Levon Zourabian, ALDE, Armenia, Strengthening the protection and role of human rights defenders in Council of Europe member States Debate
In this excellent report rapporteur Mailis Reps once again demonstrated that she is one of the most knowledgeable, principled and experienced members of this Assembly, devoted to the basic values of this House of democracy and human rights.
On Armenia I agree in general with the opinion of Ms Reps that, compared with a very grave situation in Azerbaijan, Armenian and Georgian “activists enjoyed considerable freedom to carry out their activities.” But situation in Azerbaijan is a nightmare and I do not want the state of affairs in Armenia to be judged in comparison with Azerbaijan. Against the background of the Council of Europe’s general standards, Armenia is not doing well.
Armenia’s Ombudsman Andreasian has resigned from his position on 12 January without any explanation after having been been harshly criticized by a representative of the ruling party in our parliament and afterwards by a minister, who is also a deputy of the incumbent president of the country in the ruling party. The Ombudsman was increasingly active in publicly criticizing the actions of the Armenian police for brutally attacking opposition activists, injustice and corruption in the judiciary, as well as revealing election fraud during the 6 December constitutional referendum and was about to publish a special report on the violations. It turns out that in Armenia it is the State Human Rights Defender who needs to be defended first.
Armenia still holds 8 political prisoners according to the criteria defined by the PACE Resolution 1900. I call on rapporteurs Alan Meale and Giuseppe Galati, the Monitoring Committee, Commissioner Muizhnieks to undertake necessary steps for the release of Gevorg Safarian and Shant Harutyunian and others in his group.
The electoral fraud remains greatest evil of Armenia’s corrupt political system. 6 December referendum was completely falsified. The people of Armenia massively and predominantly voted NO to the constitutional amendments, initiated to open a door for the incumbent president Sargsian to continue his hold on power. The fraud and intimidation were widespread; more than half of million votes were rigged to change the real outcome of the poll. We need now joint efforts by Armenian political forces, NGOs and the international community to ensure that the will of the Armenian people is respected in the upcoming May 2017 parliamentary elections.