Armenia: PACE Monitoring Concerns & Proposals

Unzipped posts details of concerns raised by the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) following a recent return visit to Armenia by John Prescott. The committee says that the current crackdown on the opposition will likely not ease tensions in the country, but its general proposals seem well placed to do so.

The committee was informed by its envoy John Prescott of the main conclusions arising from his fact-finding mission to Yerevan, on 7 and 8 March 2008, and called on all sides to accept Mr Prescott’s proposals aimed at resolving the current crisis, in particular:

the recognition by all sidesof the authority of the Constitutional Court and its ruling on the outcome of the Presidential elections;

the lifting of the state of emergency and the restoring of individual human rights and freedoms;

the release of all jailed activists who have not committed violent crimes;

the establishment of an independent inquiry into the circumstances that led to the events on 1 March 2008 and the monitoring of the on-going investigation process;

the initiation of a dialogue between all political forces, in the following areas:

- reform of the electoral framework with a view to regaining public trust in the conduct and outcome of elections;

- reform of the political system with a view to providing a proper place for the opposition in the decision-making process and governance of the country;

- media reform, especially aimed at the creation of a truly independent public broadcaster.