Artur Sakunts, Armenia

After Armenia entered the Council of Europe in 2001, it was expected that the human rights situation would improve. However national legislative changes, in accordance with minimal human rights standards, were only introduced half-heartedly, which led to them becoming discredited by European institutions and the general public. Considering the traditional Soviet-style government and the authoritative nature of its structures, there were already few guarantees against human rights abuse. The problem is not so much that human rights have been abused, but rather that there are no practical or legislative means to restore denied human rights. This has led to a widespread mistrust of the legal system, the public prosecutor’s office and other authorities, which has contributed to a deeper feeling of apathy and insecurity among citizens.

Today, under the Soviet ‘Code on Administrative Offences’ it is possible to arrest “undesirables”, or opposition members. To date, there has been no investigation or conviction for the massacre of hundreds and thousands of citizens who were killed by police while taking part in peaceful demonstrations during April 2003 and 2004. The reports of journalists who witnessed these events have remained unheeded. Similarly, there has been no exposure of the criminal acts which brought about the death of well-known human rights activist and opposition member of parliament, Ashota Manucharyan. Our situation is similar to that of former Soviet states, where people enjoy a sort of artificial freedom, which is taken away once anyone tries to express an opinion that differs from that of the official position. This has also influenced on the practices of the SMI press agency. All forms of electronic media, operating at a national level are fully controlled by the authorities. Local independent operators have some freedom, until they broadcast something which affects the police, procurators or other local officials. Only when people attempt to openly criticize the regime is the true state of the legal system in Armenia properly exposed.

A person can often become “non-existent”. At the moment, there are legal proceedings taking place against three young servicemen (Araik Zalyan, Razmik Sarkisyan and Musa Serobyan) who have been accused of murdering two colleagues by the military prosecutor, Gagik Dzaangiryan. During the preliminary investigations, conflicting evidence was presented by investigators and military police, and threats were made to the defense lawyers, but the judge failed to take action or respond to the complaints. In addition to this affair, there also exists a letter from the Ministry for the Protection of Nagorno Karabakh to the military prosecutor of Armenia, requesting that criminal acts committed in the division of a certain commander not be exposed on the grounds that he is a “National Hero”! Why were concerns not raised by the investigator or the judge or the commander in question? Moreover, witnesses have stated that the commander himself killed two servicemen, but who is interested in that? The reality is that the judge will simply carry out the orders of the military prosecutors.

This is a concrete example of the real human rights situation in Armenia, a country that is a member of the Council of Europe!