MARCH 30 BEATING OF HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST

UNCLAS YEREVAN 000765

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN, DRL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV AM
SUBJECT: MARCH 30 BEATING OF HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST
MIKAEL DANIELYAN

REF: Golos Armenii Article, 30 March 2004


1. (U) Sensitive But Unclassified. Please treat
accordingly.


2. (SBU) Well-known human rights activist Mikael
Danielyan contacted the Embassy March 30 after
reportedly being beaten by four unidentified men near
the entrance of his home in central Yerevan. Danielyan
said the men attacked him from behind when he returned
from shopping at a neighborhood store. We met with
Danielyan hours after the reported incident and
observed several visible bruises, a large cut on his
face and evidence of bleeding elsewhere. Doctors
placed Danielyan in the neurological unit of Yerevan's
Republican hospital for observation after he sustained
what was described as a "possible mild concussion."
Danielyan said the attackers did not take his money,
jewelry or recently purchased groceries.


3. (SBU) Danielyan said that GOAM authorities responded
to his complaints and took his police report from the
hospital. In addition, representatives from the office
of newly-appointed Human Rights Ombudsman Larissa
Alaverdian met with Danielyan immediately following the
incident. According to Danielyan's wife, Armenia's
"Kentron" television station interviewed neighbors and
identified a handful of witnesses who agreed to make on-
the-record statements about the incident in a
television spot which would be aired the evening of
March 30.


4. (SBU) Danielyan claimed that his attackers did not
speak to him during the incident but nonetheless he
characterized the event as a "definite warning."
Danielyan told us that he believes that the incident
was a reaction to his March 27 interview with
Azerbaijan's "Echo" newspaper. (Note: During the
interview in question, Danielyan postulated that local
Armenian authorities were so threatened by the planned
rallies of opposition leaders that they were willing to
escalate military operations connected to the Nagorono-
Karabakh conflict in order to divert public attention
and transport significant numbers of young people away
from the capital city. End Note.)

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COMMENT
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5. (SBU) No stranger to controversy and frequently a
figure at the center of a number of high-profile human
rights cases, Danielyan's recent comments to
Azerbaijan's "Echo" newspaper have attracted
uncharateristically volatile attention from local
Armenian media over the past three days. The
influential and widely-read Russian-language bi-weekly
"Golos Armenii" ("Voice of Armenia") ran a front-page
article March 30 saying his remarks were unpatriotic
and that Danielyan's sympathies lay with the Azeris
(ref). While we have no information regarding what
group or groups were behind his beating, there is no
shortage of groups that might take offense at his
comments as reported.

WALKER