UPDATES IN YOUTH ACTIVIST WHISTLEBLOWER CASE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000060 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR DRL AND EUR/CARC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KDEM KJUS SOCI AM SUBJECT: UPDATES IN YOUTH ACTIVIST WHISTLEBLOWER CASE REF: 09 YEREVAN 645 09 YEREVAN 859 09 YEREVAN 866 YEREVAN 00000060 001.3 OF 002 -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) In an apparent reversal in a controversial whistleblower case (reftels),the prosecutor general's office on January 11 launched a criminal investigation against a former instructor at a special needs school for allegedly sexually abusing his students. Previous investigations into the sexual abuse had resulted in charges not against the instructor but against the youth activist, Mariam Sukhudian, who blew the whistle on the alleged abuse. Although a welcome development, slander charges against Sukhudian remain pending. Post will continue to weigh in on the case with the authorities, and is planning to honor Sukhudian with the Embassy's first Women of Courage award. END SUMMARY. -------------- - ACTIVIST BLOWS WHISTLE ON SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOL -------------- - ¶2. (SBU) Mariam Sukhudian, a youth environmental activist, blew the whistle on alleged sexual and other abuses at a state-run boarding school for children with special needs in 2008 (ref A) where she and her peers were carrying out a UNDP-sponsored volunteer project. Initially the police and prosecutor general's office refuted the abuse allegations and charged Sukhudian in August 2009 with "false crime reporting," which carries up to five years' imprisonment. The activist and local human rights monitors criticized the charges as trumped-up retaliation for Sukhudian's activism in bringing the abuses to light, and called for an impartial investigation into the conditions at all state-run special needs schools. On October 21, police informed Sukhudian that the charges against her had been downgraded to slander, punishable by a fine only. Authorities also offered to amnesty her if she admitted her guilt, but Sukhudian refused and stood by her allegations of abuse at the school, many of which she says she and her peers personally witnessed. -------------- -- PG'S OFFICE RE-OPENS CASE IN RESPONSE TO OUTCRY -------------- -- ¶3. (SBU) Following significant media attention and a number of protests held by NGOs, the prosecutor general's s office reopened the investigation against Sukhudian (that had concluded on October 21, 2009) and tasked a different police jurisdiction with the follow-up investigation. During this period, the Embassy also raised the issue with the Prosecutor General and the Minister of Education (refs B-C),and sent an official letter with our concerns to Prosecutor General Hovsepian on December 22, 2009, in which we requested his personal intervention in the case and offered to explore providing technical assistance regarding whistle-blower protections to his office. -------------- PG'S RESPONSE TO EMBASSY'S LETTER -------------- ¶4. (SBU) In a January 14 response letter, the prosecutor general's office detailed recent developments in the case, noting the discovery of new evidence that appears to corroborate Sukhudian's whistle-blowing. According to the letter, after the investigation was reopened the students of the special needs school gave drastically different accounts of what had happened, and confirmed that Levon Avakian, a former instructor, had committed "lecherous actions" against them. Based on the new evidence, the Prosecutor General on January 11 ordered a criminal investigation into the allegations of lecherous actions. That investigation remains in progress. -------------- BUT SUKHUDIAN'S FATE STILL AMBIGUOUS -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The Embassy confirmed with the prosecutor general's office on January 25 that charges have yet to be brought against the instructor, but as soon as they are -- if they are -- their office plans to drop all charges against Sukhudian. As for Sukhudian, she tells us that she still does not know the exact status oQthe investigation against her -- even whether there is still an active criminal case. Interestingly, the decision to investigate Avakian has also not been made public yet. ¶6. (SBU) Sukhudian also shared with us that she has been in touch with the students at the special needs school. The students YEREVAN 00000060 002.3 OF 002 reported that they had been frequently called to the police to testify, that they were very satisfied with the treatment shown them by police investigators who appear to be taking their testimonies seriously. Sukhudian told us, however, that neither she nor her peers who volunteered at the special needs school have been called to testify to date on the abuses they either saw with their own eyes or heard about from the students. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶7. (SBU) We welcome these new developments in the Sukhudian case, even if the slander charges against the youth activist have not yet been dropped. The re-opened investigation into the abuses, the police's humane treatment of the special needs children, and the criminal investigation launched against the former instructor occur in a harsh law enforcement landscape where whistle-blowers and victims normally suffer retaliation for exposing problems in state institutions. We think our advocacy has played a key role, and we will continue to weigh in with the authorities on Sukhudian's behalf on the need for special education reforms. In the near future, we also plan to honor Sukhudian with the Embassy's first ever "Woman of Courage" award. YOVANOVITCH