ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT CRACKDOWN INTENSIFIES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 YEREVAN 000200 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/CARC, NSC FOR MARIA GERMANO E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/04/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ASEC KDEM AM SUBJECT: ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT CRACKDOWN INTENSIFIES REF: A. YEREVAN 190 ¶B. YEREVAN 187 ¶C. YEREVAN 186 YEREVAN 00000200 001.2 OF 004 Classified By: A/DCM Robert Frazier, reasons 1.4 (b,d). -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) Rejecting dialogue with the opposition it used lethal force to subdue on March 1-2 following Armenia's disputed February 19 presidential election, the Armenian government in the last five days has taken extraordinary measures to clamp down on any would-be dissent and isolate opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrossian (LTP) and key allies. On March 4, the parliament stripped immunity of four of its members for attempting to seize power and provoke riots, with Armenia's Prosecutor General warning LTP he could suffer the same fate. Security services have widened the media blackout by shutting down almost all online news services not loyal to the government, while state and pro-government media conduct a one-sided smear campaign discrediting the opposition. President-elect and prime minister Serzh Sargsian on March 4 got a former presidential rival to publicly smear LTP and his allies. And President Kocharian warned March 5 that public protests may not be allowed immediately after the state of emergency ends March 20. The president also publicly discredited his own appointed human rights ombudsman, following the latter's outspoken criticism of the regime's crackdown over the weekend. End summary. -------------- AUTHORITIES REJECT DIALOGUE -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On March 4, presidential spokesman Viktor Soghomorian held a press conference where he downplayed international calls for dialogue with the LTP-led opposition that security forces used lethal violence to subdue over March 1-2 (refs B, C). Soghomorian rejected dialogue outright after the bloody weekend clashes, flatly stating that "the possibility of dialogue was present before and right after the elections," and that LTP had "rejected" government efforts for compromise or talks. Soghomorian rhetorically asked how the government could negotiate with "the people responsible" for the March 1-2 events, and said "the wounds are still too fresh." Mission efforts undertaken privately to encourage the government to negotiate with LTP have also encountered stiff resistance, with the presidency resolutely opposed to negotiations. -------------- PARLIAMENT STRIPS IMMUNITY OF 4 MPS -------------- ¶3. (C) During a March 4 special session, Armenia's parliament approved the petition by Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepian to strip parliamentary immunity and permit the arrest of four of its members who supported LTP's presidential campaign and appeared at post-election protests. The four are slated to be formally charged with attempts to seize power and provoke riots to seize power. They include the oligarch and MP Khachatur Sukiasian, and three MPs who until the election were faction members of Prime Minister Sargsian's ruling Republican party, Hakop Hakopian, Myasnik Malkhasian, and Sasun Mikhaelian. Hakopian and Malkhasian are also leaders of two different Karabakh war veteran organizations who supported LTP during the presidential election. Malkhasian and Mikhaelian have been detained and were brought to the special session by masked security forces. Mikaelian and Sukiasian have gone into hiding, and the Prosecutor General stated March 4 that law enforcement authorities were working to find them and other LTP allies who might try to flee the country. On March 3, security services reportedly searched the residence belonging to LTP's brother, Petros Ter-Petrossian, but found nothing. Prosecutor General Hovsepian did not exclude that LTP could be arrested and put on trial, noting that an "investigation is underway" into LTP's alleged role in fomenting the March 1-2 violence. A former parliament staffer told Poloff on March 5 that the extraordinary move was taken to stifle perceived threats to the authorities, and "bring into line" any MP who might be considering defecting to LTP's opposition movement. YEREVAN 00000200 002.2 OF 004 -------------- GROWING NUMBER OF ARRESTS AND DETENTIONS -------------- ¶4. (C) According to data provided by LTP's office on March 6, 163 people have been arrested in conjunction with Armenia's February 19 presidential election, with 43 having been released so far. 109 were arrested on or after the March 1 crackdown. Among those arrested since March 1, only one person has had charges filed against him (coup d,etat). Eight arrests occurred prior to the February 19 election, and 46 between the election and March 1. Among those arrested after the election were local party officials (from several different opposition parties),notably Aram Karapetyan, arrested on February 24 for &slander against high-ranking officials." Regional campaign managers for LTP and several journalists have also been arrested. Prominent among those arrested is Gagik Jangiryan, a former Deputy Prosecutor General who resigned his post to protest election fraud and who was arrested one day later for illegal weapons possession (a charge that was commonly applied during the post-election round-up of key LTP supporters). Two American citizens of Armenian ancestry have also been detained by the National Security Service. There are reports that two of the arrested still in detention are only 16 years old. According to an official police statement released on March 6, 407 citizens throughout the country have been summoned for questioning by the police, 23 have been arrested, 50 detained, and three cases already sent to the courts. -------------- MEDIA BLACKOUT INTENSIFIES ... -------------- ¶5. (C) On March 4, Radio Free Liberty/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) said its Armenian language broadcast was taken off the air and its web site blocked as part of the state of emergency declared by Armenia's president late on March 1. RFE/RL had been the only foreign broadcaster to air native programming in the Armenian language. During a March 4 press conference, the public relations chief for Armenia's police service partially blamed RFE/RL's Armenian language broadcasts for the weekend unrest, alleging Radio Liberty (RL) was "aggravating the situation, since rally participants were listening to the biased information spread" by the station. According to information made available to the Public Affairs Section on March 7, Grigor Amalyan, Chairman of the National Commission on Television and Radio, reportedly told heads of radio stations which carry RL programming that it would be "better for them" to take RL off the air. He apparently issued the directive immediately after the state of emergency was imposed. ¶6. (C) RFE/RL and other online news services that the National Security Service previously shut down (ref B) responded to the blackout by creating new web domains to get around the site blockings. This worked for several days, but as of the morning of March 7, RL audio reports were accessible only by satellite feed after the new internet domains were blocked as well. Public Affairs confirmed that RL in Armenia continues to send its reports to Prague where they are then sent out by hotburst on satellite. Radio stations could broadcast the programming if they chose to, but only the few people who have satellite receivers are capable of picking up the programming. RFE/RL is essentially impossible to access in Armenia -- internet or radio -- unless people have satellite dishes. ¶7. (C) In addition, some Armenian newspapers have decided to print empty editions, or stop publishing their dailies outright to protest the media restrictions imposed by the state of emergency where media can print political information provided only by state organs. On March 4, the opposition daily Haykakan Zhamanak (Armenian Times) issued a statement that the imposed restrictions have no legal basis, since only the country's "Law on Mass Media" can regulate media activity in Armenia. Aravot (Morning),the other main opposition daily, has also stopped printing its newspaper. ¶8. (C) While the authorities have effectively silenced opposition or independent media in the first six days of the state of emergency, they have shown little or no restraint in using their control of the airwaves to publicly smear LTP and his supporters. Broadcasts show only the official version of the bloody weekend events, and interviews of citizens YEREVAN 00000200 003.2 OF 004 accusing LTP and his allies of instigating the violence. Highly selective video footage showing protesters chasing and beating police caught in crowds of protesters do not show provocative events that preceded them. The funeral of a police captain, the only security personnel killed over the weekend, was aired on public TV showing President Kocharian in attendance. None of the funerals of the other seven victims -- all civilians either involved in or bystanders to the weekend clashes -- have been shown. However, Prime Minister Sargsian's visit to a hospital room of three alleged protesters was televised on March 4 where he inquired about their injuries and wished them speedy recoveries. -------------- -------------- PROSECUTOR GENERAL SAYS EXTERNAL FORCES POSSIBLY BEHIND UNREST -------------- -------------- ¶9. (C) During a March 7 press conference, Prosecutor-General Aghvan Hovsepian said he did not exclude the possibility of "participation by external forces" in the post-election events in the capital. Hovsepian also added that the alleged external forces are currently "conducting works" aimed at furthering post-election "disorder." He backed up his allegation by stating that "lots of circumstances behind the events clearly indicate" (the participation of external forces),and provide "a basis for advancing" such a claim. -------------- ... AS ATTEMPTS TO ISOLATE LTP CONTINUE -------------- ¶10. (C) On March 4, president-elect and Prime Minister Sargsian issued a joint statement with former presidential rival Artur Baghdassarian that categorically blamed LTP for the unrest that left eight people dead. Baghdassarian, who until election day on February 19 had been a vocal, strident critic of the regime, changed his tune overnight when the prime minister invited him to join a new post-election coalition on February 28. During the publicized issuance of the joint statement on March 4, Baghdassarian said LTP had "methodically and cruelly" planned the violent clashes as part of his plan to illegally seize power. Baghdassarian, who in addition to the prime minister was joined in the statement by oligarch Gagik Tsarukian, leader of the Prosperous Armenia party and junior partner of the ruling coalition, said LTP and his allies bore "full responsibility for the acts of vandalism and tragedy" that occurred over the weekend. On March 3, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutiun (Dashnaks) quickly added their voice to government efforts to isolate LTP, saying in a statement that "the actions taken by the first president and his supporters were an attempt to come to power by violent means." -------------- SPARKS FLY AT KOCHARIAN PRESS CONFERENCE -------------- ¶11. (C) On March 5, President Kocharian gave a press conference where he controversially stated the ban on protests and rallies could continue after the end of the current state of emergency. He said the authorities would not wait to step in and avoid a repeat of the tragic March 1-2 events if non-sanctioned meetings are conducted. He said authorities could have avoided the tragic events if they had moved earlier to break up LTP's unauthorized protests on Freedom Square, alleging that LTP supporters had already been "hypnotized" by the ninth day of the 11-day-long protests. Kocharian also discredited Armenia's Human Rights Ombudsman, Armen Harutiunian, calling him his "least successful appointment" after the latter issued a highly critical report of the authorities' handling of the election protesters on March 1-2. Kocharian said the Ombudsman didn't know "what he is talking about," and warned him to remember he works for "Armenia, and not for Strasbourg," in apparent reference to the location of the European Court of Human Rights. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶12. (C) It is safe to say that the authorities appear to be leaving nothing to chance, using the current state of emergency to pursue LTP, his allies and any would-be supporters of the opposition cause, while dominating the YEREVAN 00000200 004.2 OF 004 airwaves with propaganda on who was to blame for the bloody weekend events. With pledges of additional arrests, harsh presidential rhetoric, and no apparent shortening of the state of emergency in sight, we expect the crackdown to continue to intensify. The ramifications of the president's comment for a continuing ban on protests after the state of emergency bear watching -- an initial indicator, perhaps, of the authorities' less than sanguine view that they will be in full control come March 20. End comment. PENNINGTON