PARLIAMENTARIANS, MANY OTHER DETAINEES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000893

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN; DRL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV AM
SUBJECT: PARLIAMENTARIANS, MANY OTHER DETAINEES
RELEASED; DEMIRCHIAN PROMISES NEW RALLY



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

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SUMMARY
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2. (SBU) Armenian opposition leaders Stepan Demirchian
and Artashes Geghamian brushed off calls for dialogue
with the government, instead calling for a new rally
against President Kocharian in central Yerevan April

16. The police unsealed the offices of the National
Accord Party April 14, and reopened the Republic Party
offices April 15. The police report that 115 people
were either detained or taken in for questioning since
April 13. The police released all four national
assembly members who had been held as witnesses, and
many others who had been taken into custody April 12-

13. President Kocharian issued an appeal to the
opposition to resume "normal activities," but promised
further police action against "political extremism."
End Summary.

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OPPOSITION DEFIES GOVERNMENT; PLANS NEW RALLY
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3. (SBU) Despite the authorities' crackdown on their
activities during the previous 48 hours, opposition
leaders Stepan Demirchian and Artashes Geghamian
pledged April 14 to continue their anti-government
campaign. Defying a government ban on further
unsanctioned rallies and rejecting calls to engage in a
dialogue with the government, Demirchian and Geghamian
announced that another demonstration against the
government would be held April 16 in Yerevan's Opera
Square. Demirchian confirmed his plans in a press
conference April 15. (Comment: One senior government
official told us they didn't care what the opposition
did at Opera Square, so long as they stayed there. End
Comment.)

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POLICE LEAVE PARTY OFFICES
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4. (SBU) The police unsealed the offices of Artashes
Geghamian's National Accord Party the afternoon of
April 14. The offices had been raided by the police
immediately following the dispersal of the opposition
demonstration in front of the National Assembly during
the morning of April 13. Geghamian claimed that police
had confiscated most party documents, and thoroughly
ransacked the headquarters. Police also vacated the
offices of the Republic Party at approximately 1:00
p.m. April 15. Republic Party leader Aram Sargsyan has
not made a public appearance since the authorities
broke up the opposition rally April 13, and his
supporters claim he is in hiding. The Procurator-
General had singled out the Republic Party's leadership
as most likely to face criminal prosecution for their
calls for the violent overthrow of the state.

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PARLIAMENTARIANS RELEASED, DETENTION FIGURES UNCLEAR
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5. (SBU) The police released the four opposition
deputies detained for questioning April 12-13. Ruzanna
Khachatryan, spokeswoman for Demirchian's Armenian
People's Party, also left police custody April 14. She
told us that the police treated her well during her 48
hours of detention (septel). The Yerevan City Police
reported that 115 people were detained during the same
period, of whom 71 were no longer in police custody.
Although opposition parties told us that they think the
number of detentions was significantly higher, Human
Rights Ombudsman Larissa Alaverdian, who has visited
detention facilities, told us that she believes the
police numbers are generally accurate.

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GOAM OFFICIALS DEFEND POLICE ACTIONS DURING RALLY
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6. (SBU) Senior GOAM maintain that the force employed
during the rally was at a commensurate and acceptable
level. In a televised interview, Procurator-General
Aghvan Hovsepyan said that "If the police, having acted
in full accord with the letter and spirit of the law,
had not prevented the further development of illegal
actions of demonstrators on the night of 12-13 April,
we would have to apply more severe official enforcement
measures against the violators." President Kocharian
also defended the actions of the police against
"political extremists," and called on the opposition to
participate in a political dialogue. He stated that
police would not have interfered with the demonstrators
if they had remained in Opera Square, but the
opposition had chosen to provoke the authorities by
rallying in front of the parliament. Foreign Minister
Vartan Oskanian told the Ambassador April 14 that he
and several other prominent ministers were in agreement
that the opposition must be engaged to prevent a
further worsening of the situation. The Dashnakutyun
Party, a member of the governing coalition, issued a
statement calling for incorporating the opposition in
governing bodies in order to defuse current tensions.
(Note: The Dashnakutyun have suggested a place on the
National Security Council for the opposition. End
Note.)

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COMMENT: SITUATION STILL TENSE
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7. (SBU) The situation between the GOAM and the
opposition remains tense. Government authorities seem
willing to open discussions with the opposition, but
the opposition seems unlikely to heed Kocharian's plea
for them to resume "normal activities." For their
part, leading opposition figures are in no mood for any
dialogue with the government--at least for now. They
likely hope that their April 16 rally will demonstrate
growing support for their position. Our best guess is
that while most citizens disapprove of the government's
tactics, this does not translate into active support
for the opposition. A weather forecast that calls for
rain makes a large turnout even less likely. We cannot
rule out completely, however, either provocation by the
opposition, or overkill by the government.
ORDWAY