RIOT POLICE BREAK UP DEMONSTRATION IN EARLY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000880

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN; DRL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV AM
SUBJECT: RIOT POLICE BREAK UP DEMONSTRATION IN EARLY
MORNING HOURS; SEVERAL PARLIAMENTARIANS DETAINED


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

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SUMMARY
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2. (SBU) At approximately 2:00 a.m. April 13, Armenian
riot police dispersed a crowd of about one thousand
opposition supporters that had remained in front of the
National Assembly since 6:00 p.m. the previous day.
The police used flash grenades, water cannons and
batons to push the crowd away from the parliament
building. The police have detained an unknown number
of opposition supporters. Armenia's Human Rights
Ombudsman confirms that several prominent opposition
parliamentarians were detained. An unknown number of
opposition supporters have been hospitalized for
injuries sustained during the confrontation with police
forces. End Summary.

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RIOT POLICE BREAK UP DEMONSTRATION
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3. (SBU) At approximately 2:00 a.m. April 13, Armenian
riot police dispersed a crowd of about one thousand
opposition supporters that had remained in front of the
National Assembly since 6:00 p.m. the previous day.
Embassy security camera video shows that at 1:50 a.m.,
police fired stun grenades in the direction of the
demonstrators. Approximately four minutes later,
police directed water cannons at the crowd, special
riot police units then moved into the crowd. The riot
police struck an unknown number of demonstrators with
batons, and chased them down the street, away from the
National Assembly building. The newspaper Haykakan
Zhamanak and the Russian Television station ORT report
that the police beat journalists from their
organizations. One Embassy employee told us she
witnessed several riot policemen chasing a demonstrator
and then beating him with their batons for 30 seconds.
President Kocharian told the Ambassador that the crowd
engaged in violence, and that twenty policemen were
injured during the course of the operation, with three
hospitalized. (Our review of the video suggests that
there may have been some objects thrown by
demonstrators, but only after the first stun grenade
was fired.)

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DOCTOR CONFIRMS INJURIES
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4. (SBU) A doctor working at a local hospital told us
that she had personally treated five individuals who
were injured during the police action. Three of them,
including the ORT journalist, had been treated for cuts
and bruises and released. Two others remained
hospitalized, both with injuries to their legs
sustained when stun grenades exploded in their close
proximity.

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OPPOSITION PARTY HEADQUARTERS RAIDED, CLOSED
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5. (SBU) Police raided the offices of the opposition
parties who had organized the anti-government rallies,
detaining an unknown number of party workers. Armenian
People's Party (APP) Spokeswoman Ruzanna Khachatryan
phoned us as police were entering the party
headquarters at approximately 2:30 a.m. Khachatryan
reported that police were breaking into the building.
The APP and Khachatryan's parents informed us later in
the day that she is currently in detention at a local
police station. At midday April 13, we visited the
headquarters of the National Accord Party, the Republic
Party, and the APP. A police vehicle was parked
outside of the National Accord offices, and a large
police contingent had completely sealed the Republic
Party offices. No police were present at APP
headquarters, but a crowd of approximately 40
supporters of APP leader Stepan Demirchian waited
outside. Many were in tears, and told us that waited
for Demirchian to arrive to "provide instruction."
From what we could see of the party offices, they
appeared to be completely ransacked: no party workers
were present. (Note: We could observe the ground-
level offices of the APP from the street. End Note.)
The Ambassador subsequently spoke with Demirchian, who
said he was in his office, but that it had been
ransacked by the police.

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PARLIAMENTARIANS DETAINED
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6. (SBU) Armenia's Human Rights Ombudsman, Larissa
Alaverdian, told us that she could confirm that several
leading opposition deputies had been detained.
According to Alaverdian, National Assembly members
Tatul Manasarian, Arshak Sadoyan, Shavarsh Kocharian,
and Albert Bazayan were taken into police custody.
(Note: We spoke with Manasarian later in the day; his
detention was brief. End Note.) As members of the
National Assembly they are entitled to complete
immunity from prosecution: it is unclear under which
authority the police hold them in detention. OSCE
Ambassador Vladimir Pryakhin told us that he has been
informed that all four parliamentarians will be
released by the end of the day. A National Democratic
Institute representative told us that opposition
parties have reported the detention of at least four
other National Assembly members: Alexan Karapetyan of
the National Accord, Vardan Mkrtchyan of APP, as well
as Artak Zeynalyan and Vagharshak Harutunyan of the
Republic Party. National Assembly Speaker Baghdasarian
told the Ambassador that he had assurances from the
police that no deputies had been "arrested," rather,
they had been "detained for questioning." He said he
expected them to be released shortly.

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COMMENT: PROVOCATION AND OVERKILL
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7. (SBU) It is not clear that the opposition calculated
the impact of their decision to maintain a large crowd
in the street indefinitely. They left themselves no
maneuvering room, and were either unwilling or unable
to declare the demonstration a success and disband at a
certain time--a decision that would have completely
changed the current negative dynamic. The authorities,
for their part, allowed the demonstration to continue
for about eight hours, despite the fact that the
protestors had closed a major city street. Earlier,
they had not interfered with a much longer
demonstration by several hundred activists over the
weekend in the plaza adjacent to the Opera House.
However, while the police actions to disperse the
protestors involved only non-lethal force, its use
turned excessive as demonstrators were fleeing.
Subsequent efforts to detain opposition supporters and
ransack opposition party offices are even more
troubling. The combination of opposition provocation,
and government overkill, render the prospects of a
quick political resolution to the crisis remote indeed.
ORDWAY