Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07YEREVAN1446
2007-12-18 12:02:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Yerevan
Cable title:  

ARMENIA HUMAN RIGHTS ROUND-UP (NOVEMBER-DECEMBER)

Tags:  PHUM PGOV PREL ASEC SOCI ELAB KDEM KJUS KWMN HSTC 
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PP RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHYE #1446/01 3521202
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 181202Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY YEREVAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6759
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 1397
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL PRIORITY 0616
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION WASHINGTON DC
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 0474
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TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL ASEC SOCI ELAB KDEM KJUS KWMN HSTC
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SUBJECT: ARMENIA HUMAN RIGHTS ROUND-UP (NOVEMBER-DECEMBER)

REFS: A) YEREVAN 1335 B) YEREVAN 1338 C) YEREVAN 1362

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HEADLINES
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 YEREVAN 001446

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DEPT FOR EUR/CARC

SENSITIVE

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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

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HEADLINES
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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