GOAM DETAINING, HARASSING OPPOSITION IN

UNCLAS YEREVAN 002105

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN, DRL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PHUM AM
SUBJECT: GOAM DETAINING, HARASSING OPPOSITION IN
DISQUIETING MOVES

REF: A) YEREVAN 2075 B) YEREVAN 2081 C) YEREVAN 2083

D) DOELL/WITMER 12/2 E-MAIL

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POLICE DETAINING OPPOSITION SUPPORTERS
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1. (SBU) In the wake of a marred constitutional referendum
and modest opposition rallies protesting the electoral fraud
(reftels),over the past week the GOAM has opted to detain at
least 50 opposition supporters for several hours at a time,
with a number of the detainees credibly alleging that the
police beat them while they were in custody. While the
opposition clearly does not currently command widespread
popular support, continued GOAM overreaction could easily
change that.

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ANEMIC RALLY FOLLOWED BY POLICE OVERKILL
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2. (SBU) Although an unsanctioned opposition rally December 2
attracted no more than 1700 supporters, within 30 minutes of
the close of the rally (mostly plainclothes) police had
rounded up approximately 35 opposition supporters and taken
them to various Yerevan police districts for 2-4 hours of
questions. We have well-documented, detailed information on
roughly half of the detentions the opposition is citing,
including one supporter who had been detained on five
separate occasions.

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COMMENT: CLEARLY THE WRONG DIRECTION
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3. (SBU) The GOAM is clearly too insecure to simply ignore
the lackluster, poorly attended opposition protests, and is
reacting in a decidedly ham-handed manner. That having been
said, the scope of the detentions is still relatively
limited, especially when compared to GOAM overreaction to
opposition protests in 2004. We are watching these
disquieting developments closely and continue to push the
GOAM to moderate its excessive anti-oppositionist zeal.
EVANS