNUAL REPORT 2004
REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
Head of state: Robert Kocharian
Head of government Andranik Markarian
Death penalty: abolitionist for ordinary crimes
UN Women’s Convention: ratified
Optional Protocol to UN Women’s Convention: not signed
Covering events from January – December 2003
In line with its human rights commitments to the Council of Europe,
Armenia abolished capital punishment in peacetime. However, it failed
to meet its commitments to the Council of Europe on conscientious
objectors to compulsory military service, who continued to be
imprisoned. The authorities detained hundreds of protesters who took
part in peaceful opposition rallies to contest the outcome of the
presidential elections.
Background
In March incumbent President Kocharian won presidential elections that
were marred by widespread voting irregularities, including ballot
box stuffing, and intimidation and violence towards independent and
opposition election monitors. Mass opposition rallies protested at
illegal election practices. Following international criticism, the
President acknowledged that the elections had not met international
standards and set up a commission of inquiry to investigate reported
irregularities. Nevertheless, parliamentary elections in May were
likewise flawed by reported ballot box stuffing and intimidation of
international observers. Parties that supported the President won a
large majority in parliament.
Administrative arrests
Some 100 protesters who participated in peaceful demonstrations after
the presidential elections were reportedly sentenced to short prison
terms after being convicted of disrupting public order. Reportedly
denied access to lawyers, they were sentenced in closed trials without
legal representation. In April the Armenian Constitutional Court
declared the arrests unlawful.
Prisoner of conscience Artur Sakunts, Chairman of the Vanadzor
branch of the Helsinki Citizens Assembly (HCA), was released from
prison on 25 March after serving a 10-day sentence. He was arrested
after he attempted to organize a public meeting on 15 March on the
findings of HCA election monitoring. He was tried the same day and
convicted of “disobeying the authorities” (Article 182 of the Armenian
Administrative Code). He was not permitted access to a lawyer before
or during his trial. His arrest and the firebombing of the Vanadzor
HCA office in the early hours of 14 March raised fears of a campaign
to prevent the HCA from carrying out legitimate human rights work.
Unfair trial concerns
In December Nairi Unanyan and five co-accused were sentenced to life
imprisonment by a court in Yerevan for their part in the October
1999 attack on the Armenian parliament in which eight deputies and
government officials, including Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian
and parliamentary Speaker Karen Demirchian, were killed. There were
concerns about the fairness of the trial and the widespread support
for imposing the death penalty in the case.
Proceedings in the case had been accompanied since the 1999 arrests
by concerns about due process and the detention conditions of those
detained in connection with the arrests. These included allegations of
torture and ill-treatment, difficulties in access to defence lawyers,
lack of access to families, and denial of access to independent
medical practitioners. Widespread public and political support
for the death penalty in this case had led to the Council of Europe
warning Armenia that it would face suspension from the organization
if any of the defendants were executed.
Death penalty
In May parliament adopted a new criminal code, which abolished the
death penalty in peacetime but contained a provision that could have
allowed use of the death penalty in the parliamentary shootings
trial. In July President Kocharian commuted all outstanding death
sentences to life in prison.
In September the newly elected parliament voted to abolish the death
penalty in peacetime and to ratify Protocol No. 6 to the European
Convention on Human Rights, one of the commitments Armenia undertook
when it joined the Council of Europe in 2001. However, in November
deputies voted unanimously to amend the new criminal code to deny the
right of parole to prisoners serving life sentences for grave crimes
including murder and assassination of a state or public figure. It was
widely believed that the amendment was intended to ensure that those
convicted in the parliamentary shootings case were never released.
Conscientious objection
Parliament adopted a law in December that provided for unarmed military
service of three years or alternative civilian service under the
Ministry of Defence for three and a half years – almost double the
length of ordinary military service.
Conscientious objectors continued to be sentenced to prison terms
despite Council of Europe requirements that all those imprisoned for
conscientious objection should be freed. By December, prison sentences
of between one and two years had been imposed on at least 27 men,
all Jehovah’s Witnesses, for conscientious objection. Five more had
been arrested and were awaiting trial. A further two had been released
on parole.
—

GOOD DEEDS NEVER FORGOTTEN
A1 Plus | 20:58:49 | 27-05-2004 | Official |
On Thursday, President Kocharyan gave Armenian National Hero title
and awarded Motherland Medal to prominent benefactor Kirk Krkoryan
for his great contribution to Armenia’s development.
The same title and award were given to Charles Aznavour, who turned
80, for his devotion to Armenia.