HAMMARBERG’S PROPOSALS ARE ALMOST IGNORED

 Only one proposal from CE Human Rights Commisioner’s 8 proposals was implemented; it was about stopping the emergency of state.

We have informed that  Commissioner of Human Rights Tommas Hammarber represented  to the CE Committee of Ministers on April 30 the report of his special mission. This report  became famous in Armneia only a month ago.

Tommas Hammarberg’s first proposal is to “withdraw the state of emergency to restore the democratic order in the country and respect towards human rights.” The state of emergency is de jure withdrawn on March 21 but it is still on de facto. One of the proof of this statement is the fact that the opposition representatives are not allowed to participate even in the concerts which are held in the Freedom Square.

CE Human Rights Commissioner’s second  proposal is: “To confirm the changes in the legislation regarding the freedom of expression and mass meetings which will correspond to the commissions of Armenia towards CE”. We still wait for changes connected with the freedom of mass meetings.

There is a small progress on Hammarberg’s third proposal regarding the political prisoners who are arrested for their anti-authority views. There are still 3-4 activists who are set free.

The fourth proposal is : To investigate the cases of the unequal usage of forces and call the guilty people to responsibility”.  It is noted in Hammarberg’s  report that he has found out during his meeting with the Public Prosecutor that the Prosecutor’s Office will conduct more general but limited investigation in the context of making personal accusations to the guilty persons.”  The Commissioner has noted: “Such a limited investigation is not enough to detect March 1 events not only for clarifying the facts but also for making conclusions”.

The fifth proposal is to investigate the incidents with the arrested people  and call the responsible people to responsibility” . It is noted in the report that Hammarberg has discussed the violence used by the police with Aghvan Hovsepyan: “The Public Prosecutor said that he will conduct an investigation to find out  whether the Police has used unequal steps and he will give a legal opinion”. We should note that the Public Prosecutor has not given that opinion yet . While the CE Human Rights Commissioner has noted in his report that he has seen arrested injured people 14 days after March 1 incidents.

Nothing is clear regarding the 6^th proposal which is about  determining additional commands for the lawinforcement agencies  which will coordinate the right of having attorneys.

 The seventh proposal is to conduct an investigation on March 1 events taking into account the factors of using violence and declaration of state of emergency.

And the 8^th item asks the government to decide: “Whether it expects essential inputs from the international community, and if it is so, it should present a clear and direct request for such assistance”. As we know the government has not asked for such assistance.