Motion for a resolution | Doc. 12157 | 03 February 2010
The involvement of the army in the events of March 2008 in Armenia
Recalling its previous resolutions on Armenia, in particular Resolution 1609 (2008), which, among other things, calls for “an independent, transparent and credible inquiry into the events of 1 March 2008”;
Dissatisfied with the report of the ad hoc Committee of the Armenian Parliament on “the events of 1 March”, which, in essence, is biased and avoids criticising the Armenian authorities;
Deeply alarmed at reports concerning the use of the army during the events of March 2008, which constitutes a violation of the Armenian Constitution and a breach of the internationally accepted principle of neutrality of the army in domestic political matters;
Outraged by the existence - recently discovered and made public – of secret order no. 0038, issued by the then President of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, on 23 February 2008, proving that Armenian army units received formal orders to assemble and deploy in Yerevan before 1 March;
Considering that the involvement of the army in domestic political matters, accompanied by large-scale repression of citizens’ civil and political rights and persecution of the political opposition, clearly bears the characteristics of a coup d’etat;
Considering unacceptable the attempts by the Armenian authorities to conceal the involvement of the army in the events of 1 March 2008, the Parliamentary Assembly urges the Armenian authorities to take the following immediate action:
- disclose all information concerning the involvement of the army in the events of 1 March 2008;
- conduct a transparent inquiry into the involvement of the army in the post-electoral events;
- hold personally responsible all officials involved in the army’s participation in the events.
The Assembly encourages the member states to use their influence on the Armenian authorities to ensure that this inquiry is carried out.
The Assembly intends to examine this matter urgently and include the outcome of that examination in its next report on Armenia.