HOW THE STATE OF EMERGENCY IS AFFECTING NGOS AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000194

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/04/2018
TAGS: EAID PHUM PGOV KDEM AM
SUBJECT: HOW THE STATE OF EMERGENCY IS AFFECTING NGOS AND
USG ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS

REF: YEREVAN 187

YEREVAN 00000194 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: CDA Joseph Pennington for reason 1.4d.

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SUMMARY
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1. (C) With a GOAM-enforced State of Emergency (SoE)
in Yerevan in effect until March 20 (reftel),many
local and international NGOs have been forced to
curtail their activities. USG assistance
implementers, especially those working on Democracy
and Governance (DG),have not been spared this fate,
with most of our media, advocacy and political party
programs limited for the duration. Many of our
implementers are nervous that the SoE will be extended
in time and to the rest of the country and are
planning accordingly. If that proves to be true, the
impact on USG assistance to Armenia would be
significant. END SUMMARY.

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STATE OF EMERGENCY
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2. (U) As reported reftel, the GOAM imposed a SoE on
the city of Yerevan from March 1 until March 20. The
provisions of the SoE are wide ranging and prohibit,
inter alia, public gatherings, independent reporting
of internal political issues, the dissemination of
news flyers and the activities of political parties
and NGOs with regard to political issues. The fact
that the Constitutional provision under which
President Kocharian issued the SoE decree has no
supporting legislation from the National Assembly and
therefore has no interpretive elements means that the
precise words of the decree are being treated in the
broadest possible way, commensurate with the vagueness
with which the SoE decree was written.

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INTERNATIONAL NGOS
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3. (SBU) International NGOs, such as Transparency
International, have ceased all of their activities.
Others, including Helsinki Foundation, Internews and
the Open Society Institute, are taking a cautious
stand about furthering their activities, using the
1996 SoE -- declared under the old constitution -- as
precedent.

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USG ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
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4. (C) MEDIA PROGRAMS: Media programs run through
USAID's implementer The International Research and
Exchanges Board (IREX) have been entirely suspended.
IREX has advised all of its media outlets not to
publish anything, including official information from
the GOAM. ArmeniaNOW, an IREX-supported online news
source with its servers in Kentucky, has continued to
publish official information under a conspicuous black
"Media Blackout" banner across the top of its page.
IREX has also temporarily suspended or postponed its
trainings during the period of the SoE, including
those outside of Yerevan. IREX Chief of Party Robert
Evans reports, "with media restricted all over the
country, I expect the SoE shortly to be extended
nationwide."


5. (C) DEMOCRACY PROGRAMS: The National Democratic
Institute (NDI) has suspended all of its programs
related to political parties, even those in its branch
offices outside of Yerevan. In some instances, NDI's
political party partners have been detained or are in
hiding. NDI Chief of Party Gegham Sargsian reports
that former president Levon Ter-Petrossian is planning
a rally for March 21, the day after the SoE is lifted.
"I believe strongly," Sargsian says, "that the SoE
will be extended beyond 20 days." Sargsian also
reports that NDI has suspended all of its media
programs as well as its consultations with political
figures. NDI also reports that it has postponed its
civic programs throughout the country.

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6. (SBU) ADVOCACY PROGRAMS: The American Bar
Association - Rule of Law Initiative (ABA-ROLI)
reports that it has suspended its advocacy trainings
for the SoE period, though it will continue a computer
class for public defenders. Its Legal Initiative, a
pro bono public defender service, is still
representing clients, as the SoE did not suspend the
right to counsel. It has further suspended
distributing its printed materials that advertise the
Legal Initiative. ABA-ROLI and the Department of
Justice/Resident Legal Advisor have also postponed
trainings with judges and prosecutors.


7. (C) OTHER CIVIL SOCIETY PROGRAMS: Counterpart
International (CI),one of the largest DG
implementers, has imposed restrictions on its staff
and partners. CI has reconfigured its email system so
that no email can be sent to more than ten recipients
at a time (to avoid the prohibition on distributing
flyers). CI has begun to disseminate information from
its office via a phone tree amongst its partners. It
has surveyed its advocacy NGO partners, advising them
not to conduct CI-funded events within the first week
of the SoE; one of these partners has decided to shut
down its operations. Based on consultation with
lawyers, CI and ABA/ROLI interpret the provision of
the SoE against activities that would undermine
lifting of the SoE to include any criticism of the
government, even policy reform efforts in non-
democracy sectors such as health. Advocacy and train-
the-trainer classes throughout all of CI,s recipient
partner NGOs have been postponed, though statistics
training will go ahead. CI's election grantees have
been warned that their funding will be reviewed if
they decide to violate the SoE. Existing requests for
applications will continue, though CI has decided to
extend the deadline on this latest round to
accommodate orientation meetings that have been
postponed until after the SoE is lifted.


8. (SBU) HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE: Counterpart
Humanitarian Assistance Project, a Department of State
Humanitarian Assistance implementer, has decided that
distributing such assistance will cause crowds to form
in violation of the SoE and have suspended such
activity. The Department of State's other assistance-
distributing implementers (International Relief and
Development and United Methodist Council on Relief)
currently have no supplies to distribute, but are
postponing meetings about how to deal with incoming
shipments until after the SoE has been lifted.


9. (SBU) OTHER PROGRAMS: Overall, the SoE does not
affect USG programs that fall under Peace & Security,
Economic Growth or Investing In People. The Eurasia
Partnership Foundation has postponed a conference on
Armenian-Turkish relations scheduled for next week.

PENNINGTON