ONLY 2 OF 15 BANKS EXPRESSED WISH TO BECOME OPEN JOINT STOCK COMPANIES
AZG Armenian Daily
25/05/2006
“Corporate Management of Banking Sector in Armenia” seminar opened
in Yerevan, yesterday. The seminar is organized by the International
Financial Corporation, by RA Central Bank and by the Government
of Netherlands.
Vache Gabrielian, member of RA Central Bank’s Board, told journalists
that they haven’t defined the deadline for the bank’s transfer to the
corporate management system. Only several points of the relevant law
will come to force from July 1, 2006. He stated that the corporate
management system will make the banking activities more effective and
transparent. He said that the main problem of the Armenian banking
sector is the lack of qualified specialists. “I hope that we will
settle this issue with the time,” he said, not excluding that the
representatives of the Armenian Diaspora may be involved in the
banking activities.
There is a great centralization of property in Armenian banks, said IFC
expert Panos Labrapolus presenting the results of a study. He noted
that 15 banks of overall 21 Armenian banks took part in the study
and that the results are based on the answers that the banks gave to
IFC questions. Only 2 of the 15 banks expressed wish to become open
joint stock companies.
Patrick Luternauer, IFC expert, said that the most urgent issue for
the Armenian banks in to secure access and transparency of information
about them. He also emphasized the importance of the work of the
Board of Directors that deals with the settlement of primary issues.
At the same time, he said that it’s good that the Armenian banks
are read to make amendments to their systems and apply corporate
management. It’s worth mentioning that the International Financial
Corporation is the investment branch of the World Bank. Its goal is
to make investments in the private sector companies of the countries
in the transition period. Armenia became IFC member in 1995.

“HUMAN RIGHTS REFORMS SLOWED” AI SAYS
BÝA, Turkey
May 24 2006
Torture and ill-treatment continued to be reported, with those detained
for ordinary crimes particularly at risk. Law enforcement officers
continued to use excessive force in the policing of demonstrations;
four demonstrators were shot dead in November”.
BÝA (London) – “During 2005 some of the world’s most powerful
governments were successfully challenged, their hypocrisy exposed
by the media, their arguments rejected by courts of law, their
repressive tactics resisted by human rights activists. After five
years of backlash against human rights in the “war on terror”, the
tide appeared to be turning” says international rights organization
Amnesty International (AI) in its 2006 Report.
“Nevertheless, the lives of millions of people worldwide were
devastated by the denial of fundamental rights” AI exposes and adds:
“Human security was threatened by war and attacks by armed groups
as well as by hunger, disease and natural disasters. Freedoms were
curtailed by repression, discrimination and social exclusion”.
Documenting human rights abuses in 150 countries around the world
the report also Gives considerable space to the situation in Turkey.
Below is the Turkey Section of the report.
TURKEY
REPUBLIC OF TURKEY
Head of state: Ahmet Necdet Sezer
Head of government: Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes
International Criminal Court: not signed UN Women’s Convention and
its Optional Protocol: ratified
The Council of Ministers of the European Union (EU) formally opened
negotiations for Turkey’s membership of the EU.
Practical implementation of reforms intended to bring Turkish law
into line with international standards slowed in 2005. The law
provided for continuing restrictions on the exercise of fundamental
rights. Those expressing peaceful dissent on certain issues faced
criminal prosecution and sanctions after the introduction of the new
Turkish Penal Code.
Torture and ill-treatment continued to be reported, with those detained
for ordinary crimes particularly at risk. Law enforcement officers
continued to use excessive force in the policing of demonstrations;
four demonstrators were shot dead in November.
Investigations of such incidents were inadequate and law enforcement
officers responsible for violations were rarely brought to justice.
Human rights deteriorated in the eastern and south-eastern provinces
in the context of a rise in armed clashes between the Turkish security
services and the armed opposition Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Background
In June, the new Turkish Penal Code (TPC), Code of Criminal Procedure
and Law on the Enforcement of Sentences (LES) entered into force. The
laws contained positive aspects, with the TPC offering greater
protection from violence to women.
However, the TPC in particular also included restrictions to the right
to freedom of expression. Human rights defenders in Turkey also raised
objections to the punishment regime for prisoners envisaged by the LES.
A revised draft of the Anti-Terror Law was being discussed by a
parliamentary sub-commission at the end of the year; human rights
groups had commented critically on earlier drafts. In September Turkey
signed the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. In October
the Council of Ministers of the EU formally opened negotiations for
Turkey’s membership of the EU.
Freedom of expression
A wide range of laws containing fundamental restrictions on freedom
of expression remained in force. These resulted in the prosecution
of individuals for the peaceful expression of opinions in many areas
of public life.
The pattern of prosecutions and judgments also often demonstrated
prosecutors’ and judges’ lack of knowledge of international human
rights law. In some cases comments by senior government officials
demonstrated an intolerance of dissenting opinion or open debate and
seemed to sanction prosecution.
Article 301, on the denigration of Turkishness, the Republic, and the
foundation and institutions of the state, was introduced in June and
replaced Article 159 of the old penal code. Article 159 and Article
301 were frequently applied arbitrarily to target a wide range of
critical opinion. Journalists, writers, publishers, human rights
defenders and academics were prosecuted under this law.
Among the many prosecuted were journalist Hrant Dink, novelist Orhan
Pamuk, Deputy Chair of the Mazlum Der human rights organization Sehmus
Ulek, and academics Bask¹n Oran and ±brahim Kabo¬lu . An international
academic conference on perceptions of the historical fate of the
Armenians in the late Ottoman period, to be held in May at Bosphorus
University in Istanbul was postponed after comments made by the
Minister of Justice, Cemil Cicek, which fundamentally challenged the
notion of academic freedom by portraying the initiative as treacherous.
The conference eventually took place at Bilgi University in
September. However, in December legal proceedings under TPC Articles
301 and 288 were initiated against five journalists who reported on
attempts to prevent the conference. A further restriction on freedom
of expression remained in the broad restrictions on the use of minority
languages in public life.
Frequent prosecutions for speaking or uttering single words in
Kurdish continued to be brought under Article 81 of theLaw on
Political Parties. In May the Court of Appeal ordered the closure
of the teachers’ union, Egitim-Sen, on the grounds that a clause in
its statute defending the right to “mother tongue education” violated
Articles 3 and 42 of the Constitution which emphasize that no language
other than Turkish may be taught as a mother tongue.
Egitim-Sen later revoked the relevant article of its statute in order
to avoid closure.
* In October the prosecutor initiated a case to closedown permanently
the Diyarbakir Kurdish Assocation (Kurd-Der) on various counts,
including the decision to adopt a “non-Turkish” spelling of the word
Kurdish in the association’s name and statute, and provisions in
the association’s statute defending the right to Kurdish language
education. The association had previously been warned to adjust the
disputed elements in its statute and name. Provisions in the Press
Law restricting press coverage of cases under judicial process were
used in an arbitrary and overly restrictive way to hinder independent
investigation and public comment by journalists on human rights
violations. These provisions were also used to hinder human rights
defenders. Legal proceedings were begun against the Chairperson
of the Diyarbak¹r branch of the Human Rights Association (HRA),
Selahattin Demirtas, and Mihdi Perincek, HRA Regional Representative,
in connection with a report they co-authored with others on the
killing of Ahmet Kaymaz and Ugur Kaymaz (see below).
The indictment alleged that the report violated Article 19 of the
Press Law, undermining the prosecutor’s preparatory investigation into
the killings, despite the fact that the authors had no access to the
contents of files on the case which, by court order and for reasons of
security, were unavailable for inspection. The first hearing against
the two began in July.
Torture and ill-treatment
Torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement officials continued
to be reported, with detainees allegedly being beaten; stripped
naked and threatened with death; deprived of food, water and sleep
during detention; and beaten during arrest or in places of unofficial
detention. Reports of torture or ill-treatment of individuals detained
for political offences decreased. However, people detained on suspicion
of committing ordinary crimes such as theft or for public disorder
offences were particularly at risk of ill-treatment.
Reports suggested that there were still many cases of law enforcement
officials completely failing to follow lawful detention and
investigative procedures and of prosecutors failing to ascertain
that law enforcement officials had complied with procedures. Police
also regularly used disproportionate force against demonstrators,
particularly targeting leftists, supporters of the pro-Kurdish
party DEHAP, students and trade unionists (see Killings in disputed
circumstances below). Often those alleging ill treatment, particularly
during demonstrations, were charged with resisting arrest while their
injuries were explained away as having occurred as police attempted
to restrain them.
* In October in Ordu, five teenagers aged between 15and 18 were
detained at the opening of a new shopping centre. The five reported
being beaten, verbally abused, and threatened and having their
testicles squeezed while being taken into custody and while in custody
at the Ordu Central Police Station. They were later released.
Two reported that they were stripped and threatened with rape. Three
were not recorded as having been in police detention. One was
subsequently charged with violently resisting arrest.
Beyond the alleged ill-treatment, which was documented in medical
reports and photographs, other irregularities in the handling of
the detained teenagers by the police and prosecutor demonstrated a
failure to follow legal procedures at any point from the moment of
detention onwards
* In March, in the Sarachane area of Istanbul, demonstrators gathering
to celebrate International Women’s Day were violently dispersed
by police, beaten with truncheons and sprayed with pepper gas at
close range.
Three women were reportedly hospitalized. The scenes drew international
condemnation. In December 54 police officers were charged with using
excessive force; senior officers were not charged, but three received a
“reprimand” for the incident.
Impunity
Investigations into torture and ill treatment continued to be marked by
deeply flawed procedures and supported suggestions of an unwillingness
on the part of the judiciary to bring perpetrators of human rights
violations to justice. An overwhelming climate of impunity persisted.
* In April, four police officers accused of the torture and rape with
a truncheon of two teenagers, Nazime Ceren Salmanoglu and Fatma Deniz
Polattas, in 1999 were acquitted.
More than six years after the judicial process had begun and after
the case had been delayed more than 30 times, a court in Iskenderun
acquitted the officers due to “insufficient evidence”. Lawyers for
the young women announced that they would appeal against the decision.
The two women had been sentenced to long prison terms on the basis of
“confessions” allegedly obtained under torture.
* Fifteen years after the death of university student Birtan Altinbas,
the trial of four police officers accused of killing him continued
in the Ankara Heavy Penal Court No. 2.
Birtan Altinbas died on 15 January 1991 following six days in
police custody, during which he was interrogated on suspicion of
being a member of an illegal organization. The case, which received
international condemnation and was widely reported in the Turkish
press, demonstrated many aspects of the flawed judicial process.
* The trial of four police officers charged with killing Ahmet
Kaymaz and his 12-year-old son Ugur Kaymaz on 21 November 2004 in
the K¹z¹ltepe district of Mardin began in February. The four officers
on trial were not under arrest and were still on active duty. It was
significant that senior officers responsible for the police operation
during which the two individuals were killed were excluded from the
investigation and not charged, supporting the view that in cases of
this kind prosecutors rarely examined the chain of command.
Fair trial concerns
The continuing inequality between prosecution and defence and the
influence of the executive on the appointment of judges and prosecutors
prevented the full independence of the judiciary. While from 1 June
detainees enjoyed the right to legal counsel and statements made in
the absence of lawyers were not admissible as evidence in court,
few prosecutors in the new Heavy Penal Courts (which replaced the
State Security Courts in 2004) attempted to review ongoing cases
where statements were originally made without the presence of legal
counsel and where defendants alleged that their testimony had been
extracted under torture.
Little effort was made to collect evidence in favour of the defendant
and most demands of the defence to have witnesses testify were not met.
Imprisonment for conscientious objection
Conscientious objection was not recognized and no civilian alternative
to military service was available.
* In August, Sivas Military Court sentenced conscientious objector
Mehmet Tarhan to four years’ imprisonment on charges of “disobeying
orders” and refusing to perform military service. He was a prisoner
of conscience.
Killings in disputed circumstances
On 9 November in the Semdinli district of Hakkâri, a bookshop was
bombed, killing one man and injuring others. Three men were charged
in connection with the incident. The alleged bomber was subsequently
revealed to be a former PKK guerrilla turned informant and his
alleged accomplices were two members of the security services, with
identity cards indicating that they were plain-clothes gendarmerie
intelligence officers.
Subsequently, as the prosecutor carried out a scene-of-crime
investigation, the assembled crowd was fired upon from a car, resulting
in the death of one civilian and injury of others. The prosecutor’s
crime scene investigation was postponed. A gendarmerie specialist
sergeant was charged with disproportionate use of force resulting
in death.
AI called upon the government to establish an independent commission
of inquiry to investigate all dimensions of these incidents including
allegations of direct official involvement. During subsequent protests
at the events in Semdinli, three people in the Yuksekova district of
Hakkâri and one person in Mersin were shot dead by police.
During 2005 approximately 50 people were shot dead by the security
forces, over half of them in the south-eastern and eastern provinces.
Many may have been victims of extra judicial executions or the use
of excessive force. “Failure to obey a warning to stop” was a common
explanation provided by the security forces for these deaths.
At least two individuals were alleged to have been assassinated by the
PKK. On 17 February, Kemal Sahin, who split from the PKK to found an
organization allied with the Patriotic Democratic Party of Kurdistan,
was killed near Suleimaniyeh in northern Iraq. On 6 July, Hikmet Fidan,
former DEHAP deputy chair, was killed in Diyarbakir.
An organization calling itself the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons claimed
responsibility for a bomb attack in July on a bus in the Aegean town
of Ku§adas¹ that killed five civilians.
266 Amnesty International Report 2006 TUR
Violence against women
Positive provisions in the new TPC offered an improved level of
protection for women against violence in the family. The new Law on
Municipalities required municipalities to provide shelters for women
in towns with populations of more than 50,000 individuals.
Implementation of this law will require adequate funding for the
establishment of shelters from central government and full co-operation
with women’s organizations in civil society. Further efforts were
needed to ensure that law enforcement officials, prosecutors and the
medical profession were fully versed in the still little-known Law
on the Protection of the Family.
Official human rights mechanisms
Official human rights monitoring mechanisms attached to the Prime
Ministry failed to function adequately and had insufficient powers to
report on and investigate violations. The work of the Prime Ministry
Human Rights Advisory Board, encompassing civil society organizations,
was obstructed and the Board became effectively inactive. Moreover,
in November, former Chair Ibrahim Kaboglu, and Baskin Oran, a board
member, were prosecuted for the contents of a report on the question of
minorities in Turkey commissioned by the Board and authored by Baskin
Oran. The Provincial and Human Rights Boards, set up by the Human
Rights Presidency and also attached to the Prime Ministry, failed
to conduct adequate investigations of human rights violations. Draft
legislation on the creation of an ombudsman failed to advance.
–Boundary_(ID_Di15xj2AuOctfthdfDhTDQ)–

ARMENIA-NATO DEEPENING COOPERATION ISSUES DISCUSSED
National Assembly of RA, Armenia
May 24 2006
On May 23 RA NA Vice Speaker Tigran Torosyan received NATO Secretary
General’s Special Representative Robert Simmons.
During the meeting the issues of cooperation within the framework of
Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) between Armenia and NATO
were discussed.RA NA Vice Speaker Tigran Trosyan, referring to the
perspectives of cooperation, mentioned that it will continue both in
NATO PA and in broader aspect, since it is one of the most important
components in ensuring the security system of Armenia. Highlighting the
meaning of constitutional reforms in deepening of democracy process,
human rights protection, formation of full complex of state governance
checks and balances, as well as solving problems of national security,
Mr.Torosyam found natural the existence of political components
in IPAP and hoped that the cooperation with NATO can promote the
successful solution of Euro integration and improvement of regional
relationships to meet conflicts.
Both sides highlighted the issues of holding the forthcoming elections
in conformity to the democracy standards, further expansion of IPAP
development. Mr. Simmons attached importance to the role and meaning of
the Parliament in the issue of NATO relations, mentioning the Armenian
delegation work and the important role of national diplomacy in the
NATO PA. He is here to give mid-term evaluation to IPAP and thinks
that the programme has got positive developments, and the Parliament
may have an active role in the continuation of it.
According to Mr. Simmons, the IPAP is a document that can be completed
and developed; since in the basis it is a protection of democracy
values. According to NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative,
the alliance can promote the development of Armenia-Turkey relations.
On Mr. Simmons’ request, returning to the situation around Armenian
Parliament, Mr. Torosyan mentioned that the rearrangement of political
forces would not affect Armenian foreign policy, NATO relationships
and the regulation of IPAP problems. It was also mentioned that
the Committee on Coordination of Cooperation between Armenia and
European Institutions was created to deepen the cooperation. The
Committee headed by RA President will essentially promote the IPAP
implementation.
Other issues of mutual interests were also discussed during the
meeting.

RUSSIAN SEARCHERS RECOVER 2ND FLIGHT RECORDER FROM ARMENIAN AIRLINER
Pravda, Russia
May 24 2006
Russian searchers on Wednesday recovered the second flight recorder
from an Armenian airliner that crashed into the Black Sea three weeks
ago, killing all 113 people aboard, local media reported.
The flight data recorder was lifted by a diving apparatus from a
depth of about 1,640 feet (500 meters) after it was separated from
a thick layer of silt, said Transport Ministry spokeswoman Svetlana
Kryshtanovskaya, according to the RIA-Novosti news agency.
The so-called ‘black box” was discovered within 16 meters (50 feet)
from the spot where workers on Monday found the plane’s cockpit
voice recorder.
Russian television channels showed footage of a yellow,
remote-controlled apparatus lifting the red recorder from the sea
surface.
Investigators hope the two recorders will help answer why the Armavia
Airbus A-320 plane plunged into the sea on May 3 amid heavy rain and
poor visibility. The flight had been en route to the southern Russian
sea resort Sochi from the Armenian capital, Yerevan. All passengers
and crew members on board were killed.
Prosecutors almost immediately dismissed the possibility that
terrorists had brought the plane down, and officials point to rough
weather or pilot error as the likely cause. Armavia officials have
suggested, however, that air traffic controllers were at least partly
to blame, reports the AP.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EXPERTS WILL BE ABLE TO RETRIEVE DATA FROM A320 BLACK BOXES – OFFICIAL
Interfax, Russia
May 24 2006
SOCHI. May 24 (Interfax-South) – Technical commission experts will be
capable of retrieving the information stored on the black box flight
recorders from the Armenian Airlines Airbus A320 which crashed off
the Russian coast near Sochi on May 3, Tatyana Anodina, the Interstate
Aviation Committee chairperson, said.
“The voice recorders were affected by the aggressive marine environment
and the mechanical impact,” Anodina told journalists on Wednesday.

SEARCH TEAM RECOVER SECOND ‘BLACK BOX’ FROM ARMENIAN AIRLINER
MosNews, Russia
May 24 2006
MosNews
A Russian search team has recovered the second ‘black box’ flight
recorder from an Armenian airliner that crashed into the Black Sea
on 3 May, killing 113 people. Investigators hope it will help explain
the cause of the tragedy.
The first black box, which recorded conversations between the plane’s
pilot and crew was recovered on Monday. A special intergovernmental
investigation committee will be set up to decipher the flight data
from the plane, an air safety official told RIA Novosti.
The second flight recorder had been thought to be lying 3-5 meters
(10-16 feet) away from the first one, was actually located 16 meters
(about 40 feet) from the first recorder and was buried deeper in silt,
Svetlana Kryshtanovskaya, a Russian Transport ministry representative
said.
The airliner, operated by Armenia’s Airliner A320, crashed while flying
from the Armenian capital, Yerevan, in stormy weather 6 kilometers
(3.7 miles) from Russia’s Adler airport, which services the popular
resort of Sochi.
Most of the passengers were Armenian, but there were also 26 Russian
nationals. Among those on board were eight crew and six children.
Armavia, the airline which owned the plane, says that it was in
good condition and that the crew were experienced. The Airbus was
manufactured in 1995 and underwent checks last month, BBC reports.

AIRBUS BLACK BOX’S MAGNETIC TAPE DAMAGED, OFFICIAL SAYS – 1
RIA Novosti, Russia
May 24 2006
(Adds paragraphs 2-3, 5)
SOCHI, Southern Russia, May 24 (RIA Novosti) – Experts may face
problems deciphering flight data from an Armenian Airbus that crashed
into the Black Sea May 3 as the magnetic tape of its cockpit flight
recorder was seriously damaged, an official said Wednesday.
Tatiana Anodina, head of the Interstate Aviation Committee, said:
“The cockpit voice recorder has a magnetic tape and, therefore, is more
affected by the marine environment and serious mechanical effects.”
She said experts might have to decipher each fragment of the tape
separately, and that they may not be able to do this within the 15-day
timeframe announced earlier.
The recovery operation at the scene of the tragedy, which left 113
people dead, was officially declared over earlier Wednesday.
The airliner, operated by Armenia’s Armavia, crashed while flying
from the Armenian capital, Yerevan, in stormy weather 6 kilometers
(3.7 miles) from Russia’s Adler airport, which services the popular
resort of Sochi.

FLIGHT RECORDERS FROM SOCHI CRASH TO BE DECIPHERED IN RUSSIA
Interfax, Russia
May 24 2006
SOCHI. May 24(Interfax-South) – The black box flight recorder of the
Armenian Airlines Airbus A320 which crashed off the Russian coast
near Sochi on May 3 is to be deciphered at the Interstate Aviation
Committee’s base in Russia.
“French experts and their equipment will probably be involved as well,”
Committee Chairperson Tatyana Anodina told the press on Wednesday.

FLIGHT DATA OF CRASHED AIRBUS TO BE DECIPHERED IN RUSSIA
RIA Novosti, Russia
May 24 2006
(Adds paragraphs 4-8)
SOCHI, May 24 (RIA Novosti) – The flight data from an Armenian Airbus
that crashed into the Black Sea May 3, killing 113 people, will be
deciphered in Russia, an official said Wednesday.
Tatiana Anodina, head of the Interstate Aviation Committee, said
French equipment could be used for deciphering the data.
The recovery operation at the scene of the tragedy was officially
declared over earlier Wednesday.
Rudolf Teimurazov, a representative of the Interstate Aviation
Committee, said earlier experts would need about a fortnight to
decipher the data.
He said the two black boxes, the second of which was recovered early
Wednesday morning from a depth of about 500 meters (1,640 feet),
would be handed over to the committee’s experts within the timeframe
set by a government commission.
“A government commission working at the crash site will set the date
for handing over the flight recorders to the Interstate Aviation
Committee,” he said. “Usually it takes experts about 15 days to
decipher flight data.”
He also said cockpit flight recorder’s information was on a magnetic
tape but the flight data from the other black box was on a hard drive.
The airliner, operated by Armenia’s Armavia, crashed while flying
from the Armenian capital, Yerevan, in stormy weather 6 kilometers
(3.7 miles) from Russia’s Adler airport, which services the popular
resort of Sochi.

AZERI, ARMENIAN PRESIDENTS TO SUPPOSEDLY MEET IN BUCHAREST
Author: S.Agayeva
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
May 24 2006
Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia Ilham Aliyev and Robert Kocharyan
are supposedly meeting in Bucharest, Trend reports quoting Nikolae
Ureke, Romanian Ambassador to Azerbaijan.
Mr Ureke said the meeting may be held within their participation at
Black Sea Forum for Dialog and Partnership held June 5 in Romania’s
capital. This meeting requires some preconditions, diplomat said,
and cochairmen of MG OSCE shall draw necessary proposals.
Romania is going to do its best to facilitate the presidents’ meeting,
Ambassador said. Official Bucharest is going to put forward some
incentives on resolving frozen conflicts in Black Sea region that
prevent its economic development and pose threat to Romania’s national
security. Among these are conflicts in Pridnestrovye, Osetia and,
undoubtedly, Nagorno-Karabakh.