COE SKEPTICAL NEW OMBUDSMAN LAW MEETS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 002853

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN; DRL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL AM
SUBJECT: COE SKEPTICAL NEW OMBUDSMAN LAW MEETS
MEMBERSHIP OBLIGATIONS


1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect
accordingly.

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SUMMARY
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2. (SBU) Under substantial pressure from the Council of
Europe, the Armenian National Assembly (NA) voted
September 9 to create the position of Human Rights
Ombudsman to oversee the human rights situation the
country. Numerous human rights NGOs and the Council of
Europe itself have voiced serious misgivings about the
independence of the ombudsman, and urged the National
Assembly to enact further legislation to provide
greater parliamentary oversight of the position and
further define the ombudsman's duties. End Summary.

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OMBUDSMAN LAW FINALLY PASSED
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3. (SBU) As part of its membership obligations to the
Council Of Europe (COE),Armenia was required to create
the position of a Human Rights Ombudsman, an individual
who would take responsibility for the protection of
human rights and civil liberties in the country. In
September 2002, a COE investigative panel found Armenia
generally negligent in adopting the legislative reforms
required by the body, and set a deadline of January
2004 for their adoption. To meet the COE's deadline,
the government has aggressively pushed several high-
profile human rights related bills through the National
Assembly (NA) during the fall 2003 session. The NA
passed the bill creating the ombudsman position
September 9, and President Kocharian signed it into
law. Under the Armenian constitution, the president
would appoint the ombudsman and, according to several
government sources, he is likely to do so by the end of
the year.

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COE: OMBUDSMAN BILL NOT WHAT WE EXPECTED
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4. (SBU) According to Natalia Vutova, Special
Representative of the COE Secretary-General in Armenia,
Armenia's ombudsman bill does not meet COE standards.
Vutova contends that both the COE and OSCE have very
explicit requirements for human rights ombudsmen,
including its complete independence from executive
authority. Under the current Armenian constitutional
framework, the National Assembly is not empowered to
review the president's selection for the ombudsman
post, which would be under executive administration.
Vutova stated that the COE requires "not just laws to
be adopted, but the right laws with the right content."
The ombudsman law, along with draft laws on alternative
military service and the media, falls short of meeting
COE requirements.

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HUMAN RIGHTS NGOs ALSO SKEPTICAL
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5. (U) Human rights NGOs, including the Helsinki
Commission, the International Union of Lawyers, and the
Armenian Union of Journalists, organized a seminar in
October 2003 to discuss the shortcomings of the
ombudsman law. Most agreed that the lack of
independence of the ombudsman would make the post
nearly as ineffective at examining the human rights
situation as the Presidential Commission on Human
Rights, which has not held hearings on any issue in a
year. The Helsinki Commission of Armenia noted that in
a frantic rush to meet the COE deadline, the NA was
passing ineffectual human rights laws. Helsinki
Commission Chairman Avetik Ishkhanyan said to the
press, "It seems that Armenian authorities are in a
hurry to [fulfill] several [COE] obligations, but they
don't care how they are going to do that."

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CANDIDATE FOR OMBUDSMAN NOTES LAW'S SHORTCOMINGS
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6. (SBU) Larissa Alaverdian, a member of the
President's Commission on Human Rights and former
parliamentarian, pointed to additional shortcomings in
the ombudsman law. She contended that the ombudsman
law had serious structural flaws, and would have to be
amended. According to Alaverdian, the ombudsman's
duties are not clearly defined, nor is the position's
relationship to other government agencies. Alverdian
stated that another concern is that the ombudsman does
not have an independent budget, and would have to rely
on the executive branch to fund its operations.
Alverdian confirmed recent press speculation that she
is one of three finalists for the ombudsman position,
and, despite her misgivings about the law, she told us
she would accept and welcome the appointment.

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COMMENT: COE CONCERNS MAY RESULT IN PUNITIVE ACTION
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7. (SBU) The concerns raised by the COE over the
ombudsman law highlight its disagreement with the GOAM
over what membership obligations to the organization
entail. Armenia's seeming indifference to the COE
protests over the content of its human rights
legislation, including bills on alternative military
service, the media, and the ombudsman, and its
continued failure to meet deadlines for constitutional
reform could have negative consequences for its
membership in the organization. The Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe has commissioned a
report on Armenia that will be released in January 2004
that will address the dispute over Armenia's membership
obligations. Vutova said that based on the report,
which will also include a review of the flawed Armenian
2003 presidential and parliamentary elections, PACE may
decide to impose punitive actions, such as the
suspension of the Armenian delegation's voting
privileges.

ORDWAY