ARMENIA HUMAN RIGHTS ROUND-UP (NOVEMBER-DECEMBER)

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 YEREVAN 001446 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/CARC SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O.12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL ASEC SOCI ELAB KDEM KJUS KWMN HSTC AM SUBJECT: ARMENIA HUMAN RIGHTS ROUND-UP (NOVEMBER-DECEMBER) REFS: A) YEREVAN 1335 B) YEREVAN 1338 C) YEREVAN 1362 YEREVAN 00001446 001.2 OF 004 -------------- HEADLINES -------------- ¶1. (U) Headlines in this round-up: -- MONITORING OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION COVERAGE -- CIVIL PROTEST OVER INFORMATION POLICY OF PUBLIC TV -- CONTINUING REPORTS OF MEDIA CLAMPDOWN -- THE ONGOING TRAVAILS OF GALA TV -- TER-PETROSSIAN'S PRE-ELECTION MONITORING REPORTS -- HOUSING CERTIFICATES FOR 120 HOMELESS FAMILIES IN GYUMRI -- CAPACITY OF YEREVAN HOMELESS SHELTER TO BE EXPANDED -- OMBUDSMAN ON POLICE TREATMENT, JUDICIAL REFORM, VALUE OF OSCE -- OMBUDSMAN'S OFFICE RECEIVES 3,139 COMPLAINTS FROM JAN-OCT -------------- MONITORING OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION COVERAGE -------------- ¶2. (U) Monitoring of media coverage of the presidential election race was launched in early October by the so-called "TEAM" Research Center with support from the Armenian affiliate of the Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation and the Yerevan Press Club (YPC). Just as in the run-up to Armenia's May parliamentary elections, the monitoring was initiated to gauge the amount of attention media are devoting to the upcoming presidential election, the way in which media inform the electorate about candidates, and to assess access to airtime for various candidates. ¶3. (U) The current monitoring effort, which continues through December 15, is tracking eight broadcast media: four national TV companies (First and Second Channels of Armenian Public Television; the pro-government, privately-owned "ALM" company; and the pro-government "Armenia TV" company owned by the U.S. businessman of Armenian descent, Gerard Cafesjian); three Yerevan TV companies (the "Yerkir Media" company run by the Dashnaktsutyun party; the "Kentron" company owned by the junior partner of the government coalition, Prosperous Armenia; and the pro-government "Shant" TV company); and the Public Radio of Armenia. (Note: The First Channel of Armenian Public Television is the most viewed TV channel in Armenia. End note.) ¶4. (U) According to the first interim report covering October, "ALM" devoted the most time to political reporting, followed at a distance by "Kentron," the Second Channel of Armenian Public TV, and ;"Yerkir." "Armenia TV" paid the least attention to politics, a bit more than Public Television. Amazingly, most of the political reporting of surveyed channels focused not on the acknowledged presidential front-runner Serge Sargsyan, but on the leader of the Popular Party Tigran Karapetyan, whose "ALM" company skewed the results with its exclusive coverage of its owner's candidacy. Serzh Sargsyan came in second in cumulative coverage, and ex-President Levon Ter-Petrossian third. The vast majority of TV and radio coverage devoted to Serzh Sargsyan was in his capacity as Prime Minister. The interim report notes, however, that the frequent, lengthy appearances by Sargsyan were undoubtedly influencing viewers. It also found that the bulk of coverage devoted to Ter-Petrossian was overwhelmingly negative. ¶5. (U) During the month of October Ter-Petrossian received only 6 positive references and 111 negative references whereas Sargsyan received 56 positive references and only 2 negative. It was during the second half of October in which Ter-Petrossian received 85 percent of the most negative references, compared to 15 percent in the first half of the month. (Note: Ter-Petrossian announced his candidacy for president at a public rally held October 26. End note.) Boris Navasardian, the chairman of the Yerevan Press Club (YPC),publicly stated that "I don't remember any previous media monitoring which showed a politician getting such negative coverage several months before an election." The interim report concluded that an "invisible hand" was regulating the content of the current affairs programs aired by Armenia's leading broadcasters. The report also noted, however, that certain politicians were deliberately avoiding on-air interviews, including ex-President Ter-Petrossian. ¶6. (U) Commenting on the monitoring for November, YPC found that broadcasters continued to show an "unprecedented bias" against opposition leader Ter-Petrossian, while casting Sargsyan in a highly positive light. Its chairman said the bias was "even more YEREVAN 00001446 002.2 OF 004 large-scale" than what previous monitoring detected. YPC found that the First Channel of Armenian Public TV aired 47 critical reports on Ter-Petrossian, while Sargsyan was featured 148 times -- almost always in a positive light. YPC Chairman Navasardian stated that "the more unpredictable the election outcome becomes, the more unethically media outlets behave." The news chief of "Armenia TV," which devoted 80 percent of all of its November news coverage to Prime Minister Sargsyan's public engagements, defended the company, saying "we must cover his activities if the Prime Minister is doing a very good job all the time." The First Channel of Public Television and Public Radio have yet to comment on the November report. -------------- -- CIVIL PROTEST OF PUBLIC TV'S INFORMATION POLICY -------------- -- ¶7. (U) On November 13 approximately 30 people signed a document of "civil protest" to object to the information policy of Armenian Public Television. The statement decried the Armenian authorities' violation of citizens' rights to receive information about important state affairs. The statement said that "Public TV, which we pay for as tax-payers, must ensure our right to obtain information about key events in the country. However, Armenian Public TV functions under strict censorship. Government agencies also subject private TV channels to similar censorship." The statement also accused Armenian Public Television of launching an unfair campaign against one of the presidential candidates, ex-President Levon Ter-Petrossian. ¶8. (U) In a related development, supporters of presidential candidate Artur Baghdasarian on December 13 accused Armenia's leading TV stations of deliberately ignoring the candidate in their coverage. The leader of the "Orinats Yerkir" (Rule of Law) party, which was ousted from the governing coalition in 2006, Baghdasarian has had a stormy relationship with the authorities ever since his resignation as Speaker of the National Assembly. The relationship deteriorated even further when in April, 2007 a secret taping of Baghdasarian criticizing the authorities in a conversation with the British Deputy Head of Mission was made public. His supporters say Baghdasarian has made "only" five televised appearances since the May parliamentary elections. Meanwhile, other Rule of Law leaders admitted that they have been invited onto talk shows recently, and that their party has been able to air promotional videos on national and local channels. But they maintain that is not sufficient to present their candidate's platform to voters. -------------- CONTINUING REPORTS OF MEDIA CLAMPDOWN -------------- ¶9. (U) According to unconfirmed media reports, both the Armenian Police and the National TV and Radio Commission (NTRC) have issued warnings to media outlets (ref B) on their coverage of the presidential race. It was reported on November 24 that the Armenian Police sent a statement to mass media outlets urging them to refrain from disseminating information that has not been verified, and to avoid political speculation. The police statement said the "media should cooperate only with informed and authorized sources of information." The statement also accused unspecified media outlets of disseminating false information and rumors in an apparent attempt to defame the Police and divide police officers. It was also reported on November 19 that the NTRC issued a strict order to regional TV stations to keep away from the upcoming elections and refrain from airing political advertisements or announcements. -------------- THE ONGOING TRAVAILS OF GALA TV -------------- ¶10. (U) Last month the Gyumri-based independent GALA TV station was unexpectedly audited by the State Tax Service (STS) in alleged retribution for its airing of a September 21 speech by Levon Ter-Petrossian that was highly critical of government authorities (ref C). The STS audit accused GALA of evading 82,000 USD in taxes over the last two years. Chap, GALA's parent company, rejected the accusation, and said the audit's findings were politically motivated. STS followed up its audit with a request to the Economic Court to freeze GALA's bank accounts and assets. Although the demand was initially rejected, it was reversed a week later when the Economic Court stated that the STS had provided additional documents to support its request. YEREVAN 00001446 003.2 OF 004 ¶11. (SBU) GALA's travails continued when the STS accused it of illegally using a TV tower it did not own for its broadcasts. NGO contacts in Gyumri told post that the tower was privatized by the Gyumri mayor's office while the audit was in process, and that previously the city had placed no restrictions on its use. Though Gyumri's mayor appeared to be taking a neutral stance in the affair until that point, he subsequently appealed to the Economic Court to force the removal of GALA's transmitter. The court is currently hearing the case, and post will send an observer to the hearings in mid-December. Coincidentally, on December 6 the Gyumri mayor's son was given a more lenient than expected sentence for his participation in an armed confrontation last May that wounded one bystander. NGO contacts in Gyumri have told us they suspect the light sentence may well have been a bribe used to coax the mayor into taking a harsher stance on GALA. (SEPTEL TO FOLLOW) -------------- TER-PETROSIAN PRE-ELECTION MONITORING REPORT -------------- ¶12. (U) Run by the Ter-Petrossian presidential campaign, The "Levon Ter-Petrossian for President Civil Initiative" has engaged in a weekly monitoring effort to track infringements and violations of law by Armenian authorities in the run-up to February's presidential election. The civil initiative has released six weekly reports so far. Some examples of reported violations follow. (NOTE: These alleged infractions reported by the Ter-Petrossian campaign have not been independently verified in detail by emboffs. END NOTE.] ¶13. (U) Report No 4 (November 16-23): Eight violations were reported, including several alleged incidents where authorities warned citizens not to attend LTP's public rallies. More severe violations included two separate incidents where a person was dismissed from his job as a result of his - or his relatives' - support for the Ter-Petrossian candidacy. Additionally, Levon Sardaryan, a political analyst for the Second Channel of Armenian Public TV, was requested to tender his resignation by the president of the company, allegedly for the content of his analytical broadcasts related to LTP's candidacy. The formal reason given for the dismissal was a "lack of work discipline." Prior to his dismissal, Sardaryan had attended two of LTP's rallies and produced segments that were allegedly taken off of the air after consultations between the director of the channel and President Kocharian's press secretary. ¶14. (U) Report No 5 (November 24-30): 13 violations were reported, including several alleged incidents where authorities warned people not to attend LTP's rallies and to stop organizing the participation of others. The report also outlines various media related violations, including a report that the head of the National Committee for Television and Radio (NCTR) had demanded that regional TV stations abstain from airing any political advertisements or announcements related to the 2008 presidential campaign. There were several reports of people either losing their jobs or coming under inspection by the STS after they or relatives had expressed support for the Ter-Petrossian candidacy. ¶15. (U) Report No 6 (December 1-7): Nine violations were reported, including harassment of several members of the "Aylntrank" (Alternative) Civil Initiative group that supports the Ter-Petrossian candidacy. Police allegedly stopped two members from handing out flyers and DVDs announcing LTP's rally. The men were forced to give the materials to police officers. Another member, Artak Arakelyan, was approached by eight members of the STS, who demanded receipts for the 4,000 leaflets he had just picked up from a publishing house that announced Ter-Petrossian's December 8 rally. Having no receipt, Arakelyan was detained for six hours, along with the director and printer of the publishing house. The STS demanded a 15,000 AMD fine and refused to return the confiscated leaflets. Subsequently, the director of the publishing house stated that STS officers had begun inspecting its activities, claiming they had found fiscal irregularities. -------------- HOUSING CERTIFICATES FOR HOMELESS IN GYUMRI -------------- ¶16. (U) On November 9, Armenia's Minister of Urban Development gave housing certificates to 120 families in Gyumri. The families have been housed in temporary housing since the destruction of their homes by the 1988 earthquake that claimed 25,000-50,000 lives. The certificates are part of a government program aimed at eliminating the housing problem in Gyumri. The program has helped a total of YEREVAN 00001446 004.2 OF 004 277 families, and its 2007 budget of 715 million AMD (approximately $ 2,360,000) represents an increase of 30 percent over 2006. -------------- -------------- CAPACITY OF YEREVAN HOMELESS SHELTER TO BE EXPANDED -------------- -------------- ¶17. The GOAM earmarked money in its 2008 budget to expand Yerevan's only homeless shelter. The shelter currently accommodates 30 homeless people, but next year will see its capacity increased to ¶50. An official from the Labor and Social Affairs ministry stated that the shelter was a priority issue due to the increasing number of individuals seeking night shelter. The shelter was opened in 2006 and has offered shelter to over 350 homeless people. The shelter has a two month limit. During a homeless person's stay, he is eligible to receive medical assistance and psychological counseling. -------------- - OMBUDSMAN ON POLICE TREATMENT, JUDICIAL REFORM -------------- - ¶18. In a press conference after a meeting in Strasbourg with the Council of Europe on November 23, Armenia's Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Armen Harutunian called on the police to conduct an internal investigation into the brutal treatment that a suspect named "Artvazd A" sustained during his detention. On November 13, Artvazd A. was severely beaten by police officers in the department responsible for fighting organized crime. He suffered severe injuries, including broken ribs, and was subsequently hospitalized. ¶19. During the press conference the Ombudsman also made an appeal to reform Armenia's judicial system so citizens' confidence in the system would be enhanced. Referring to the growing number of complaints lodged with the European Court of Human Rights, Harutunian declared that "We should realize that the European Court is not the highest instance, but a supplementary institution, and our problems should be solved in our motherland." He added that Armenian citizens still have a preconceived attitude regarding the independence of Armenia's courts, which can be changed for the better once the judicial system is reformed and made more efficient. In addition, the Ombudsman will be submitting a proposal to the GOAM to open three regional offices that would expand the capacity and reach of the Human Rights Defender's Office. ¶20. On November 13, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) launched training for the staff of Armenia's Human Rights Defender. Invited by the Ombudsman, the OSCE initiated training to help strengthen the capacity of the Ombudsman's office to work with government and civil society on the prevention and resolution of citizens' complaints. -------------- OMBUDSMAN'S OFFICE RECEIVES 3,139 COMPLAINTS -------------- ¶21. (U) According to the Office of the Armenian Human Rights Defender, the Ombudsman received 3,130 complaints between January and October of 2007. A press release by the Office said that 337 complaints were rejected as groundless. It also said that 77 complaints that were resolved positively resulted in the "restoration of the violated rights" of 3,200 people. 120 of the complaints were against police, 116 against courts, 82 against the prosecutor's office, and 74 against the Yerevan municipality. Nine complaints were filed against the government. Approximately 565 complaints were filed by residents of Yerevan. PENNINGTON