Glendale News Press
Published March 14, 2005

A family’s affair with chocolate

For about 70 years, their sweets have been pleasing palates at in the United
States, Europe and the Middle East.

By Rima Shah, News-Press and Leader

The Terpoghossian family has been selling sin to the world for 70 years.
Only their sin comes in the form of richly flavored chocolate, which for
three generations has been in demand from chocolate lovers from Iran to the
United States.
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Mignon Chocolate, which initially catered to the Armenian population in the
United States, is now well known outside the community too, Joe
Terpoghossian said.
The popularity was so great in the Iranian and Armenian communities that Joe
Terpoghossian decided to leave his comfortable managing job in the insurance
business and join the family’s chocolate business.
He opened his chocolate manufacturing plant in Van Nuys about two years ago
and started the retail store on Glendale’s Verdugo Boulevard in April.
“Our family name is associated with Mignon,” Terpoghossian said.
His grandfather started the business in 1934 in Ukraine, where it became a
well-known name until he was arrested and deported to Siberia.
The rest of his family escaped to Iran where he ultimately joined them after
being released from prison.
He reestablished his business in Tehran, starting as a bakery but moving on
to chocolate. Terpoghossian’s father inherited the business.
“In the early ’70s, before the revolution, Mignon was well-known among the
members of the upper class in Iran,” Terpoghossian said.
The Shah’s family would often come to the chocolate store to sample the
wares, the family said.
After Terpoghossian and his brothers immigrated to the United States, they
would often arrange for special deliveries for Armenian immigrants here who
were well acquainted with the Mignon name.
With the growing demand, Terpoghossian finally decided to open his own
store.
They now ship their chocolates to the Armenian community in the United
States and to Europe.
“We use the most premium and freshest ingredients for chocolate,”
Terpoghossian said. “For chocolate you can’t cut corners. The difference
between us and the stores in the mall is that they often use vegetable oil.
We always use cocoa butter.”
Besides selling chocolates in his store, Terpoghossian takes orders for
weddings, birthdays and other occasions.
He also rents out chocolate fountains, which drip liquid chocolate. The
fountain is popular in parties and movie sets, Terpoghossian said.
His store, which recently started selling coffee, also serves drinking
chocolate.
“It’s got a 70% cocoa level,” Terpoghossian said. “For a chocolate lover,
it’s pure heaven. It’s like drinking liquid chocolate.”
The coffee bar’s most popular drink is the cafe glace, a concoction of ice
cream and coffee topped with the store’s Mikado chocolate, a wafer and
chocolate cream sandwich.
Alen Frank is one of the store’s regular customers, who comes for the coffee
and the free chocolate sample that coffee drinkers get.
“Cheap coffee, good coffee and good chocolate, which is actually a bad thing
because I am getting fat,” Frank said. “It’s very tasty. They move from the
healthy to the decadent.”
The cocoa beans are bought from West Africa and Brazil and processed in
Belgium, Terpoghossian said.
The truffles are the most popular items in the store. Terpoghossian changes
the flavors every week.
This week’s flavor is the cappuccino truffle

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azerbaijan says three soldiers killed by Armenian forces

.c The Associated Press

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) – Three Azerbaijani soldiers have died this week
as a result of gunfire from the Armenian side of a tense cease-fire
line separating troops near the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, the
Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

Two of the soldiers were fatally shot late Monday by ethnic Armenian
forces violating a 1994 cease-fire, ministry spokesman Ilgar Verdiyev
said. A third serviceman died from wounds suffered when he was shot by
a sniper on March 2, Verdiyev said.

Armenia’s Defense Ministry denied any violations of the cease-fire.

A mountainous region inside Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh has been
under the control of ethnic Armenians since the early 1990s, following
fighting that killed an estimated 30,000 people and drove a million
from their homes before the cease-fire deal was reached. The enclave’s
political status has not been determined, and shooting breaks out
frequently between the two sides, which face off across a
demilitarized buffer zone.

03/15/05 13:50 EST

Reuters, UK
March 15 2005

U.S. Arrests 17 in Plot to Smuggle Weapons
Tue Mar 15, 2005 02:55 PM ET

By Christine Kearney

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. authorities have arrested 17 people in a
FBI sting operation on charges of planning to smuggle Russian
military arms, including rocket-propelled grenade launchers and
shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles.

The arrests came after a year-long wiretap investigation that used a
confidential FBI informant posing as an arms trafficker looking for
weapons to sell to terrorists, including al-Qaeda, the U.S.
Attorney’s office said on Tuesday.

“It appears that the defendants were planning to obtain that weaponry
through contacts they had developed in Eastern European military
circles,” prosecutor David Kelley said.

Arrests were made on Monday night and Tuesday morning in Los Angeles,
Miami and New York, court officials said. One more person is wanted
on charges was still at large, they said.

The complaint filed in Manhattan’s federal court cited alleged
Armenian ringleader Artur Solomonyan, 26, and South African
Christiaan Dewet Spies, 33, and three others for conspiring to
transport destructive devices.

Thirteen others were charged with supplying Solomonyan and Spies
machine guns and other assault weapons, which were then sold to the
informant.

“Today’s case represents the termination of illegal activity by
several arms traffickers … and has disrupted a potential overseas
pipeline for dangerous military weaponry to come into the hands of
civilians or even terrorists,” Kelley said.

“We are now working with our counterparts overseas to secure the
weapons and to bring to justice conspirators who may be abroad.”

The scheme included attempts to smuggle rocket-propelled grenade
launchers and shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, which experts
have warned attackers might use to down a plane.

Kelley said there was discussion between the informant and the
traffickers about bringing in enriched uranium, but there was no
evidence in more than 15,000 recorded conversations that they could
actually supply it.

Solomonyan and Spies each face a maximum of 30 years in prison.

PRESS RELEASE
UCLA AEF Chair in Armenian History
Contact: Prof. Richard Hovannisian
Tel: 310-825-3375
Email: [email protected]

Dr. George Kooshian, Visiting Movel Professor at UCLA

UCLA–Dr. George B. Kooshian, Jr. has been appointed as Visiting
Movel Professor at UCLA for the Spring Quarter. A specialist on
Armenian immigration, Dr. Kooshian will teach a course on the history
of the Armenian community in California from its earliest settlers to
the present. Professor Richard Hovannisian, AEF Chair in Modern
Armenian History at UCLA, stated: “The Armenian community of
California has a rich and colorful history, which unfortunately
remains virtually unknown to great waves of recent Armenian
immigrants. The course Dr. Kooshian has been invited to teach will
certainly help to fill this void.”

George Kooshian was born and reared Pasadena, California, attended
Pasadena public schools and Pasadena City College. He graduated from
Seattle Pacific College with a degree in Latin. After two years in
the Army, he entered graduate school at UCLA and received an M.A. in
Linguistics and a Certificate in the teaching of English as a Second
Language. Dr. Kooshian then entered the Armenian History program and
studied under Professor Hovannisian. He was granted the Ph.D. in
2002. His interest in the American-Armenian community of his birth led
him to write his dissertation on “The Armenian Immigrant Community of
California, 1880–1935.” This work was based primarily on original
accounts in California Armenian-language newspapers and other sources.

For many years Dr. Kooshian has taught English as a Second Language,
American History and Government, Citizenship, and other subjects to
adults in the Los Angeles Unified School District. He has also taught
at the University of La Verne and the American Armenian International
College, and has served as a teaching assistant at UCLA. He recently
delivered papers on the history of the Armenian immigrant community of
Pasadena in New York and San Francisco and is currently preparing the
stirring autobiography of his father for publication. Dr. Kooshian is
a member of the Society for Armenian Studies, the Middle East Studies
Association, and the National Education Association. He has been
active as a volunteer in the Pasadena Unified School District and in
the Armenian Church, where he has served as a teacher, clerk, and
lector.

In announcing the appointment, Dr. Hovannisian stated: “I am deeply
gratified to Nora and the late Bob Movel for establishing the Movel
Fund at UCLA to support the Armenian Studies program through
fellowships and post-doctoral lectureships. The Fund allows us to
bring innovative courses and special events to campus and to assist
promising graduate students.”

Dr. Kooshian has placed information about the course on the Internet
at <;, together with the
course syllabus and many readings available for download, including
the complete text of his dissertation and The Web of Hope, his
father’s autobiography.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Published March 15, 2005

Design ideas for memorial pile up
*Armenian Genocide Monument Council has 42 designs for
tribute. Deadline for ideas is today.

By Rima Shah,
Glendale News-Press

Artists worldwide have submitted design ideas for an Armenian genocide
monument that will be constructed on the Civic Auditorium grounds.

The Armenian Genocide Monument Council has received 42 design concepts
for the project, but the details have been kept under wraps, said
Peter Darakjian, one of the founding members of the six-member
monument council. A jury, created by the council, will soon begin a
detailed review of the work, submitted by architects and designers
from Japan, Germany, England and Canada, Darakjian said. The winner of
the design contest will be awarded $10,000.

Today is the deadline to submit design ideas, then the judging will
begin. Designs must be postmarked by today, said Artin Manoukian, a
founding member of the council.

The monument will be an important reminder to not repeat the mistakes
of 1915, when 1.5-million Armenians died at the hands of the Ottoman
Empire, Darakjian said. Turkish officials deny that the deaths were
part of a genocide.

“Construction of the monument is important for Armenians as well as
for humanity at large so that what happened in 1915 is not repeated,”
he said. “The monument is also in memory of those who have perished,
as a reminder to not forget the past. This was the first genocide of
the 20th century. Had the world stopped them then there would not have
been any repetition of similar events.”

The 11-member jury will select the winners by April 15. An official
announcement is tentatively scheduled for April 22, Manoukian said,
two days before the Armenian Genocide is commemorated.

The City Council approved the monument in August 2001. The monument
council is raising funds for the project, which they expect to cost
about $500,000, Darakjian said. The City Council approved the Civic
Auditorium as a home for the monument in April 2003.

The Civic Auditorium was the ideal location because the grounds are
large enough to hold the population during events such as Armenian
Genocide Commemorative Day, Darakjian said.

The location also provided visibility to the monument, especially to
nearby Glendale Community College students as a reminder about the
past, Darakjian said.

Although there is no set deadline for completing the project, the
council hopes to have it done in a couple of years.

* RIMA SHAH covers business and politics. She may be reached at (818)
637-3238 or by e-mail at [email protected]

EurasiaNet Organization
March 15 2005

SAAKASHVILI: NO JOBS IN JEOPARDY FROM BASE CLOSURE
Molly Corso 3/15/05

A parliamentary resolution that seeks an early Russian withdrawal
from military bases from Georgian territory is stirring concerns
about what a pull-out will mean for the economic welfare of one
Georgian town.

In a unanimous vote March 10, Georgian legislators called on
President Mikheil Saakashvili to demand a full Russian troop
withdrawal from two bases on Georgian territory by January 1, 2006,
unless Russian officials agree to a mutually acceptable pull-out
timetable before May 15. Saakashvili is not bound by law to implement
the resolution, which is aimed at breaking a deadlock in base
withdrawal negotiations. [For background see the Eurasia Insight
archive]. If Russia balks on the base issue, Georgia should simply
shut down the two facilities – one at the Black Sea port of Batumi,
the other in Akhalkalaki, a town of 10,000 with a predominantly
ethnic Armenian local population – the resolution states.

The situation in Akhalkalaki illustrates the extent to which the base
debate with Moscow goes beyond foreign policy. Related economic and
interethnic issues promise to play a considerable role as well.

The base in Akhalkalaki employs about 15 percent of the local
population and is the only major employer in town. In addition, local
Armenians say the Russian troop presence makes them feel more secure.
Between 1,500 and 4,000 Akhalkalaki residents took to the streets on
March 13 to demonstrate against the base’s potential closure,
contending that Russians troops provided their only defense against
Turkey, a longtime Armenian foe. [For additional information see the
Eurasia Insight archive]. David Rstkyan, leader of the ethnic
Armenian political party Virk, has pledged that town residents will
“do everything to try and stop the Russian soldiers from leaving
Akhalkalaki,” Kavkasia-Press reported.

Strengthening relations with Georgia’s ethnic minorities is a key
government policy goal, and the discontent in Akhalkalaki seems to
have caught Saakashvili’s attention. In a televised exchange with
Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili on March 14, the president stated
that a Georgian army unit would move into the town’s base once
Russian troops had vacated the property. Jobs for all Georgians
currently employed at the base would be preserved, he said.

“Our task is to make sure that not a single qualified person who has
anything to do with the military is left without a job,” Imedi
television quoted Saakashvili as saying during a March 14 inspection
of a Georgian army battalion. “We have the resources and money to
ensure this.”

Hamlet Movsesian, Akhalkalaki’s parliamentary representative, told
EurasiaNet that, after the Rose Revolution, government
representatives, including the late Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania,
promised the town the base would not be closed until alternate
employment could be created. “It worries me,” he said. “In the region
there are no factories, no production plants. The base is the only
working industry employing citizens.” Base employees reportedly earn
$200-$300 per month, considerably more than any local Georgian
employer could pay.

Infrastructure, town officials say, poses a major obstacle for
attracting interest to the region – whether private businesses or
international organizations.

“[Y]ou can say that the infrastructure is basically zero. If you want
to develop something, without infrastructure, that is not possible,”
said Akhalkalaki region head Artul Eremayn, citing his office’s lack
of a fax machine as an indication of the extent of the problem. “It’s
like what comes first, the chicken or the egg? [Should we work on]
development first or the infrastructure?”

In interviews with EurasiaNet before Saakashvili’s announcement,
Movsesian and Akhalkalaki Deputy Mayor Ararat Kanaian said that some
jobs could come as early as April or May as part of the national
government’s on-going project to rebuild regional roads. Plans also
exist to open the Karsi-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi railroad line as well as
a possible customs checkpoint in the region. No estimate on exactly
how many jobs could be created from these plans, however, exists.

Additional help could come from foreign donors. The United States
Department of Agriculture plans to set up an Internet café in one
local school to act as an information center for local farmers. The
United States Agency for International Development says that it
intends to involve an unspecified number of area villages in its
Georgia Employment and Infrastructure Initiative, a program that
finances infrastructure overhauls for villages that submit qualifying
business plans.

Georgia’s improving relationship with neighboring Armenia would seem
an important factor in Saakashvili’s decision-making calculus on the
Akhalkalaki base. Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli completed
a two-day visit to Yerevan on March 12, during which he expressed a
desire to expand bilateral trade ties. The Georgian government is
especially interested in importing electricity from Armenia. Tbilisi
also wants to explore a possible Georgian link to a planned pipeline
between Armenia and Iran. [For background see the Eurasia Insight
archive].

For now, it appears that the base jobs in Akhalkalaki are secure.
Moscow recently stated that it needs three-four years for its
withdrawal from Batumi and Akhalkalaki – along with a training center
in Gonio, a village not far from Batumi — a declaration welcomed by
Tbilisi as an improvement over earlier estimates of seven-eight
years.

Still, the Georgian parliament does not appear inclined toward
patience. “The Red Army took much less time to occupy Georgia [in
1921],” resolution co-author and member of parliament Giga Bokeria
was quoted as saying by the Civil Georgia website in reference to
Moscow’s proposed timeline for the withdrawal.

Georgian legislators have scoffed at demands from Russian Duma
Chairman Boris Gryzlov that Tbilisi to pay compensation for the
property left behind. Instead, MPs have charged that Russia owes
Georgia between $300 million – $400 million in back taxes for use of
the land the bases sit on, and have threatened to suspend visas for
Russian military personnel traveling to the bases, as well as the
installations’ electricity and phone service.

One of those threats appears to have already taken effect: On March
12, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a protest note in connection
with a delay in issuing a visa to General Alexander Bespalov, the
newly appointed commander for Russian troops in the South Caucasus.

Saakashvili’s promise that Georgian soldiers would effectively
replace departing Russian troops appeared unlikely to sway opinion in
Akhalkalaki. Many local residents believe that Georgian troops are
not as skilled as Russian troops at providing security against a
widely perceived threat coming from nearby Turkey, according to
Kanaian. Roughly 95 percent of the town’s residents are descended
from Armenians who fled Ottoman Turkey following the 1915 massacre of
thousands of their compatriots. “[The base] protects us and there is
work there. The base is our guarantee,” Akhalkalaki resident Vova
Chlokhyan commented. “It protects us from the Turks. We have already
seen the danger [they pose for us] and we are afraid of them.”

Despite Virk’s threat to organize more demonstrations, Deputy Mayor
Kanaian is confident that unrest can be avoided as the base issue
plays out. “I don’t think that there will be a particular problem
here. There are people, who have a huge interest in that base, and,
of course, they will try [to keep it here].”

Educating the public about how the base closure could impact them is
a larger worry for the government than protests, he said. “[We] are
doing things to explain to people [what is going on]. We have to
understand each other, the people and the government.”

Editor’s Note: Molly Corso is a freelance journalist and photographer
based in Tbilisi.

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Coordinator of Information Services
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 60; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

March 15, 2005
___________________

ST. VARTAN CATHEDRAL TO HOST PRIESTLY ORDINATION

During a two-day celebration, April 2 and 3, 2005, Archbishop Khajag
Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America
(Eastern), will ordain into the priesthood Dn. Ara Kadehjian at New York
City’s St. Vartan Cathedral.

The weekend ordination will begin with the “Service of Calling” at 5
p.m. on Saturday, April 2, and conclude with the ordination service
during the Divine Liturgy at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, April 3. Fr.
Mardiros Chevian, dean of the cathedral, will serve as the sponsoring
priest. Charles Pinajian of the St. Leon Church of Fair Lawn, NJ, will
serve as the godfather for the ordination.

“Dn. Kadehjian and his young family are truly dedicated to the Armenian
Church,” the Primate said. “It is encouraging to see such a devoted,
young person making the church his life-long focus.”

The public is invited to attend the ordination. A banquet will follow.
Requires reservations.

FULL CIRCLE

His upcoming ordination in St. Vartan Cathedral will bring Dn. Ara
Papken Kadehjian full circle. The son of Papken and Shakeh Kadehjian
and the brother of Lisa Kadehjian of Queens, NY, Dn. Ara — who was born
in Englewood, NJ, and grew up in Queens — was baptized and served on
the cathedral’s altar, where he also attended the St. Gregory the
Illuminator Sunday School and Armenian Language School.

It was while he was serving on the cathedral altar that Dn. Ara received
the four orders of an acolyte and the rank of stole bearer by Archbishop
Barsamian. During the summer of 1992 Dn. Ara participated in the St.
Nersess Armenian Seminary’s Mission to Armenia, which led him the next
year to enroll as a pre-seminary student at Concordia College in
Bronxville, NY, from which he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in
history in 1997.

In 1998, he was ordained as a sub-deacon by Archbishop Barsamian. In
May of 2000 Dn. Ara received his master’s degree in theological studies
from St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in conjunction with
St. Nersess Seminary. In May 2004, he earned a master of divinity
degree through the join program with St. Vladimir’s and St. Nersess.

After spending the summer of 2000 at the Armenian Patriarchate in
Jerusalem, Dn. Ara was ordained as a deacon by Archbishop Barsamian on
October 1, 2000, at the St. Mary Church of Washington, D.C.

SERVICE TO COMMUNITIES

Dn. Ara has a wide background of experience serving the church. From
October 2000 to October 2002, he served as the assistant to the pastor
of the Church of the Holy Ascension in Trumbull, CT. From October 2002
to May 2004, he served as the assistant to the pastor of St. Leon Church
of Fairlawn, NJ, where he met and married his wife, Tina Bogoshian, on
May 23, 2004.

On February 11, 2005, the couple became parents with the birth of their
daughter, Arev Aznive Kadehjian.

>From May to August 2004, Dn. Ara served as the assistant to the
executive director of the Diocese of the Armenian Church (Eastern), and
since September 2004 he has been working as the interim coordinator of
the Diocese’s Mission Parish Program.

Dn. Ara has also completed an 11-week hospital internship at NYU-Mount
Sinai Hospital and received a Clinical Pastoral Education Certificate.
In his younger years he also served the community of Bayside, Queens, as
a volunteer patrolman in the 111th Precinct Auxiliary Police.

— 3/15/05

E-mail photos available on request. Photos also viewable in the News
and Events section of the Eastern Diocese’s website,

PHOTO CAPTION (1): Dn. Ara Kadehjian will be ordained into the
priesthood by Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Eastern
Diocese, on April 2 and 3, 2005, at New York City’s St. Vartan
Cathedral.

PanArmenian News
March 15 2005

RUSSIAN BORDER TROOPS DETAINED 36 TRESPASSERS OF ARMENIAN STATE
BORDER WITHIN 2.5 MONTHS OF 2005

15.03.2005 05:37

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In March the servicemen of the Border Department of
the Federal Security Service of Russia detained an ethnic Kurd
Turkish citizen, who had tried to trespass the state border of
Armenia `in search of better life,’ Arminfo news agency reported. As
Press Secretary of the Border Department of the Federal Security
Service of Russia, colonel Ivan Zhirenko reported today, the detained
trespasser is already conveyed to the National Security Service of
Armenia and `work is held with him to clear out the circumstances.’
In Ivan Zhirenko’s words, within the period of report Russian border
troops have detained 36 trespassers of the state border of Armenia,
35 out of them – at the checkpoint of Zvartnots international
airport, 1 – the aforementioned Turkish citizen, detained at the
segment of the Gyumri border detachment of the Border Department of
the Federal Security Service of Russia. Within the same period
contraband of $18 thousand is conveyed to the respective bodies of
Armenia.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

OSCE
March 15 2005

Milestone agreement initiates first phase of OSCE police assistance
programme in Armenia

YEREVAN, 15 March 2005 – The OSCE today launched the first phase of
the Police Assistance Programme in Armenia with the signing of an
agreement to refurbish the Police Training Centre.

The agreement, signed by the Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan,
Ambassador Vladimir Pryakhin, and the Armenian Chief of Police,
Lieutenant-General Hayk Harutyunyan, is aimed at bringing basic
police training conditions into line with advanced European
practices. It is also intended to provide modern equipment and
teaching aids.

“Today marks a milestone in our endeavours within the framework of
the Police Assistance Programme, as this initiative represents the
foundation for a well-trained and community-oriented force,” said
Ambassador Pryakhin at the signing ceremony.

“It is an example of fruitful and constructive co-operation between
the OSCE and Armenia in fostering democratic institutions, to the
benefit of Armenian people.”

Lieutenant-General Harutyunyan also praised the co-operation with the
OSCE Office and expressed the deep appreciation of the Armenian
authorities to OSCE participating States for their valuable technical
support and financial contributions.

“This project serves the purpose of setting up suitable logistical
pre-conditions for the development of modern basic police training
for our forces,” he said.

Under a Memorandum of Understanding signed in July 2003, four areas
were identified for the Police Assistance Programme: the
refurbishment of the Training Centre for recruits, the strengthening
of the Training Centre, the introduction of a community-policing
model in one of the districts of Yerevan, and the establishment of a
new emergency response system and infrastructure.

The project will be implemented by the OSCE Office in Yerevan
together with the Armenian Police with advice and guidance provided
by the Strategic Police Matters Unit (SPMU) of the OSCE Secretariat
in Vienna. The project is financed by Belgium, the United States and
Sweden.

For further information, please contact:

Gohar Avagyan
OSCE Office in Yerevan
89 Teryan St.
375009, Yerevan
Armenia

Tel.: +374 1 54 10 62
+374 1 54 58 45
Fax: +374 1 54 10 61

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

(2005)00 7-e.asp

Council of Europe
Venice Commission
 
Strasbourg, 14 March 2005
Opinion no. 290 / 2004

CDL-AD(2005)007
Or. Engl.
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION FOR DEMOCRACY THROUGH LAW
(VENICE COMMISSION)
 
OPINION
ON THE DRAFT LAW MAKING AMENDMENTS AND ADDENDA
TO THE LAW ON CONDUCTING
MEETINGS, ASSEMBLIES,
RALLIES AND DEMONSTRATIONS
OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
 
Adopted by the Venice Commission
at its 62nd Plenary Session
(Venice, 11-12 March 2005)
 
 
on the basis of comments by
 
Ms Finola FLANAGAN (Member, Ireland)
Mr Giorgio MALINVERNI (Member, Switzerland)
 
 
 
I.                    Introduction
 
1.  Upon the request of the Armenian authorities, the Venice Commission
adopted, at its 60th Plenary Session (Venice 8-9 October 2004), an opinion
(CDL-AD(2004)039) on the `Law on the Procedure of Conducting Meetings,
Assemblies, Rallies and Demonstration of the Republic of Armenia’
(CDL(2004)42). 
 
2. In its Resolution 1405(2004) of October 2004, the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe called for the Armenian authorities `to introduce
amendment, no later than March 2005, on the law on demonstrations and public
assemblies to bring it into compliance with Council of Europe standards to
ensure freedom of assembly in practice’.
 
3.  In December 2004, Mr T. Torosyan, vice-speaker of the Armenian National
Assembly, requested the Venice Commission to carry out an expert assessment
of the draft law `making amendments and addenda to the law on the procedure
of conducting gatherings, meetings, rallies and demonstrations in the
Republic of Armenia’ (CDL(2005)019 and CDL(2005)017).
 
4.  Ms Finola Flanagan and Mr Giorgio Malinverni were appointed to act as
rapporteurs.
 
5.  The present opinion, which was drawn up on the basis of their comments,
was adopted by the Venice Commission at its 62nd Plenary Session (Venice,
11-12 March 2005).
 
II.                Background
 
6.  In October 2004, the Venice Commission adopted an opinion
(CDL-AD(2004)039) on the law on the procedure of Conducting Meetings,
Assemblies, Rallies and Demonstration of the Republic of Armenia
(CDL(2004)042). This law had already been adopted by the Armenian National
Assembly on 28 April 2004.  The opinion of the Venice Commission was to the
effect that the Armenian law did not correspond to the general requirement
that laws specifically devoted to the right of assembly should be limited to
setting out the legislative basis for permissible interferences by state
authorities and to regulating the system of permits without unnecessary
details.  Rather, the law as adopted set out with excessive detail the
conditions for exercising the constitutionally guaranteed right of
assembly.  The law was considered to differentiate between categories of
event in a manner which was not properly linked to permissible reasons for
restrictions.
 
7.  The law as adopted on 28 April 2004 contained some improvements taking
into account some comments made by the rapporteurs in respect of an earlier
draft version of the law (CDL(2004)022).  Certain further amendments and
addenda to the draft law of 28 April 2004 are now proposed by the Armenian
authorities and commented on below. 
 
III.             Analysis of the proposed amendments
 
8.  The proposed amending law contains 11 articles which are commented on
article by article.  It would be helpful to have a commentary on or
explanation from the Armenian authorities on each proposed amendment since
the intended effect is not always clear.  In particular, it is not always
clear whether a proposed amendment is intended to make a substantive change
to the effect of a provision or whether it is simply a technical drafting
change.
 
Article 1 – repealing Articles 3 and 4
 
9.  The repeal would not appear to bring about any change to the rules
regarding `other events in places of general use’ or to the rules regarding
`conducting meetings, assemblies, rallies and other events in areas not
considered places of general use’.  These two Articles would appear to be
replaced by a new provision in Article 5 which maintains the same rule as
heretofore. 
 
Article 2 – amending Article 5
 
10.  The proposed amendment does not appear to bring about any substantive
change.  The alterations are purely of a drafting nature.
 
Article 3 – amending Article 6
 
11.  This proposes a repeal of the requirement that the organiser `assume
other statutory duties stipulated for organisers of public events’.  It is
not clear that the repeal of this requirement reduces the duties of
organisers since it is presumed that `other statutory duties’ would continue
to apply even in the absence of this provision.  An explanation from the
Armenian Authorities of what is intended by this repeal would be helpful.
 
12.  The effect of the repeal of the express requirement that an organiser
be present throughout the conduct of a public event is also unclear; it is
not apparent whether the repeal is intended to remove the requirement that
the organiser be present.  It would not appear to be possible for an
organiser to perform certain other duties contained in Article 6 if he or
she were not present.  An explanation from the Armenian authorities of the
implications of the repeal proposed here would be helpful.
 
Article 4 – Amending Article 7
 
13.  This appears to be a technical drafting amendment not intended to
affect the rights and duties of participants in the public event.
 
Article 5 – amending Article 8
 
14.  The amendments proposed here would appear to be of technical drafting
character only and do not alter the substance of the law.
 
Article 6 – amending Article 9
 
15.  Article 9 prohibits the conduct of public events in the circumstances
listed.  Article 9, paragraph 3, sub-paragraph 1, is improved by the
proposed amendment.  The amended provision would provide that public events
are prohibited `[on] bridges, in tunnels, underground areas, hazardous
buildings, construction areas if the public security, health of participants
and others are endangered…’ (emphasis added).  In the opinion adopted by the
Commission at its 60th Session the Law of April 28th 2004 was criticised
because though the Armenian Authorities explained that certain areas were
prohibited for `security reasons’ this was not stated in the law itself and
the prohibition was not therefore expressly linked to a permissible reason
for restriction of a guaranteed right.  Whilst the provision is improved by
the proposed amendment, nonetheless, the remainder of Article 9 paragraph 3
still contains an extensive list of restrictions not necessarily connected
with threats to security or public order.  Despite the amendment in relation
to the restrictions in Article 9 paragraph 3 sub-paragraph 1, the Venice
Commission’s earlier opinion therefore remains valid in relation to the rest
of Article 9 paragraph 3.
 
Article 7 – amending Article 10
 
16.  It is not clear what is the intention of the proposed amendment
involving the requirement to notify a proposed public event in certain
circumstances.  Whilst the amendment could be interpreted as relaxing the
requirement to notify in relation to non-mass public events, it is not
absolutely clear that it does so since non-mass public events which would
`disrupt the public order’ will continue to require notification.  If a
disruption of traffic would be considered in Armenian law to amount to a
disruption of public order, then the amendment would not appear to relax the
law at all. 
 
Article 8 – amending Article 11
 
17.  Some of these amendments reduce somewhat the details required in the
notification procedure for a mass public event and are, to that extent,
desirable.  Others are technical redrafting amendments which would not
appear to affect the substance of the law.  However, the general criticism
regarding `excessive bureaucracy surrounding the notification’ remains. 
 
Article 9 – amending Article 12
 
18.  It is not clear whether the amendment proposed means that a failure to
submit a notification to the relevant head of the community can be
rectified. 
 
Article 10 – amending Article 13
 
19.  The removal of Article 13, paragraph 1, paragraph 8 is to be welcomed. 
The requirement that a mass public event would be prohibited where `the
event pursue[d] unlawful goals and objectives’ is removed.  The provision
was considered too vague to be acceptable.
 
20.  The removal of the words `should there be such a possibility’ from
Article 13 paragraph 4 is to be welcomed and imposes on the authorities the
obligation to offer the organisers another date for their event.  While this
is welcomed the comments about the restrictive nature of the requirements
around holding events remain.  The right to counter-demonstrate should only
be limited in connection with genuine security or public order
consideration.
 
Article 11 – amending Article 14
 
21.  It is not clear how the proposed amendments fit in with the possible
earlier requirement that organisers be present throughout an event.
 
IV.              Conclusions
 
22.  Certain of the proposed amendments respond to specific criticisms made
in the earlier opinion of the Commission. They are therefore to be welcomed.

 
23.  Generally, however, the draft law under consideration does not make the
significant change to the law as adopted on 28 April 2004 which would be
required in order to bring the law into conformity with the requirements of
the European Convention on Human Rights.  The fundamental deficiencies and
difficulties identified in the Venice Commission’s Opinion adopted at its
60th Plenary Session remain. 
 
24.  In particular, the Commission wishes to underline that
 
–         there is still no overriding requirement in any given case that
the restrictions have to be proportionate and for relevant and sufficient
reasons; the authorities should instead be in the position to allow events
which would not pose security or public order difficulties or would not risk
violating other persons’ rights, even though they might be in breach of
formal requirements;
–         there is no room for spontaneous assemblies, except `non-mass’
ones, while spontaneous assemblies are undoubtedly guaranteed under Article
11 of the Convention;
–         the rights to counter-demonstrate should be generally allowed,
unless at risk of violating security or public order;
–         limitations on the venues for conducting public events remain
unreasonably strict;
–         the procedural requirements and mandatory time limits and the
detailed requirements in order for a mass public event to be authorised
remain so onerous as to be likely to disincline many people from organising
a public event.
 
25.  In addition, the Commission has received information that certain
amendments to the Criminal Code and to the Code of Administrative violations
were passed by the Armenian National Assembly on 24 December 2004 and signed
by the President into law on 18 January 2005.
 
26.  In particular, criminal liability has been introduced for the
`Organization and holding of illegal public event or other such events and
public calls for involving participation in those events’ (fine of 200 to
300 minimal salaries or arrest up to two months), for `calls for
disobedience to the decisions discontinuing an illegal public event’ (fine
in the amount of 300 to 500 minimal salaries or detention up to three
months) and for the `Organization of group activities violating public order
and active participation in such activities’ (`in the event of the absence
of graver criminal elements (…) fine in the amount of 400 to 800 minimal
salaries’).
 
27.  Furthermore, non-compliance with decisions on discontinuing public
events as set forth in the law `On Conducting Meetings, Rallies, Processions
and Demonstrations’ is now punished with a fine amounting to 50 to 100
minimal salaries.
 
28.  In this respect, the Commission considers that the need to establish
criminal liability, and even imprisonment, for the mere organisation of
illegal demonstrations is questionable.
 
29.  It is unclear, first of all, what is an `illegal’ public event, as no
such definition appears to be contained in the criminal code or in any other
legal text. One might wonder, for example, if spontaneous demonstrations are
`illegal’. In addition, also the organisation of `other such events’ may
lead to the imposition of a sentence, when it is unclear what is covered by
this definition. It is therefore highly doubtful that these new provisions
comply with the principle of legality, which in criminal law is fundamental
and prohibits the arbitrary application of the law.
 
30.  In the Commission’s opinion, it would be appropriate to provide for
criminal liability in the event that the persons who take part in an
`illegal’ demonstration use violence or cause physical harm to third
persons, but not in the event of merely organizing such demonstration.
 
31.  The draft law on making amendments and addenda to the law on the
Procedure of Conducting Meetings, Assemblies, Rallies and Demonstration of
the Republic of Armenia does not guarantee the right to assembly and the
right to freedom of expression in Armenia as required by the ECHR and its
jurisprudence.
 
32.  In addition, taking into account the criticism by the Venice Commission
of the Armenian law, the amendments to the Armenian criminal code and code
of administrative violations would prohibit and make illegal and subject to
criminal and administrative sanction the organization and holding of
demonstrations which should, in fact, be permitted. The amendments to the
Criminal Code and Code of Administrative Violations therefore further
impinge on rights of assembly and freedom of expression.
 
33.  The Commission wishes to reiterate the importance for Armenia of
protecting and guaranteeing these fundamental rights, particularly in the
context of the upcoming constitutional reforms. It remains at the disposal
of the Armenian authorities in this respect and invites them to pursue the
legislative work in this field.