Report
In order to contribute to the monitoring of the implementation of the EU-Armenia Action Plan in the field of human rights, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the Civil Society Institute (CSI), the Foundation Against Violation of Law (FAVL) and the Helsinki Committee of Armenia (HCA) wish to draw EU attention on the following assessment and recommendations.
The EU and Armenia held their 9th joint Cooperation Council on 9 December 2008. In its press release the EU "noted Armenia's progress in the implementation of the ENP Action Plan", "agreed that there is still room for further progress" and "underlined the importance of the respect for the rule of law, democratic and pluralistic principles, protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as freedom of expression and freedom of the media, as essential elements in the bilateral dialogue."
Our organisations are deeply concerned by the absence of a precise identification of key human rights concerns in Armenia despite the preoccupying situation that has prevailed since the February 2008.
On 5 March 2008, the Council of the EU had expressed its "deep concern about the situation in the Republic of Armenia after the presidential elections", "condemned the acts of violence committed during the events of 1 March, which resulted in the loss of life and numerous injuries" and "called upon the Armenian authorities to release any citizens detained for exercising their right to peaceful assembly and to lift the state of emergency, which imposes restrictions on media freedom, the freedom of assembly, and on political parties."
Our organisations wish to underline that 10 months later, the situation remains extremely preoccupying. On 18 December 2008, the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) recommended to "suspend the voting rights of the members of the Armenian parliamentary delegation to the Assembly (...) until the Armenian authorities clearly demonstrate their political will to resolve the issue of persons detained in relation to the events of 1 and 2 March 2008, in line with its demands, as expressed in Resolutions 1609 (2008) and 1620 (2008). " In its session of 27 January 2009, the Assembly decided not to suspend the voting rights of the members of the Armenian parliamentary delegation to the Assembly, but decided to remain seized of the matter and invited its Monitoring Committee to propose any further action to be taken as required by the situation.
FIDH and its member and partner organisations in Armenia remain preoccupied by the following issues:
The human rights situation following the 2008 Presidential Elections and March 2008 events;
Political prisoners and 1st-of-March detainees, acts of repression against representatives of the opposition;
Torture and ill-treatment;
Violations of the independence of the judiciary;
Violations of the right to free assembly;
Violations of freedom of speech and acts of repression against journalists.
Our organisations urge the EU to ensure that these issues remain key priorities within the framework of its political dialogue with Armenia and that concrete steps are taken to implement recommendations formulated to Armenia by the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the UN and reach ENP Action Plan priorities. In particular, our organisations call upon the EU to take into consideration the following assessment and recommendations in the preparation of the ENP progress report on Armenia and in view of the upcoming sub-committee meetings.
