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Resolution 1609 (2008)
The functioning of democratic institutions in Armenia
1. On 19 February 2008, a presidential
election took place in Armenia. Although the ad hoc committee which
observed this election considered that it was “administered mostly
in line with Council of Europe standards”, it found a number of
violations and shortcomings, the most important of which were: unequal campaign
conditions for the candidates, the lack of transparency of the election
administration and a complaints and appeals process that did not
give complainants access to an effective legal remedy. In addition, a
number of cases of electoral fraud were witnessed.
2. The Parliamentary Assembly regrets that the violations and
shortcomings observed did nothing to restore the currently lacking
public confidence in the electoral process and raised questions
among a part of the Armenian public with regard to the credibility
of the outcome of the election. This lack of public confidence was
the basis for the peaceful protests – held without prior official
notification – that ensued after the announcement of the preliminary
results, and which were tolerated by the authorities for ten days.
3. The Assembly deplores the clashes between the police and the
protesters and the escalation of violence on 1 March 2008 which
resulted in 10 deaths and about 200 people being injured. The exact
circumstances that led to the tragic events of 1 March, as well
as the manner in which they were handled by the authorities, including
the imposition of a state of emergency in Yerevan from 1 to 20 March
2008 and the alleged excessive use of force by the police, are issues
of considerable controversy and should be the subject of a credible independent
investigation.
4. The Assembly condemns the arrest and continuing detention
of scores of persons, including more than 100 opposition supporters
and three members of parliament, some of them on seemingly artificial
and politically motivated charges. This constitutes a de facto crackdown
on the opposition by the authorities.
5. In a welcome development upon the initiative of the new President,
Mr Serzh Sargsyan, on 21 March 2008, four of the five parties in
parliament signed an agreement to form a political coalition aimed
at resolving outstanding political issues. However, there is still
a need to establish a dialogue between the coalition and the Heritage
Party, as well as the extra-parliamentary parties, in order to resolve
the current crisis in Armenia.
6. While the outbreak of public resentment culminating in the
tragic events of 1 March 2008 may have been unexpected, the Assembly
believes that the underlying causes of the crisis are deeply rooted
in the failure of the key institutions of the state to perform their
functions in full compliance with democratic standards and the principles
of the rule of law and the protection of human rights. More specifically:
6.1. the National Assembly of Armenia
has so far failed to play its role as a forum for political debate and
compromise between the different political forces. Based on a “winner
takes all” attitude, the current political system excludes the opposition
from any effective participation in the decision-making process and
governance of the country. This has resulted in, inter alia, a part
of the political spectrum in Armenia is not represented in the current
National Assembly;
6.2. the lack of public trust in the electoral process also
generally undermines the credibility of the outcome of the elections
in the eyes of part of the Armenian population. This is further
compounded by the lack of impartiality of the election administration,
the ineffective handling of election complaints and appeals and
the lack of transparency of the vote count and tabulation procedures;
6.3. despite successful legislative reforms, the courts still
lack the necessary independence to inspire the public’s trust as
impartial arbiters including in the context of the electoral process;
this explains the low number of election-related complaints filed
with them. The same lack of judicial independence is also reflected
in the fact that the courts do not appear to question the necessity
of keeping people in detention pending trial and generally respond
favourably to requests by the prosecutors without properly weighing up
the grounds for this, as required by Article 5, paragraph 3, of
the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5);
6.4. in the absence of adequate judicial control, the arrest
and continuing detention of persons on seemingly artificial charges,
after contesting the fairness of the presidential election or their
participation in the protest afterwards can only point to the political
motivation of such acts. This is unacceptable in a Council of Europe
member state and cannot be tolerated by the Assembly;
6.5. even though there is a pluralistic and independent print
media, the current level of control by the authorities of the electronic
media and their regulatory bodies, as well as the absence of a truly independent
and pluralist public broadcaster, impede the creation of a pluralistic
media environment and further exacerbate the lack of public trust
in the political system.
7. A few days before the expiry of the state of emergency, on
17 March 2008, following a proposal by the government, the National
Assembly, in an extraordinary session, adopted a series of amendments
to the Law on Conducting Meetings, Assemblies, Rallies and Demonstrations
which considerably limit the right of freedom of assembly and give
great discretionary powers to the authorities to prohibit political
rallies and demonstrations. They thus run counter to European standards,
as enshrined, inter alia, in Article 11 of the European Convention
on Human Rights, and are in breach of Armenia’s obligations and
commitments as a member state of the Council of Europe. In a joint
draft opinion, the Council of Europe’s European Commission for Democracy
through Law (Venice Commission) and the Organization for Security
and Co-operation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions
and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) also considered these amendments to
be unacceptable. The Assembly welcomes the intention expressed by
the newly elected president in his inaugural speech to bring the
law on conducting meetings, assemblies, rallies and demonstrations
into full compliance with the European standards and to encourage
further co-operation with the Venice Commission on this matter.
8. In view of the above, the Assembly recalls its Resolution 1532 (2007) on the honouring of obligations and commitments by Armenia
and once more urges the Armenian authorities to undertake the following reforms
without further delay:
8.1. the
political system should guarantee a proper status and appropriate
rights to the opposition;
8.2. the electoral process needs to be thoroughly reformed
with a view to ensuring in particular: an impartial election administration
that is free from control by any single political force; a fully
transparent administration of the election process especially with
regard to the vote count and tabulation process, as well as a complaints
and appeals process that gives electoral stakeholders the fullest
possible access to a legal remedy in case of perceived electoral
violations and an equal playing field guaranteed in practice for
all political forces both during the official campaign period and
also prior to it;
8.3. the independence from any political interest of both the
National Television and Radio Commission and the Public Television
and Radio Council must be guaranteed. In addition, the composition
of these bodies should be revised in order to ensure that they are
truly representative of Armenian society. The recommendations made
by the Venice Commission and Council of Europe experts in this respect
must finally be taken into account. The Assembly reiterates that,
apart from reforming the legislation, the authorities must take
steps to ensure freedom and pluralism of public television and radio
on a daily basis. Also, the harassment by the tax authorities of
opposition electronic and printed media outlets must be stopped;
8.4. freedom of assembly must be guaranteed in both law and
practice, in compliance with Article 11 of the European Convention
on Human Rights; this requires that the amendments recently adopted
by the National Assembly on the Law on Conducting Meetings, Assemblies,
Rallies and Demonstrations be revoked in line with the recommendations
of the Venice Commission with immediate effect;
8.5. the authorities should step up their efforts to establish
a truly independent judiciary and enhance the public’s trust in
the courts;
8.6. arbitrary arrests and detentions, as well as the ill-treatment
of detainees, in particular during police custody, should be stopped.
An effective public control mechanism over the police must be guaranteed
both in law and practice.
9. For their part, all opposition forces should recognise the
Constitutional Court’s decision which confirmed the results of the
elections as announced by the Central Electoral Commission. This
should not be interpreted as an obligation to agree with the merits
of the court’s decision. All electoral contestants have the right
to challenge this decision using the legal means available to them,
including the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
10. The Assembly believes that the only way to allow the country
to move forward with the above-mentioned urgently needed reforms
is the initiation of an open and constructive dialogue between the
political forces in Armenian society. The Assembly had already pointed
out the need for such a dialogue as a requirement to ensure the
effective implementation of the constitutional reform when adopting
its Resolution 1532 (2007) more than a year ago.
11. Bearing in mind that a relevant part of the political spectrum
in Armenia is not represented in the current National Assembly,
such dialogue should include both parliamentary and extra-parliamentary
political forces. The Assembly stands ready to mediate between the
different forces and ensure the full involvement of the expert bodies
of the Council of Europe in this process, most notably that of the
Venice Commission.
12. However, the Assembly considers that, for such a dialogue
to start and be successful, a number of conditions need to be met
as a matter of priority, in order to build confidence vis-à-vis
the opposition and provide proof that the ruling majority is seriously
committed to pursuing further reforms:
12.1. an independent, transparent and credible inquiry into
the events of 1 March and the circumstances that led to them, including
the alleged excessive use of force by the police and violence by
the protesters, should be carried out immediately. The international
community should be ready to monitor and assist such an inquiry;
12.2. the persons detained on seemingly artificial and politically
motivated charges or who did not personally commit any violent acts
or serious offences in connection with them should be released as
a matter of urgency;
12.3. the amendments recently adopted by the National Assembly
to the Law on Conducting Meetings, Assemblies, Rallies and Demonstrations
should be revoked in line with the recommendations of the Venice
Commission with immediate effect.
13. Unless these conditions are met and an open dialogue on the
reforms mentioned in paragraph 8 above is seriously engaged between
the political forces in Armenia, the credibility of Armenia as a
member of the Council of Europe will be put into doubt. The Assembly
should therefore consider the possibility of suspending the voting
rights of the Armenian delegation to the Assembly at the opening
of its June 2008 part-session, if no considerable progress has been
made on these requirements by then.
14. The Assembly will continue to follow closely the situation
in Armenia on the basis of information provided by its Monitoring
Committee, in particular as regards progress in the fulfilment of
the above-mentioned conditions.