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ARMENIANOW.COM JULY 08, 2005
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Rights and Wrongs: Ombudsperson fights to assert her power in wrangle
with authorities
By Vahan Ishkhanyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
The launch of the Armenian Ombudsperson's official website
(www.ombuds.am) this week coincided with a period of bitter standoff
between the human rights defender and the authorities.
When Larisa Alaverdyan was appointed Armenia's Ombudsperson in January
2004, few expected that within a year her activities would anger the
authorities so much that periodical campaigns would be launched
against her.
Prior to her appointment, Alaverdyan headed the `Against the Violation
of Law' NGO. Her activities were mainly aimed at solving the problems
of Armenian prisoners of war in Azerbaijan. The activist was known to
hold a moderate stance on the protection of human rights in Armenia,
was neutral towards the authorities and backed President Robert
Kocharyan.
But since her appointment, she has come to be viewed as an enemy of
those in the judicial system, the Prosecutor's Office, the Ministry of
Justice and the President's office.
The first public clash occurred in the winter, when Alaverdyan walked
out of a government meeting chaired by the President. She accused the
President of denying her legal right to speak and suggesting that she
only ask questions. The Government sitting discussed the adoption of
a draft law restricting the powers of the Ombudsperson.
The Government submitted the draft law to the National Assembly,
proposing to deprive the Ombudsperson of the right to obtain
information about cases under investigation and to submit proposals to
the court. The Minister of Justice defended the bill by saying that
the role of the Ombudsperson undermined the independence of the
courts.
Alaverdyan argues that the court's main objective is not independence,
but the administration of justice. The purpose of the Ombudsperson's
interventions is to protect the right of people to a fair
trial. Besides, she says, courts in Armenia are not independent of the
executive authorities.
The National Assembly quashed the bill after which Kocharyan appealed
to the Constitutional Court. The court granted the suit and stripped
the Ombudsperson of these powers.
The Government also applied to the National Assembly to ensure that
the Republican Civil Service Council appoints the staff of the
Ombudsperson, not the office-holder.
`They `defend' the non-existent independence of the court,' says the
Ombudsperson's legal advisor Zhora Khachatryan, who is responsible for
registering violations of human rights by law-enforcement bodies and
courts.
`They are very angry that we presented critical reports about the
activities of a number of judges.'
However, the authorities did not content themselves only with
restricting the powers of the Ombudsperson by law.
On May 26, the National Security Service (NSS) arrested Serob
Antinyan, a member of the Ombudsperson's staff, claiming he had taken
a $300 bribe while investigating a complaint. The complaint came from
a citizen unhappy at noise levels from a restaurant-bar in the
basement of his building.
Antinyan is alleged to have taken money from the restaurateur not to
start legal procedures against him. The Prosecutor's Office instituted
criminal proceedings and the same evening the Public Television of
Armenia broadcast the moment of bribe taking and the arrest videoed by
the NSS.
On the night of the arrest NSS employees, without notifying the
Ombudsperson, broke into her office and confiscated an office computer
with confidential information on complaints by citizens.
It was later returned. But the law on the Ombudsperson was broken, as
it states that the Ombudsman's office, property and correspondence are
inviolable.
There were suspicions that Antinyan was provoked into fraud in order
to discredit the Ombudsperson, a view shared by Alaverdyan. Antinyan
was given a job with mediation of a former advisor to the Justice
Minister.
`The Ombudsperson's office has no powers to release any businessman
from responsibility,' says Armenia Helsinki Committee Chairman Avetik
Ishkhanyan. `So why should the restaurant owner have given money to an
office worker? The purpose of this story is to compromise the
Ombudsperson.'
If the intention was to discredit the Ombudsperson, it failed. The
press portrayed Alaverdyan as an independent and conscientious
champion of human rights, whom the authorities wanted to
silence. Opposition parties rallied to her protection at a meeting.
Vazgen Manukyan, chairman of the National Democratic Union (NDU)
declared: `Knowing Robert Kocharyan well I can say that he does not
tolerate the disobedience of subordinates. In reality, the authorities
committed infringements against the institution of the Ombudsperson
and everybody.'
On June 16, John Evans, the United States Ambassador to Armenia,
visited the Ombudsperson's Office and presented it with a computer,
saying that he would support her activities. Ambassadors of European
countries met Alaverdyan at the French Embassy on June 24 and
expressed their solidarity with her.
A day after the computer was confiscated, Alaverdyan issued a
statement saying: `I have not yet been given any documents that
provide for such action in law. There are no written assurances that
the confidential information in the computer will not be spread and
will not be used against individuals filing complaints and officials
who are addressees of the Ombudsperson's correspondence.'
Her concerns were justified. On June 5, Alaverdyan announced at a
press conference that on May 31, two NSS workers had entered the RIGHT
Legal Group advisory organization posing as members of her staff. They
had demanded information about individuals filing complaints.
She expressed concern that the NSS was seeking information regarding
cases of two citizens who had also applied to her for help. Alaverdyan
stated: `The most important guarantee of the protection of human
rights was directly violated with the grossest, illegal, anti-lawful
actions.
`It is an unprecedented case that has no equal in international
practice when the National Security Service puts the state's security
in danger.'
She tried to contact the President and Prime Minster Andranik
Margaryan by phone, but neither would speak to her. In a letter to the
Ombudsperson, the NSS denied posing as members of her staff and said
that a criminal case had been opened against the RIGHT Legal Group's
president Vahe Grigoryan on charges of power abuse and forgery of
legal documents.
The RIGHT Legal Group accuses the NSS of persecuting its staff since
the organization helped several citizens send applications for
hearings to the European Court of Human Rights.
What could the Ombudsperson have done to anger the authorities so
much? The answer may be found in her annual report published three
months ago (www.ombuds.am).
Among numerous human rights violations presented in the report, two
stand out. First, the violations of the law in Spring 2004 during the
opposition protest rallies calling for Kocharyan's resignation, and
the torture of participants at police stations.
The report stated that people's right to free movement and to
demonstrate were violated, as was their right to a fair trial. The
ransacking by police of the opposition Ardarutyun party's office on
the night of April 12 was seen as a violation of the right to form
unions. A large section in the report also dealt with the story of
Grisha Virabyan, who lost a testicle as a result of police brutality
(see http://www.armenianow.com/eng/?go=pub&id=101).
http://www.armenianow.com/eng/?issue_id=22
The second matter dealt with violations of people's property rights in
the construction of North and Main Avenues (see
http://www.armenianow.com/eng/?go=pub&id=832&issue_id=87
http://www.armenianow.com/eng/?go=pub& id=809&issue_id=85
This project is being carried out under the personal supervision of
President Kocharyan, yet the Ombudsperson has consistently sought to
protect the rights of residents in the territories set aside for
development.
The Prosecutor General, the Minister of Justice and the Chairman of
the Court of Review wrote the Ombudsperson very critical letters about
her report, describing it as `groundless.'
During the website presentation Alaverdyan said that she included in
it the Report: `We again present the Report. Do not let it seem
strange. Many times it was evaluated painfully, many times not
adequately, but it shows that the Report found its addressees who
understood that they hadn't protected the law. And a nasty anti-blow
was delivered.'
She had an expressly joyful look. `I am happy today,' she said, as the
creation of the website, according to her, will give a possibility to
people from small towns to apply to her and will make the
Ombudsperson's Office available to more people.
`To be honest, it was unexpected for me that Alaverdyan would become a
real champion of human rights,' says Ishkhanyan, the chairman of the
Armenia Helsinki Committee. `I had thought that her report would be
similar to the formal reports of commissions attached to the
President.
`But it pleasantly surprised me. Not only did it objectively present
the situation on freedoms in 2004, but also presented both legislative
shortcomings and violations in the application of laws. The
authorities grew angry because it is one thing for public
organizations to criticize and quite another for an official appointed
by the President to do it.'
How will the conflict end? Alaverdyan has no intention of resigning
her position and she considered the campaigns against her to be a good
reason to work harder.
`All this gives a clear conviction that one has to work more
systematically with these bodies and a special effort is needed for
the executive bodies to get a clearer idea of human rights,' she says.
Jam Packed: Golden Apricot festival offers a rich taste of film culture
By Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
The second Golden Apricot film festival opens in Yerevan on July 12
under the theme `Armenia - a Crossroads of Civilizations and
Cultures'.
Rather like the apricot harvest, the organizers promise that this
year's festival, which runs until July 17, will be even richer and
sweeter than the first one.
It has already marked its second year with a symbolic change of logo -
the plump fruit of the inaugural festival has become apricot jam
spread on a slice of bread this time.
`The apricot ripened in one year and turned into jam, whether in terms
of the organization, content and experience of the festival; it has
become wiser and more concentrated in terms of being at a really
international level,' says Harutyun Khachatryan, director of the
festival.
This year the films will compete in two categories - international and
all-Armenian. The international section will have two categories for
feature films and documentaries made after July 1 2003. The Armenian
Panorama category covers fiction, documentary and animation films by
Armenian cinematographers.
During the July days of the festival, the capital will be burn with
hot films; 140 have been selected from 300 submitted this year, with
45 countries represented - three times the number in 2004. Entrants
from New Zealand, Chile and Nicaragua are among those selected.
`The creation of a film festival last year seemed madness, since at
least $2.5 million is needed to hold such an event. Nevertheless, we
created a ridiculous budget of $100,000, found people who believed us
and, as you can see, the dream became reality,' says Khachatryan.
The film juries under the Armenian-Canadian director Atom Egoyan
include the Dutch film director Jos Stelling, British film critic and
producer Simon Field, who headed the Rotterdam film festival jury for
several years, and Deborah Young, a leading American film journalist.
The Golden Apricot will host master classes from director Roman
Balayan, actor Oleg Yankovski, the Moscow Film Festival Director
Nikita Mikhalkov, Polish director Krzysztof Zanussi and the Iranian
director hailed as a master of world cinematography Abbas Kiarostami
whose film won the Palme d'Or in Cannes last year.
A retrospective of Kiarostami's films and a photo exhibition will also
be organized.
`It's amazing that they have all expressed a willingness to
participate, but it is a fact that after last year's festival the name
of Armenia was spread abroad. They loved the blessing of the apricot,
maybe also the apricot vodka and our warm reception,' jokes
Khachatryan.
`This year the Union of Cinematographers has organized the Best
Director prize, and the Union of Film Critics will award the Best
Film. Even The Hrant Matevosyan Fund has set up a prize for the best
scriptwriter.
`The Parajanov Museum board has appeared with an interesting
idea. Once, when Fellini saw Parajanov's `coins', that he had made
while in prison and engraved with his nails, he said: `those can be
made good prizes'.'
Fellini's idea has been brought to life by the Museum. It has chosen
one of the six prison `coins' by Parajanov, made silver copies and
will present them to guests of the festival.
The organizers of this large-scale festival keep their budget secret
this year. Last year, the state allocated $100,000 but this year's
festival received less government aid and the organizers rested their
hopes on sponsors.
`I am just back from the Moscow International Festival that had $3.1
million from the state budget, $900,000 from the Moscow city
government and twice more from sponsors. I will not mention the sums
allotted to the Golden Apricot, for it may seem very funny by
comparison,' says Susanna Harutyunyan, the art director of the
festival.
`Besides, this is only our second year and the Moscow film festival
dates back 27 years.'
The festival offers several programs outside the competition, such as
days of Iranian and Russian films. A special show of Armenian films
devoted to the anniversaries of Henrik Malyan, Aghasi Aivazyan, Mher
Lazarian, Khoren Abrahamyan and Hrant Matevosyan will be held under
the title `Tribute of Respect'.
There will be new works from Armenfilm - `Mariam' directed by Edgar
Baghdasaryan will open the festival, and Atom Egoyan's wife Arsine
Khanjyan will present Ruba Nadda's film `Sabah', in which she has a
leading role.
`Sabah' was shown at the Rotterdam International Film Festival this
year and, says Harutyunyan, a member of that festival, Khanjyan's
involvement is an important factor in its success.
The film is a love story involving a woman of Middle Eastern descent,
like the director, and a representative of Islamic culture, and a man
of typically Western character and outlook. Their relationship, and
the attitude of Sabah's family, reveals different cultural layers that
suggest that differences can be overcome through honest feelings.
`In this respect the work by Ruba Nadda definitely reflects the theme
of the Golden Apricot and our title,' says Harutyunyan.
The organizers of the Golden Apricot have made `golden' promises to
create a truly festive atmosphere. Charles Aznavour Square will host
numerous souvenir and video film kiosks for film lovers, there will be
open-air jazz concerts, and of course interesting films in the cool
cinema halls.
`This is an amazing phenomenon,' says Lyudmila Tsvikova, the program
director of the Rotterdam festival, in a letter to the organizers in
Yerevan.
`I know and fully understand that where economies are weak and there
is social unrest, culture suffers first of all. Nevertheless, we have
seen several festivals that have appeared out of nothing and become
important national and international movements. The Golden Apricot is
one of them and I am proud that I was an honored member of the juries
in the first year.'
Labor Forced: The men who fall victim to exploitation by traffickers
By Arpi Harutyunyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Florida Mamikonyan from Vanadzor remembers with bitterness the days
when she was forced to reassure her three sons that their father had
not disappeared and would return for sure. There was also the
gossiping of her neighbors to contend with.
`I was very upset. My children asked me all the time about their
father and I did not know what to say. Especially as the neighbors had
already spread rumors that Arthur would never come back and that he
might have a new family. My children were offended, they insisted it
was not so and that their father would return,' says Florida, 40.
And while the stories in Vanadzor grew more fanciful that Arthur got
married, he was bed-ridden through illness; he couldn't get his salary
to return to Armenia.
In fact, 40-year-old Arthur Aloyan was a victim of trafficking in Ufa,
the capital of Bashkortostan (a republic in the East of Russia's
European part). Forced labor is defined by the United Nations as one
form of trafficking under a protocol adopted in 2000 that also covers
exploitation through prostitution, slavery, and the trade in human
organs.
The exploitation of men for their labor is a particular problem in
Russia and hundreds of Armenians have become victims of it. Gyulnara
Shahinyan, vice-chairwoman of the Council of Europe's ad hoc
commission on strategy against human trafficking asserts that it is on
a similar scale to the sexual exploitation of women.
Arthur lives now with his wife and sons in a wooden house in a small
district near Vanadzor. The family sold their former stone house in
2001 to escape financial problems.
He had been hunting for work for months when he became acquainted with
a former Vanadzor resident Harutyun Ginosyan, who offered him
employment in Ufa with his brother Ishkhan. They arranged that Arthur
would be involved in construction work and earn $150 per month, with
food, accommodation and clothing expenses covered by his employer.
`We were in such a state that any job was a salvation for us to escape
starvation. I had to provide for my three sons, what else could I do?'
says Arthur.
By late 2002, Arthur left for Ufa with 39 other men from Vandzor,
including his brother-in-law Arman and his friend Georgy Gevorgyan,
all hoping to be able to send money home. But the doors of slavery
opened before them when they arrived.
`They took our passports away at the very beginning to put us under
their total control. They made us work from morning till late night
and didn't give us a penny. We ate only macaroni, and slept in cold
and wet rooms on bare beds. People say they kept us like slaves,'
recalls Arthur.
The Ginosyan brothers now live in Bashkortostan but were known in
Vanadzor. Florida recalls that Ishkhan used to own a macaroni factory
in the city and she claims that he duped workers there by fleeing
without paying their salaries.
He established the construction business in Bashkortostan and Harutyun
helped by recruiting men in Vanadzor to go and work there. When the
time came to get paid, Ishkhan would tell the workers that there was
no money yet but that they would get their wages soon, a process that
went on for months.
`I became sick because of that hard work, cold and nervousness. I had
terrible pains in my liver and stomach, my joints stiffened up, and I
did not eat normally for such a long time. I couldn't even walk, yet
they still wouldn't give me my money so that I could return to
Armenia,' says Arthur.
For several months, the three friends could not support their families
financially and were unable even to call home to say what was
happening.
`We had no news about our husbands. We lost hope, we thought something
must have happened. I thought of everything. Then I thought, who
knows, maybe they haven't got any money to come back. I was sure there
had to be a serious reason because Arthur wouldn't leave us alone
otherwise,' says Florida.
After some time, the family got a letter from Arthur, saying that he
was in a bad condition, had been ill for several months, and had no
money. He asked them to do whatever it took to get him home.
Florida and the wives of the other two men approached the Vanadzor
branch of the Hope and Help organization for support.
`We identified those men as victims of trafficking. They were
recruited and promised normal living conditions. But in truth they
were kept as slaves. They underwent labor exploitation and that is
trafficking,' says Nora Mnatsakanyan, program coordinator at Hope and
Help.
The organization has been helping victims of trafficking since 2000 in
cooperation with the Foreign Ministry and the state Migration and
Refugees Agency, as well as the police and Prosecutor General's
Office. It has revealed 32 victims of trafficking, 20 cases of sexual
exploitation and 12 of forced labor, in both Russia and Turkey.
Following the appeal of the wives, Hope and Help sent a letter to the
Russia's Interior Ministry Representative for migration issues in
Armenia.
`They denied that there was forced labor and exploitation of Armenian
men, but the facts disclosed later by the victims showed the reality,'
says Mnatsakanyan.
`It appeared that a group of policemen had visited the place where the
men worked, negotiated with the Ginosyans and left. The men say the
Ginosyans have good connections with the police and it is not excluded
that they might have bribed them.'
However, the noise over the scandal in Ufa began to worry the
Ginosyans and they decided to buy tickets back to Armenia for the men
whose families were complaining.
Arthur, Arman and Georgy returned to Vanadzor a year ago, their
memories haunted by the 17 months of hardship in Ufa.
Now Arthur has a job in a timber works in Vanadzor. Even though he
gets only 1,000-1,500 drams per day ($2.20 to $3.30), he is glad to be
working in his homeland. But he still cannot erase the memories of
Ufa.
`Because of those emotions, people say I can't find my place; I have
become indifferent to everything. Maybe this condition will pass, but
living in deprivation in a foreign country cost me many things. I do
not have any expectations from this life any more,' says Arthur
despondently.
Despite everything, Florida declares herself happy. She says: `Even if
you live poor, deprived of many things, it is good to just be by your
husband's side. I have experienced the bitterness of living alone, but
now when my children's father is by their side, I feel happy.'
Another Way: Gurdjieff center seeks to spread knowledge of Armenian
philosopher in his homeland
By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow reporter
The Gurdjieff center is situated in the village of Ohanavan, 35
kilometers north-west of Yerevan. Constructed on the edge of a gorge,
the building with its orchard, outdoor pool and rest areas seems to be
a bit of civilization in the lap of wild nature.
The sound of the river Kasakh is heard from the gorge, Ohanavank
monastery stands majestically on the opposite height, Great and Small
Ararat make the scene complete.
`The building is still not finished. I began construction 12 years ago
with my own funds, but now I am searching for financial means to
complete it,' says Margaret Gurdjieff, president of Gurdjieff
International and a member of the Russian Natural Sciences Academy.
`But it doesn't prevent me treating patients here. Ohanavan is rich in
a special energy field, which helps a person to return to his/her
roots. Here at any point human thought stops for a moment and the soul
begins to talk.'
She is a granddaughter of the well-known psychologist and thinker
George Gurdjieff, the founder of the Human Harmony Development
Institute. She says that in Ohanavan they are guided by the same
principles used by Gurdjieff in the institute he founded in the French
town of Avon, which still operates today.
`Gurdjieff's students studied and lived with him. There were also
people with sharp and negative characters specially hired by Gurdjieff
so that living together under the same roof created a tense
atmosphere,' Margaret Gurdjieff recollects.
`Naturally, there were clashes. It was then that the great
psychologist said to his students `Watch yourself when disputing,
don't stop, follow how you do it, follow how mechanical you are. One
should be strong and control one's emotions consciously'.'
They work in Ohanavan in the same way. Many people gather there and
learn how to control their emotions so that they can live their lives
more easily.
Margaret Gurdjieff also receives patients in the Surb Mariam
Astvatsatsin (Our Lady) clinic in Yerevan. A year ago she founded the
`Gurdjieff' NGO, with more than 50 members, and generally her goal is
to return Gurdjieff and his teaching to Armenia.
`Armenia should be able always to appreciate its children. There is no
school, institute or center bearing the name of Gurdjieff in Yerevan
today. He was a talent that the world admired. Many people do not even
know that he is Armenian,' says Ruzanna Arzumanyan, a member of the
Gurdjieff NGO.
`His books were published abroad, people recognized him, read his
books and began to apply his methods. Gurdjieff centers operate in the
United States, Europe, India, Tibet, Turkey and Scandinavian
countries.'
Margaret Gurdjieff was born and raised in Samarkand. The family was
one of the many victims of Stalin's persecution. Her father was
exiled simply for bearing the surname Gurdjieff. Margaret says that
Gurdjieff was Stalin's advisor, but when differences emerged between
them, he went abroad and the regime began to exile all Gurdjieff's
relatives.
`I remember how sometimes my grandmother secretly showed me
manuscripts without saying who their author was. Gurdjieff's theory
teaches a person to be independent and free, naturally it would not be
accepted in the Soviet Union. I learned about all this only in 1997
when I became acquainted with Gurdjieff's theory and began to study
it. Everything seemed so close and familiar to me.'
Gurdjieff's ideas expressed through his philosophical, musical and
literary works are appreciated by people who say they have gained in
social self-confidence as a result. He is considered the founder of
the so-called Fourth Way.
Margaret explains that there are three directions of human
development: mental (monk), physical (khakira) and yogina, in which is
combined both the physical and spiritual. These three directions were
developing away from society. The fourth, Gurdjieff, direction
predicted their development within society, harmonizing the wisdom of
the East with the energy of the West.
However, she has developed her own theory, adding it to Gurdjieff's
teaching and applying it in her work. She explains: `There are three
centers in man - intellectual, physical, emotional. Man is complete
when all these three centers are in harmony.
`Conditions in Ohanavan enable patients to use these three centers at
the same time. They work together, study a language, but when they
start quarreling, I say they have become mechanical puppets and the
Gurdjieff method teaches them to be conscious, not to be a machine.'
The Fourth Way teaches a person to manage the three centers
consciously. One should wake up and look at the surroundings through
the eyes of his/her own soul. One should develop and enrich his/her
soul.
`I work using several techniques. First I conduct four individual
sessions that take a person to a certain conscious state. After the
fourth session he/she has a dream,' says Margaret, a psychologist.
`When he/she describes the dream, I borrow the mental information from
it that reveals the cause of stress. A person sees his personal
problems in his dream. All of the information about a person is
collected in his/her subconscious, and after the fourth session the
subconscious gives him/her information.'
She compares it to an investigation. Gurdjieff himself used to say
that our real consciousness is our subconsciousness. Revealing the
cause they eliminate it, simultaneously conducting psychological
sessions during which they teach a person how to preserve his/her own
energy and give it to others.
Margaret Gurdjieff says that she helps people to live more truly by
returning to them their own ego.
`Gurdjieff's Fourth Way is especially necessary for countries going
through transition. This theory teaches man to be prepared for the
most extreme social conditions of life.'
She conducts sessions to the accompaniment of music composed by
Gurdjieff for this purpose. One of her patients, who did not want to
be identified, says: `This music seems to have cleaned my soul. I felt
my soul separate from my body, soaring in freedom and returning back
to me enriched and more viable. After these sessions I become more
balanced, more harmonious with the cosmos and myself.'
Margaret says a man must accept himself as he is, be frank with
himself and not an actor. Every person must understand who he is. When
he accepts even the bad that he has inside, it is already good.
She always tells her patients: `Before going to bed analyze your day
from its beginning, and see where you were mechanical and where you
were you.'
The 125th anniversary of Gurdjieff's birth is marked this year and
Margaret invites all those willing to participate to join celebrations
planned for October. A two-day conference dedicated to his life and
activities was recently organized at the American University of
Armenia.
Recently, Margaret visited Avon's Human Harmony Development Institute
and established relations. In October, French colleagues are expected
to pay a return visit to the Ohanavan clinic and demonstrate one of
Gurdjieff's teachings through rhythmic dances.
Margaret says: `Everything happening to a person, good or bad, must be
accepted by him/her consciously. Real work on a person begins with
self-control. One should be able to admit his mistakes and work
against them.
`In that case undesirable events in life will not be accepted with
such ease and will not take away one's strengths. Begin with
yourself.'
Gurdjieff said: `There are two unlimited things on Earth: human
foolishness and God's mercy.'
Getting IT: Expert urges deeper appreciation of the potential of
information technologies for Armenia's economy
By Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
`Armenia, is condemned to develop information technologies, given the
country's shortage of land, lack of natural resources, transport
isolation, and demography,' says Garegin Chukaszyan, executive
director of the Information Technologies (IT) Fund of Armenia.
`In national security terms, IT may and objectively should become the
main priority, especially as it is capable of increasing several fold
the efficiency of the work of one individual.'
Armenia has the smallest population among countries in the region, and
almost three times fewer people than Azerbaijan. Chukaszyan says IT
should be regarded not as a separate sphere of human activity but as
the `period in which mankind lives today'.
`Now it is what bronze was 5,000 years ago and that period was called
the `bronze age'. Such was iron 3,000 years ago, and that time was the
`iron age'. Today is the `IT age',' he says.
`Figuratively speaking, if the change from stone tools of production
to metal ones predetermined a sharp growth in the efficiency of labor
and the emergence of the first viable states, then in the modern world
viable states must use the new lever of production - information
technologies.'
He says the process of understanding the role of information
technologies is being turned into practical reality in a number of
countries.
`State support of IT in Finland, traditionally a country of pulp and
paper industries, has made it one of the most socially advanced
countries in the world. Nokia, formerly a shoe-making firm, is the
world leader in mobile telephones.
`As a result, information technologies are being developed also in
Estonia. Latvia and Lithuania in their turn also attach increased
importance to IT. India has achieved incredible progress in this
direction, as software guarantees annual injections of $8 billion into
its economy. Forty percent of Costa Rica's exports come from
software. It should be mentioned that all of these countries, unlike
Armenia, do not have a high-tech tradition.
`In the middle of the last century, Armenia was indeed one of the
centers of the development of computer technologies. The
Scientific-Research Institute of Mathematical Computing Machines
founded by Academician Mergelyan (also called the Mergelyan Institute)
was a rare example of a Soviet competitor with the world's leading
centers.'
Chukaszyan continues: `The software of projects for the Warsaw Pact
military-strategic bloc was the responsibility of Armenia. Even in the
mid-1980s, when the USSR's competitiveness sharply declined, software
for a Soviet project to land on the Moon was made in Armenia.
`Later, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, this project was
suspended. Nevertheless, in the mid-1980s, there were 100,000 people
engaged in the IT infrastructure in Armenia - a proportionally
unprecedented index. Today, it is 5,000.'
In the independence struggle, which was accompanied by earthquake,
war, blockade, and an energy crisis, a great many professional
programmers, who continue to work in their field in western countries
today, abandoned Armenia.
`Since 2003, the IT sector in Armenia has contribute 2 percent of
economic growth, which on the face of it seems to be quite a solid
index,' says Chukaszyan.
`In Georgia and Azerbaijan, this index is a hundredth of a
percent. Probably, it is this circumstance that allows the Armenian
authorities to speak about the superior position of our country in the
region.
`Nevertheless, if we judge by the main tendencies of IT development in
Armenia, there are few reasons for optimism. In states where IT is an
official priority, the economic contribution is much higher. In Israel
and Ireland it is 8 percent, and in South Korea 14 percent.'
Lately, IT became a priority also in the Middle East, particularly in
Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. Turkey, in its turn, has decided
to pay more attention in this field, releasing its IT developers from
all taxes. With Ankara's support, Azerbaijan is implementing an IT
development policy.
`Taking into account the country's intellectual potential, which is
unprecedented in the region, the Armenian authorities should, in deeds
and not just words, pay special attention to this trend, which in the
totally new conditions of regional and global life determines the
security of one state or another,' argues Chukaszyan.
`But the reality is somewhat different: if a few years ago the growth
of software production in Armenia was 20 and even 30 percent, that is,
double the average GDP growth, then at present it is equal to 10
percent. It is a highly dangerous tendency.'
In all countries where information technologies are an official
priority there is a so-called innovation policy. In Armenia, in
Chukaszyan's opinion, there is not even a trace of one.
`The official structures of Armenia like speaking about the presence
in the country of equal conditions of taxation, but as applied to IT,
it is nonsense. I already spoke about the Turkish experience, which is
being mastered by Azerbaijan today.
`On many occasions we put forth our considerations and demands, there
were even special hearings in the Parliament, the President himself
spoke on this subject on many occasions, however there is no progress
in reality.
`The political elite continue to regard IT not as a new environment of
life and a new implement of labor, but as one of the spheres of
production. It is a serious blunder, which may cost Armenia another
several wasted years.'
Salt of the Earth: Underground medical center harnesses the healing
power of nature
By Suren Musayelyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Doctor Andranik Voskanyan takes the time to talk with his patients in
plain layman's terms as they bombard him with questions about their
treatment regime.
He regards their involvement in the medical process as an important
element in their recovery.
But the republic's chief lung specialist says that it is nature that
does most of the healing, while the doctor's job is simply `to help
accelerate self-regulation'.
`A doctor only starts the swing that returns the human organism to the
level that we call health,' says Voskanyan. `Health is a dynamic
rather than a static thing. Nature determines the quality of human
life. A doctor coordinates the physical health-improving factors of
nature.'
Voskanyan has been head of the Republican Speleotherapeutic Center
since it was established in 1987. This unique health center is in a
man-made cave 235 meters underground
Since 1992, he has also been president of the `Bnabuzhutyun' (Nature
Therapy) medical center that examines and supervises patients
receiving speleotherapy.
Armenia is a country rich in natural medicinal factors. Along with
unique mineral resources and mountain-climate health resorts, the
depths of the Ararat valley contain powerful layers of salt with
inimitable medicinal properties.
Since May 1987, patients suffering from bronchial asthma and other
respiratory illnesses have been treated in the Republican
Speleotherapeutic Center.
Here, in a space covering 4,000 square meters, there are
therapy-diagnostic rooms, a gym, galleries for walks, and niches for
resting and sleeping. The center has been carved out from layers of
rock salt that form the Avan-Arinj deposit near Yerevan known as
Aghihank.
Therapy is conducted in the form of daily sessions that last about six
hours. A typical course of therapy takes 20 sessions.
The cave's medicinal effectiveness has been demonstrated by the
experiences of more than 10,000 patients with asthma and other
respiratory illnesses.
`We isolate people for some time from factors that affect them on the
surface, such as electromagnetic currents, cosmic particles, and solar
energy. We achieve isolation from all the triggers of antigens and
other inductors of asthma - allergens, dust, gases, etc.,' says
Voskanyan.
Energy emitted by the rock salt crystals and the composition of the
air deep underground give speleotherapy its healing power.
Voskanyan explains: `We put a man into the cradle of the origin of
life.'
Speleotherapy acts on bronchial asthma, allergic diseases and
inherited immune-hormonal dysfunction through immuno- correction and
hormonal strengthening. The therapy is also used for rehabilitation of
patients with bronchial-lung diseases, viral respiratory diseases such
as influenza, and infantilism among children that are behind their
peers in psycho-physical development (as in clinical practice
speleotherapy has been observed to have a positive effect on
children's immune system).
Doctors say that they have had encouraging results with patients
suffering from sarcoidosis, eczema and psoriasis, as well as with
children with mild cerebral palsy. Speleotherapy is also said to
benefit pregnant women and their unborn children.
Medical staff at `Bnabuzhutyun', which include five doctors from
Aghihank, decide which patients are suitable for speleotherapy.
A research conducted jointly with the All-Union Institute of
Pulmonology still in the Soviet times showed that speliotherapy had a
positive effect in particular on asthma patients. Thus, it was
established on the example of 820 patients that the number of days
they spent on sick lists during the year decreased eleven times on the
average after they had taken a course of speleotherapy (from 66 to 6).
Now the center receives about 15 to 20 patients a month of all
ages. But for technical and safety reasons speleotherapy is not
allowed for children under 3 and people that have physical problems
preventing them from going or staying 235 meters underground.
Therefore the center has also developed a speleotherapy simulator
called a Halochamber, which is situated a few meters
underground. Patients sit in a cozy chamber where the health benefits
of speleotherapy are modeled using crystals agitated by a quantum beam
of light.
The process takes place to audio and video effects as patients relax
in easy chairs. Children can play in a sand box of rock salt, where
the sand is enriched with medicinal microelements.
The course of therapy covers between 10 and 40 sessions lasting up to
90 minutes.
Speleotherapy and halochamber services are available to some patients
with state funding, which means that the state covers the cost of
treatment. A typical course costs up to $500.
Voskanyan says, to make it affordable to more people, the center has
designed take-home products that will be available in pharmacies
across Armenia from September.
They include: a solution of rock-salt enriched with microelements for
baths (costing up to 1,000 drams, or $2.2 per bath), especially for
children with skin problems; powders that form a wash for treating
mouth cavities and infectious diseases of the nose and throat (a
portion that would last a person about two weeks will cost about $2);
a night-lamp - lusatu - that can be used in children's bedrooms for
chromotherapy (worth $50 or more depending on the design); and
inhalers containing a special solution of rock-salt (costing about
5,000 drams).
Haunted by Memory: Genocide leaves its mark on boy who lost 30 members
of his family
By Marianna Grigoryan
ArmeniaNow reporter
`So many Armenians were killed and tortured by the Turks that the Kars
canyon was full of corpses. We walked through the corpses, on the
corpses. Bodies were everywhere. And the Turkish bullets and shells
poured like rain on those still alive.'
The terrifying memories of his childhood stir pain in the memory and
heart of 93-year-old Baghdasar Hakobyan. He no longer sees well but
the visions of his past come hurtling back through the decades like
the `Turkish bullet' of memory.
For `grandpa' Baghdasar, the Armenian massacres and his escape are an
indelible history that deprived him of relatives, parents and
childhood.
He was born in the village of Ziraklu near Kars, where he lived with
his parents, three brothers and a large extended family before the
killings. As a five-year-old boy at the time, he says, he does not
remember everything, but some scenes have haunted him ever since.
`Before we fled from Ziraklu, the Turks called my father and my elder
brother and killed both of them,' he remembers. `Then our lives turned
into long years of refuge with terrifying stories.'
Grandpa Baghdasar says there were almost 30 in his big family, living
together in a big house in the traditional way for that time. The sad
page of their history began in 1918.
`When the slaughter began some of us somehow escaped, the rest were
either missing or dead from illness or the Turkish bullet,' he says.
`When the Turks began the massacre, we left our native village and
fled. First, we escaped to Kars. They used to catch people and push
them into the hay stores and burn them alive. The smoke spread into
the world.'
After the murder of his father and eldest brother, responsibility for
the family fell on Baghdasar's mother Antaram. Baghdasar remembers
her with a smile, trying to revive her beauty in his mind.
The old man says the Turks would take away the beautiful Armenian
women, which is why his mother always covered her face with a veil and
spread soot over her beautiful features.
`The road was terrible; we understood later what deprivations our
mother suffered to keep us alive,' tells Baghdasar. `For three years
she passed broken hearted and exhausted through the Turk's fire,
against starvation and illness, with my two brothers by her side and
me in a bag.'
`People endured hardships, many of them were unable to stand. Besides
the difficulties on the road, the Turks would frequently attack and
torture Armenians, throw them into rivers, or have them shot, killed
and burned.'
He adds: `They were horrifying times. We walked slowly at the back of
someone's carriage, we were hungry and homeless.'
Eventually, Baghdasar arrived on foot in Armenia with his mother and
one of his brothers.
`On the road a terrible illness hit the refugees and it took my other
brother's life away,' he says in explanation.
Baghdasar's mother also died soon after reaching Armenia, totally worn
down by the hardship and illness during the journey.
`I remember very well it was spring when we came to Armenia, but there
was snow. Since we were orphans, we were immediately taken to the
Gyumri orphanage where there were many children like us,' he recalls.
`Those were years of hunger and disease and people lived hard. Many
children died, unable to stand the conditions.'
Baghdasar grew at the orphanage and at age 10 he began tending cattle
in the village of Getashen in Hoktemberyan region to be able to earn
his piece of bread.
`I had nobody to care for me, to send to school to get educated. There
was nobody to look after me so I tried to somehow look after myself.'
Later, as an adult, Baghdasar began working in construction. In the
1930s, he built his house in Yerevan with his own hands and in 1937 he
married Satenik.
`Then the Patriotic War began and I lost my last kin, my only brother
who had survived. I was badly wounded in the battlefield and sent back
to Armenia.'
At home, Baghdasar and Satenik raised six children. Baghdasar became a
respected specialist at the oil and soap factory, tended his garden
and enjoyed his children, grandchildren and now
great-grandchildren. He has 29 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
`Only I remained from our family' - regularly sitting by his house or
under the trees, Baghdasar recounts his story to his old friend and
neighbor Stepan, 80.
The talks of the two friends on the past days are very different: the
escape, the Patriotic War, the USSR years, the present government,
Kocharyan and politics...
Baghdasar has grown apricots, apples, and grapes for many
years. Glancing over to one corner of his garden, he smiles and says:
`The crop in my garden seems good this year. It's a pity I don't see
well any more and my health has worsened, otherwise I would cultivate
the garden again and see the trees bloom every spring.'
Brawn and Brains: Bodyguard schools seek to create more professional
protection
By Suren Deheryan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Hovhannes Galechyan now has all the qualifications needed to be a
bodyguard.
The 21-year-old received his graduation certificate this week at the
end of a ten-month course at the Tiknapah (Bodyguard) college of
Yerevan's Gitak University.
Only Galechyan made the grade from among two dozen students, since he
passed all stages of his training with the excellent grades that
course administrators say are necessary for being a real
bodyguard. The rest of the students qualified only as security guards.
Students at Tiknapah study 12 subjects, including six specialized
ares: hand-to-hand combat, bodyguard's work, shooting, mountaineering,
criminal law and psychology.
The desire to be a bodyguard or security worker, and to work in the
private sector, has grown lately among Armenian youths. Training
centers are increasing in number simultaneously.
Tiknapah is one of the seven schools in Armenia for the training of
bodyguards. There is also the National Association of Bodyguards of
Armenia (NABA), whose president Robert Nazaryan thinks that the
profession suffers from an image problem in today's Armenia.
The reason is that the businessmen or state officials who hire private
bodyguards mainly choose sportsmen of a certain appearance - muscled
arms, a thick neck and usually a clean-shaven head.
Specialists argue that such an image arouses fear only in ordinary
citizens, since `skinheads' are hardly an obstacle for the killers
doing their job.
Nazaryan estimates that there are about 500 private bodyguards in
Armenia today and the number is rising day by day, not least because
it is seen as a status symbol. A few years ago there were no more than
two dozen.
`Many such bodyguards are not ready to react appropriately at the
moment of danger,' says Nazaryan. `If there is danger, the bodyguard
must quickly render the criminal harmless and evacuate his client to a
safe place. But here sometimes you see such heavy bodyguards that they
need five minutes just to get out of the car, let alone do their job.'
It is already an ordinary scene in Yerevan to see a motorcade
consisting of several expensive cars accompanying a wealthy man in an
even more lavish vehicle. Such bodyguards accompany the MPs Ruben
Hayrapetyan, Gagik Tsarukyan, Khachatur Sukiasyan, and others.
`A local guy, when he makes a lot of money, prefers to buy a posh car
and avail himself of life's pleasures. They strive to surprise the
others, but they are reluctant to create a good bodyguard or security
system,' says VIP Security Systems President Hayk Gaboyan.
Bodyguards in Armenia are paid $200-500 a month. Although this is
considerably more than the salary of state security service officers,
bodyguards complain that it is insufficient.
`Every client puts his own value on a bodyguard - one does it
according to his prestige, another on family ties. But a professional
bodyguard will not work for less than $500,' says Gaboyan.
`There is a proper style of work, for which one has to be paid
appropriately. No bodyguard will properly defend his client for
$200-500. Many such bodyguards think of having lunch with their
client, a cup of coffee and to earn money. It is not a real
bodyguard's job,' says Arsen Davtyan, President of the White Eagle
Bodyguard Academy.
`If you are not ready to accept your client as someone dear to you and
if you work only for money, you must not work.'
Davtyan says he had his training in France and worked as a bodyguard
in the Czech Republic. He wishes to convey the knowledge he gained in
Europe to Armenian youths through his academy, so that they have a
correct idea of this profession.
Private bodyguards have been working already for several years, but
there is still no law that determines the legal basis for bodyguards'
activities.
A draft law `On a bodyguard's activities' was drawn up a year ago,
authored by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation MPs Hrayr
Karapetyan, Levon Lazarian and Deputy Speaker Vahan Hovhannisyan.
It states: `After Armenia gained independence the formation of new
economic relations entailed a real demand in society for organizing
the non-state defense of physical and juridical persons, and their
property. It is no secret that activities, including usage of arms,
are already implemented, and the absence of an appropriate legislative
regulation does not make it possible to exercise due control in
relation to such activities, which in practice gives rise to certain
negative manifestations.'
The bill has not been put on the National Assembly's agenda yet. Some
experts believe that it will be dragged out as long as possible, since
many bodyguards lack the required qualifications.
It is already six years that Sargis Grigoryan, 25, and Arman Sahakyan,
27, have worked for VIP Security Systems, providing services to local
or foreign businessmen and officials in Armenia.
They argue that the adoption of a law is necessary, first of all to
give them legal protection for their activities. With a suitable
license, for example, they would have the right to carry weapons.
`The presence of such a law will enable us to do our job properly and
make sure that our activities are viewed within the framework of law,'
says Sahakyan.
Hovhannes Galechyan already faces a choice. He says he has received
several job offers and should decide which one to choose.
`I like this profession, however it doesn't mean that I should always
be a bodyguard. It is possible that I myself will have a bodyguard one
day,' he says.
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Rights and Wrongs: Ombudsperson fights to assert her power in wrangle
with authorities
By Vahan Ishkhanyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
The launch of the Armenian Ombudsperson's official website
(www.ombuds.am) this week coincided with a period of bitter standoff
between the human rights defender and the authorities.
When Larisa Alaverdyan was appointed Armenia's Ombudsperson in January
2004, few expected that within a year her activities would anger the
authorities so much that periodical campaigns would be launched
against her.
Prior to her appointment, Alaverdyan headed the `Against the Violation
of Law' NGO. Her activities were mainly aimed at solving the problems
of Armenian prisoners of war in Azerbaijan. The activist was known to
hold a moderate stance on the protection of human rights in Armenia,
was neutral towards the authorities and backed President Robert
Kocharyan.
But since her appointment, she has come to be viewed as an enemy of
those in the judicial system, the Prosecutor's Office, the Ministry of
Justice and the President's office.
The first public clash occurred in the winter, when Alaverdyan walked
out of a government meeting chaired by the President. She accused the
President of denying her legal right to speak and suggesting that she
only ask questions. The Government sitting discussed the adoption of
a draft law restricting the powers of the Ombudsperson.
The Government submitted the draft law to the National Assembly,
proposing to deprive the Ombudsperson of the right to obtain
information about cases under investigation and to submit proposals to
the court. The Minister of Justice defended the bill by saying that
the role of the Ombudsperson undermined the independence of the
courts.
Alaverdyan argues that the court's main objective is not independence,
but the administration of justice. The purpose of the Ombudsperson's
interventions is to protect the right of people to a fair
trial. Besides, she says, courts in Armenia are not independent of the
executive authorities.
The National Assembly quashed the bill after which Kocharyan appealed
to the Constitutional Court. The court granted the suit and stripped
the Ombudsperson of these powers.
The Government also applied to the National Assembly to ensure that
the Republican Civil Service Council appoints the staff of the
Ombudsperson, not the office-holder.
`They `defend' the non-existent independence of the court,' says the
Ombudsperson's legal advisor Zhora Khachatryan, who is responsible for
registering violations of human rights by law-enforcement bodies and
courts.
`They are very angry that we presented critical reports about the
activities of a number of judges.'
However, the authorities did not content themselves only with
restricting the powers of the Ombudsperson by law.
On May 26, the National Security Service (NSS) arrested Serob
Antinyan, a member of the Ombudsperson's staff, claiming he had taken
a $300 bribe while investigating a complaint. The complaint came from
a citizen unhappy at noise levels from a restaurant-bar in the
basement of his building.
Antinyan is alleged to have taken money from the restaurateur not to
start legal procedures against him. The Prosecutor's Office instituted
criminal proceedings and the same evening the Public Television of
Armenia broadcast the moment of bribe taking and the arrest videoed by
the NSS.
On the night of the arrest NSS employees, without notifying the
Ombudsperson, broke into her office and confiscated an office computer
with confidential information on complaints by citizens.
It was later returned. But the law on the Ombudsperson was broken, as
it states that the Ombudsman's office, property and correspondence are
inviolable.
There were suspicions that Antinyan was provoked into fraud in order
to discredit the Ombudsperson, a view shared by Alaverdyan. Antinyan
was given a job with mediation of a former advisor to the Justice
Minister.
`The Ombudsperson's office has no powers to release any businessman
from responsibility,' says Armenia Helsinki Committee Chairman Avetik
Ishkhanyan. `So why should the restaurant owner have given money to an
office worker? The purpose of this story is to compromise the
Ombudsperson.'
If the intention was to discredit the Ombudsperson, it failed. The
press portrayed Alaverdyan as an independent and conscientious
champion of human rights, whom the authorities wanted to
silence. Opposition parties rallied to her protection at a meeting.
Vazgen Manukyan, chairman of the National Democratic Union (NDU)
declared: `Knowing Robert Kocharyan well I can say that he does not
tolerate the disobedience of subordinates. In reality, the authorities
committed infringements against the institution of the Ombudsperson
and everybody.'
On June 16, John Evans, the United States Ambassador to Armenia,
visited the Ombudsperson's Office and presented it with a computer,
saying that he would support her activities. Ambassadors of European
countries met Alaverdyan at the French Embassy on June 24 and
expressed their solidarity with her.
A day after the computer was confiscated, Alaverdyan issued a
statement saying: `I have not yet been given any documents that
provide for such action in law. There are no written assurances that
the confidential information in the computer will not be spread and
will not be used against individuals filing complaints and officials
who are addressees of the Ombudsperson's correspondence.'
Her concerns were justified. On June 5, Alaverdyan announced at a
press conference that on May 31, two NSS workers had entered the RIGHT
Legal Group advisory organization posing as members of her staff. They
had demanded information about individuals filing complaints.
She expressed concern that the NSS was seeking information regarding
cases of two citizens who had also applied to her for help. Alaverdyan
stated: `The most important guarantee of the protection of human
rights was directly violated with the grossest, illegal, anti-lawful
actions.
`It is an unprecedented case that has no equal in international
practice when the National Security Service puts the state's security
in danger.'
She tried to contact the President and Prime Minster Andranik
Margaryan by phone, but neither would speak to her. In a letter to the
Ombudsperson, the NSS denied posing as members of her staff and said
that a criminal case had been opened against the RIGHT Legal Group's
president Vahe Grigoryan on charges of power abuse and forgery of
legal documents.
The RIGHT Legal Group accuses the NSS of persecuting its staff since
the organization helped several citizens send applications for
hearings to the European Court of Human Rights.
What could the Ombudsperson have done to anger the authorities so
much? The answer may be found in her annual report published three
months ago (www.ombuds.am).
Among numerous human rights violations presented in the report, two
stand out. First, the violations of the law in Spring 2004 during the
opposition protest rallies calling for Kocharyan's resignation, and
the torture of participants at police stations.
The report stated that people's right to free movement and to
demonstrate were violated, as was their right to a fair trial. The
ransacking by police of the opposition Ardarutyun party's office on
the night of April 12 was seen as a violation of the right to form
unions. A large section in the report also dealt with the story of
Grisha Virabyan, who lost a testicle as a result of police brutality
(see http://www.armenianow.com/eng/?go=pub&id=101).
http://www.armenianow.com/eng/?issue_id=22
The second matter dealt with violations of people's property rights in
the construction of North and Main Avenues (see
http://www.armenianow.com/eng/?go=pub&id=832&issue_id=87
http://www.armenianow.com/eng/?go=pub& id=809&issue_id=85
This project is being carried out under the personal supervision of
President Kocharyan, yet the Ombudsperson has consistently sought to
protect the rights of residents in the territories set aside for
development.
The Prosecutor General, the Minister of Justice and the Chairman of
the Court of Review wrote the Ombudsperson very critical letters about
her report, describing it as `groundless.'
During the website presentation Alaverdyan said that she included in
it the Report: `We again present the Report. Do not let it seem
strange. Many times it was evaluated painfully, many times not
adequately, but it shows that the Report found its addressees who
understood that they hadn't protected the law. And a nasty anti-blow
was delivered.'
She had an expressly joyful look. `I am happy today,' she said, as the
creation of the website, according to her, will give a possibility to
people from small towns to apply to her and will make the
Ombudsperson's Office available to more people.
`To be honest, it was unexpected for me that Alaverdyan would become a
real champion of human rights,' says Ishkhanyan, the chairman of the
Armenia Helsinki Committee. `I had thought that her report would be
similar to the formal reports of commissions attached to the
President.
`But it pleasantly surprised me. Not only did it objectively present
the situation on freedoms in 2004, but also presented both legislative
shortcomings and violations in the application of laws. The
authorities grew angry because it is one thing for public
organizations to criticize and quite another for an official appointed
by the President to do it.'
How will the conflict end? Alaverdyan has no intention of resigning
her position and she considered the campaigns against her to be a good
reason to work harder.
`All this gives a clear conviction that one has to work more
systematically with these bodies and a special effort is needed for
the executive bodies to get a clearer idea of human rights,' she says.
Jam Packed: Golden Apricot festival offers a rich taste of film culture
By Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
The second Golden Apricot film festival opens in Yerevan on July 12
under the theme `Armenia - a Crossroads of Civilizations and
Cultures'.
Rather like the apricot harvest, the organizers promise that this
year's festival, which runs until July 17, will be even richer and
sweeter than the first one.
It has already marked its second year with a symbolic change of logo -
the plump fruit of the inaugural festival has become apricot jam
spread on a slice of bread this time.
`The apricot ripened in one year and turned into jam, whether in terms
of the organization, content and experience of the festival; it has
become wiser and more concentrated in terms of being at a really
international level,' says Harutyun Khachatryan, director of the
festival.
This year the films will compete in two categories - international and
all-Armenian. The international section will have two categories for
feature films and documentaries made after July 1 2003. The Armenian
Panorama category covers fiction, documentary and animation films by
Armenian cinematographers.
During the July days of the festival, the capital will be burn with
hot films; 140 have been selected from 300 submitted this year, with
45 countries represented - three times the number in 2004. Entrants
from New Zealand, Chile and Nicaragua are among those selected.
`The creation of a film festival last year seemed madness, since at
least $2.5 million is needed to hold such an event. Nevertheless, we
created a ridiculous budget of $100,000, found people who believed us
and, as you can see, the dream became reality,' says Khachatryan.
The film juries under the Armenian-Canadian director Atom Egoyan
include the Dutch film director Jos Stelling, British film critic and
producer Simon Field, who headed the Rotterdam film festival jury for
several years, and Deborah Young, a leading American film journalist.
The Golden Apricot will host master classes from director Roman
Balayan, actor Oleg Yankovski, the Moscow Film Festival Director
Nikita Mikhalkov, Polish director Krzysztof Zanussi and the Iranian
director hailed as a master of world cinematography Abbas Kiarostami
whose film won the Palme d'Or in Cannes last year.
A retrospective of Kiarostami's films and a photo exhibition will also
be organized.
`It's amazing that they have all expressed a willingness to
participate, but it is a fact that after last year's festival the name
of Armenia was spread abroad. They loved the blessing of the apricot,
maybe also the apricot vodka and our warm reception,' jokes
Khachatryan.
`This year the Union of Cinematographers has organized the Best
Director prize, and the Union of Film Critics will award the Best
Film. Even The Hrant Matevosyan Fund has set up a prize for the best
scriptwriter.
`The Parajanov Museum board has appeared with an interesting
idea. Once, when Fellini saw Parajanov's `coins', that he had made
while in prison and engraved with his nails, he said: `those can be
made good prizes'.'
Fellini's idea has been brought to life by the Museum. It has chosen
one of the six prison `coins' by Parajanov, made silver copies and
will present them to guests of the festival.
The organizers of this large-scale festival keep their budget secret
this year. Last year, the state allocated $100,000 but this year's
festival received less government aid and the organizers rested their
hopes on sponsors.
`I am just back from the Moscow International Festival that had $3.1
million from the state budget, $900,000 from the Moscow city
government and twice more from sponsors. I will not mention the sums
allotted to the Golden Apricot, for it may seem very funny by
comparison,' says Susanna Harutyunyan, the art director of the
festival.
`Besides, this is only our second year and the Moscow film festival
dates back 27 years.'
The festival offers several programs outside the competition, such as
days of Iranian and Russian films. A special show of Armenian films
devoted to the anniversaries of Henrik Malyan, Aghasi Aivazyan, Mher
Lazarian, Khoren Abrahamyan and Hrant Matevosyan will be held under
the title `Tribute of Respect'.
There will be new works from Armenfilm - `Mariam' directed by Edgar
Baghdasaryan will open the festival, and Atom Egoyan's wife Arsine
Khanjyan will present Ruba Nadda's film `Sabah', in which she has a
leading role.
`Sabah' was shown at the Rotterdam International Film Festival this
year and, says Harutyunyan, a member of that festival, Khanjyan's
involvement is an important factor in its success.
The film is a love story involving a woman of Middle Eastern descent,
like the director, and a representative of Islamic culture, and a man
of typically Western character and outlook. Their relationship, and
the attitude of Sabah's family, reveals different cultural layers that
suggest that differences can be overcome through honest feelings.
`In this respect the work by Ruba Nadda definitely reflects the theme
of the Golden Apricot and our title,' says Harutyunyan.
The organizers of the Golden Apricot have made `golden' promises to
create a truly festive atmosphere. Charles Aznavour Square will host
numerous souvenir and video film kiosks for film lovers, there will be
open-air jazz concerts, and of course interesting films in the cool
cinema halls.
`This is an amazing phenomenon,' says Lyudmila Tsvikova, the program
director of the Rotterdam festival, in a letter to the organizers in
Yerevan.
`I know and fully understand that where economies are weak and there
is social unrest, culture suffers first of all. Nevertheless, we have
seen several festivals that have appeared out of nothing and become
important national and international movements. The Golden Apricot is
one of them and I am proud that I was an honored member of the juries
in the first year.'
Labor Forced: The men who fall victim to exploitation by traffickers
By Arpi Harutyunyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Florida Mamikonyan from Vanadzor remembers with bitterness the days
when she was forced to reassure her three sons that their father had
not disappeared and would return for sure. There was also the
gossiping of her neighbors to contend with.
`I was very upset. My children asked me all the time about their
father and I did not know what to say. Especially as the neighbors had
already spread rumors that Arthur would never come back and that he
might have a new family. My children were offended, they insisted it
was not so and that their father would return,' says Florida, 40.
And while the stories in Vanadzor grew more fanciful that Arthur got
married, he was bed-ridden through illness; he couldn't get his salary
to return to Armenia.
In fact, 40-year-old Arthur Aloyan was a victim of trafficking in Ufa,
the capital of Bashkortostan (a republic in the East of Russia's
European part). Forced labor is defined by the United Nations as one
form of trafficking under a protocol adopted in 2000 that also covers
exploitation through prostitution, slavery, and the trade in human
organs.
The exploitation of men for their labor is a particular problem in
Russia and hundreds of Armenians have become victims of it. Gyulnara
Shahinyan, vice-chairwoman of the Council of Europe's ad hoc
commission on strategy against human trafficking asserts that it is on
a similar scale to the sexual exploitation of women.
Arthur lives now with his wife and sons in a wooden house in a small
district near Vanadzor. The family sold their former stone house in
2001 to escape financial problems.
He had been hunting for work for months when he became acquainted with
a former Vanadzor resident Harutyun Ginosyan, who offered him
employment in Ufa with his brother Ishkhan. They arranged that Arthur
would be involved in construction work and earn $150 per month, with
food, accommodation and clothing expenses covered by his employer.
`We were in such a state that any job was a salvation for us to escape
starvation. I had to provide for my three sons, what else could I do?'
says Arthur.
By late 2002, Arthur left for Ufa with 39 other men from Vandzor,
including his brother-in-law Arman and his friend Georgy Gevorgyan,
all hoping to be able to send money home. But the doors of slavery
opened before them when they arrived.
`They took our passports away at the very beginning to put us under
their total control. They made us work from morning till late night
and didn't give us a penny. We ate only macaroni, and slept in cold
and wet rooms on bare beds. People say they kept us like slaves,'
recalls Arthur.
The Ginosyan brothers now live in Bashkortostan but were known in
Vanadzor. Florida recalls that Ishkhan used to own a macaroni factory
in the city and she claims that he duped workers there by fleeing
without paying their salaries.
He established the construction business in Bashkortostan and Harutyun
helped by recruiting men in Vanadzor to go and work there. When the
time came to get paid, Ishkhan would tell the workers that there was
no money yet but that they would get their wages soon, a process that
went on for months.
`I became sick because of that hard work, cold and nervousness. I had
terrible pains in my liver and stomach, my joints stiffened up, and I
did not eat normally for such a long time. I couldn't even walk, yet
they still wouldn't give me my money so that I could return to
Armenia,' says Arthur.
For several months, the three friends could not support their families
financially and were unable even to call home to say what was
happening.
`We had no news about our husbands. We lost hope, we thought something
must have happened. I thought of everything. Then I thought, who
knows, maybe they haven't got any money to come back. I was sure there
had to be a serious reason because Arthur wouldn't leave us alone
otherwise,' says Florida.
After some time, the family got a letter from Arthur, saying that he
was in a bad condition, had been ill for several months, and had no
money. He asked them to do whatever it took to get him home.
Florida and the wives of the other two men approached the Vanadzor
branch of the Hope and Help organization for support.
`We identified those men as victims of trafficking. They were
recruited and promised normal living conditions. But in truth they
were kept as slaves. They underwent labor exploitation and that is
trafficking,' says Nora Mnatsakanyan, program coordinator at Hope and
Help.
The organization has been helping victims of trafficking since 2000 in
cooperation with the Foreign Ministry and the state Migration and
Refugees Agency, as well as the police and Prosecutor General's
Office. It has revealed 32 victims of trafficking, 20 cases of sexual
exploitation and 12 of forced labor, in both Russia and Turkey.
Following the appeal of the wives, Hope and Help sent a letter to the
Russia's Interior Ministry Representative for migration issues in
Armenia.
`They denied that there was forced labor and exploitation of Armenian
men, but the facts disclosed later by the victims showed the reality,'
says Mnatsakanyan.
`It appeared that a group of policemen had visited the place where the
men worked, negotiated with the Ginosyans and left. The men say the
Ginosyans have good connections with the police and it is not excluded
that they might have bribed them.'
However, the noise over the scandal in Ufa began to worry the
Ginosyans and they decided to buy tickets back to Armenia for the men
whose families were complaining.
Arthur, Arman and Georgy returned to Vanadzor a year ago, their
memories haunted by the 17 months of hardship in Ufa.
Now Arthur has a job in a timber works in Vanadzor. Even though he
gets only 1,000-1,500 drams per day ($2.20 to $3.30), he is glad to be
working in his homeland. But he still cannot erase the memories of
Ufa.
`Because of those emotions, people say I can't find my place; I have
become indifferent to everything. Maybe this condition will pass, but
living in deprivation in a foreign country cost me many things. I do
not have any expectations from this life any more,' says Arthur
despondently.
Despite everything, Florida declares herself happy. She says: `Even if
you live poor, deprived of many things, it is good to just be by your
husband's side. I have experienced the bitterness of living alone, but
now when my children's father is by their side, I feel happy.'
Another Way: Gurdjieff center seeks to spread knowledge of Armenian
philosopher in his homeland
By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow reporter
The Gurdjieff center is situated in the village of Ohanavan, 35
kilometers north-west of Yerevan. Constructed on the edge of a gorge,
the building with its orchard, outdoor pool and rest areas seems to be
a bit of civilization in the lap of wild nature.
The sound of the river Kasakh is heard from the gorge, Ohanavank
monastery stands majestically on the opposite height, Great and Small
Ararat make the scene complete.
`The building is still not finished. I began construction 12 years ago
with my own funds, but now I am searching for financial means to
complete it,' says Margaret Gurdjieff, president of Gurdjieff
International and a member of the Russian Natural Sciences Academy.
`But it doesn't prevent me treating patients here. Ohanavan is rich in
a special energy field, which helps a person to return to his/her
roots. Here at any point human thought stops for a moment and the soul
begins to talk.'
She is a granddaughter of the well-known psychologist and thinker
George Gurdjieff, the founder of the Human Harmony Development
Institute. She says that in Ohanavan they are guided by the same
principles used by Gurdjieff in the institute he founded in the French
town of Avon, which still operates today.
`Gurdjieff's students studied and lived with him. There were also
people with sharp and negative characters specially hired by Gurdjieff
so that living together under the same roof created a tense
atmosphere,' Margaret Gurdjieff recollects.
`Naturally, there were clashes. It was then that the great
psychologist said to his students `Watch yourself when disputing,
don't stop, follow how you do it, follow how mechanical you are. One
should be strong and control one's emotions consciously'.'
They work in Ohanavan in the same way. Many people gather there and
learn how to control their emotions so that they can live their lives
more easily.
Margaret Gurdjieff also receives patients in the Surb Mariam
Astvatsatsin (Our Lady) clinic in Yerevan. A year ago she founded the
`Gurdjieff' NGO, with more than 50 members, and generally her goal is
to return Gurdjieff and his teaching to Armenia.
`Armenia should be able always to appreciate its children. There is no
school, institute or center bearing the name of Gurdjieff in Yerevan
today. He was a talent that the world admired. Many people do not even
know that he is Armenian,' says Ruzanna Arzumanyan, a member of the
Gurdjieff NGO.
`His books were published abroad, people recognized him, read his
books and began to apply his methods. Gurdjieff centers operate in the
United States, Europe, India, Tibet, Turkey and Scandinavian
countries.'
Margaret Gurdjieff was born and raised in Samarkand. The family was
one of the many victims of Stalin's persecution. Her father was
exiled simply for bearing the surname Gurdjieff. Margaret says that
Gurdjieff was Stalin's advisor, but when differences emerged between
them, he went abroad and the regime began to exile all Gurdjieff's
relatives.
`I remember how sometimes my grandmother secretly showed me
manuscripts without saying who their author was. Gurdjieff's theory
teaches a person to be independent and free, naturally it would not be
accepted in the Soviet Union. I learned about all this only in 1997
when I became acquainted with Gurdjieff's theory and began to study
it. Everything seemed so close and familiar to me.'
Gurdjieff's ideas expressed through his philosophical, musical and
literary works are appreciated by people who say they have gained in
social self-confidence as a result. He is considered the founder of
the so-called Fourth Way.
Margaret explains that there are three directions of human
development: mental (monk), physical (khakira) and yogina, in which is
combined both the physical and spiritual. These three directions were
developing away from society. The fourth, Gurdjieff, direction
predicted their development within society, harmonizing the wisdom of
the East with the energy of the West.
However, she has developed her own theory, adding it to Gurdjieff's
teaching and applying it in her work. She explains: `There are three
centers in man - intellectual, physical, emotional. Man is complete
when all these three centers are in harmony.
`Conditions in Ohanavan enable patients to use these three centers at
the same time. They work together, study a language, but when they
start quarreling, I say they have become mechanical puppets and the
Gurdjieff method teaches them to be conscious, not to be a machine.'
The Fourth Way teaches a person to manage the three centers
consciously. One should wake up and look at the surroundings through
the eyes of his/her own soul. One should develop and enrich his/her
soul.
`I work using several techniques. First I conduct four individual
sessions that take a person to a certain conscious state. After the
fourth session he/she has a dream,' says Margaret, a psychologist.
`When he/she describes the dream, I borrow the mental information from
it that reveals the cause of stress. A person sees his personal
problems in his dream. All of the information about a person is
collected in his/her subconscious, and after the fourth session the
subconscious gives him/her information.'
She compares it to an investigation. Gurdjieff himself used to say
that our real consciousness is our subconsciousness. Revealing the
cause they eliminate it, simultaneously conducting psychological
sessions during which they teach a person how to preserve his/her own
energy and give it to others.
Margaret Gurdjieff says that she helps people to live more truly by
returning to them their own ego.
`Gurdjieff's Fourth Way is especially necessary for countries going
through transition. This theory teaches man to be prepared for the
most extreme social conditions of life.'
She conducts sessions to the accompaniment of music composed by
Gurdjieff for this purpose. One of her patients, who did not want to
be identified, says: `This music seems to have cleaned my soul. I felt
my soul separate from my body, soaring in freedom and returning back
to me enriched and more viable. After these sessions I become more
balanced, more harmonious with the cosmos and myself.'
Margaret says a man must accept himself as he is, be frank with
himself and not an actor. Every person must understand who he is. When
he accepts even the bad that he has inside, it is already good.
She always tells her patients: `Before going to bed analyze your day
from its beginning, and see where you were mechanical and where you
were you.'
The 125th anniversary of Gurdjieff's birth is marked this year and
Margaret invites all those willing to participate to join celebrations
planned for October. A two-day conference dedicated to his life and
activities was recently organized at the American University of
Armenia.
Recently, Margaret visited Avon's Human Harmony Development Institute
and established relations. In October, French colleagues are expected
to pay a return visit to the Ohanavan clinic and demonstrate one of
Gurdjieff's teachings through rhythmic dances.
Margaret says: `Everything happening to a person, good or bad, must be
accepted by him/her consciously. Real work on a person begins with
self-control. One should be able to admit his mistakes and work
against them.
`In that case undesirable events in life will not be accepted with
such ease and will not take away one's strengths. Begin with
yourself.'
Gurdjieff said: `There are two unlimited things on Earth: human
foolishness and God's mercy.'
Getting IT: Expert urges deeper appreciation of the potential of
information technologies for Armenia's economy
By Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
`Armenia, is condemned to develop information technologies, given the
country's shortage of land, lack of natural resources, transport
isolation, and demography,' says Garegin Chukaszyan, executive
director of the Information Technologies (IT) Fund of Armenia.
`In national security terms, IT may and objectively should become the
main priority, especially as it is capable of increasing several fold
the efficiency of the work of one individual.'
Armenia has the smallest population among countries in the region, and
almost three times fewer people than Azerbaijan. Chukaszyan says IT
should be regarded not as a separate sphere of human activity but as
the `period in which mankind lives today'.
`Now it is what bronze was 5,000 years ago and that period was called
the `bronze age'. Such was iron 3,000 years ago, and that time was the
`iron age'. Today is the `IT age',' he says.
`Figuratively speaking, if the change from stone tools of production
to metal ones predetermined a sharp growth in the efficiency of labor
and the emergence of the first viable states, then in the modern world
viable states must use the new lever of production - information
technologies.'
He says the process of understanding the role of information
technologies is being turned into practical reality in a number of
countries.
`State support of IT in Finland, traditionally a country of pulp and
paper industries, has made it one of the most socially advanced
countries in the world. Nokia, formerly a shoe-making firm, is the
world leader in mobile telephones.
`As a result, information technologies are being developed also in
Estonia. Latvia and Lithuania in their turn also attach increased
importance to IT. India has achieved incredible progress in this
direction, as software guarantees annual injections of $8 billion into
its economy. Forty percent of Costa Rica's exports come from
software. It should be mentioned that all of these countries, unlike
Armenia, do not have a high-tech tradition.
`In the middle of the last century, Armenia was indeed one of the
centers of the development of computer technologies. The
Scientific-Research Institute of Mathematical Computing Machines
founded by Academician Mergelyan (also called the Mergelyan Institute)
was a rare example of a Soviet competitor with the world's leading
centers.'
Chukaszyan continues: `The software of projects for the Warsaw Pact
military-strategic bloc was the responsibility of Armenia. Even in the
mid-1980s, when the USSR's competitiveness sharply declined, software
for a Soviet project to land on the Moon was made in Armenia.
`Later, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, this project was
suspended. Nevertheless, in the mid-1980s, there were 100,000 people
engaged in the IT infrastructure in Armenia - a proportionally
unprecedented index. Today, it is 5,000.'
In the independence struggle, which was accompanied by earthquake,
war, blockade, and an energy crisis, a great many professional
programmers, who continue to work in their field in western countries
today, abandoned Armenia.
`Since 2003, the IT sector in Armenia has contribute 2 percent of
economic growth, which on the face of it seems to be quite a solid
index,' says Chukaszyan.
`In Georgia and Azerbaijan, this index is a hundredth of a
percent. Probably, it is this circumstance that allows the Armenian
authorities to speak about the superior position of our country in the
region.
`Nevertheless, if we judge by the main tendencies of IT development in
Armenia, there are few reasons for optimism. In states where IT is an
official priority, the economic contribution is much higher. In Israel
and Ireland it is 8 percent, and in South Korea 14 percent.'
Lately, IT became a priority also in the Middle East, particularly in
Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. Turkey, in its turn, has decided
to pay more attention in this field, releasing its IT developers from
all taxes. With Ankara's support, Azerbaijan is implementing an IT
development policy.
`Taking into account the country's intellectual potential, which is
unprecedented in the region, the Armenian authorities should, in deeds
and not just words, pay special attention to this trend, which in the
totally new conditions of regional and global life determines the
security of one state or another,' argues Chukaszyan.
`But the reality is somewhat different: if a few years ago the growth
of software production in Armenia was 20 and even 30 percent, that is,
double the average GDP growth, then at present it is equal to 10
percent. It is a highly dangerous tendency.'
In all countries where information technologies are an official
priority there is a so-called innovation policy. In Armenia, in
Chukaszyan's opinion, there is not even a trace of one.
`The official structures of Armenia like speaking about the presence
in the country of equal conditions of taxation, but as applied to IT,
it is nonsense. I already spoke about the Turkish experience, which is
being mastered by Azerbaijan today.
`On many occasions we put forth our considerations and demands, there
were even special hearings in the Parliament, the President himself
spoke on this subject on many occasions, however there is no progress
in reality.
`The political elite continue to regard IT not as a new environment of
life and a new implement of labor, but as one of the spheres of
production. It is a serious blunder, which may cost Armenia another
several wasted years.'
Salt of the Earth: Underground medical center harnesses the healing
power of nature
By Suren Musayelyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Doctor Andranik Voskanyan takes the time to talk with his patients in
plain layman's terms as they bombard him with questions about their
treatment regime.
He regards their involvement in the medical process as an important
element in their recovery.
But the republic's chief lung specialist says that it is nature that
does most of the healing, while the doctor's job is simply `to help
accelerate self-regulation'.
`A doctor only starts the swing that returns the human organism to the
level that we call health,' says Voskanyan. `Health is a dynamic
rather than a static thing. Nature determines the quality of human
life. A doctor coordinates the physical health-improving factors of
nature.'
Voskanyan has been head of the Republican Speleotherapeutic Center
since it was established in 1987. This unique health center is in a
man-made cave 235 meters underground
Since 1992, he has also been president of the `Bnabuzhutyun' (Nature
Therapy) medical center that examines and supervises patients
receiving speleotherapy.
Armenia is a country rich in natural medicinal factors. Along with
unique mineral resources and mountain-climate health resorts, the
depths of the Ararat valley contain powerful layers of salt with
inimitable medicinal properties.
Since May 1987, patients suffering from bronchial asthma and other
respiratory illnesses have been treated in the Republican
Speleotherapeutic Center.
Here, in a space covering 4,000 square meters, there are
therapy-diagnostic rooms, a gym, galleries for walks, and niches for
resting and sleeping. The center has been carved out from layers of
rock salt that form the Avan-Arinj deposit near Yerevan known as
Aghihank.
Therapy is conducted in the form of daily sessions that last about six
hours. A typical course of therapy takes 20 sessions.
The cave's medicinal effectiveness has been demonstrated by the
experiences of more than 10,000 patients with asthma and other
respiratory illnesses.
`We isolate people for some time from factors that affect them on the
surface, such as electromagnetic currents, cosmic particles, and solar
energy. We achieve isolation from all the triggers of antigens and
other inductors of asthma - allergens, dust, gases, etc.,' says
Voskanyan.
Energy emitted by the rock salt crystals and the composition of the
air deep underground give speleotherapy its healing power.
Voskanyan explains: `We put a man into the cradle of the origin of
life.'
Speleotherapy acts on bronchial asthma, allergic diseases and
inherited immune-hormonal dysfunction through immuno- correction and
hormonal strengthening. The therapy is also used for rehabilitation of
patients with bronchial-lung diseases, viral respiratory diseases such
as influenza, and infantilism among children that are behind their
peers in psycho-physical development (as in clinical practice
speleotherapy has been observed to have a positive effect on
children's immune system).
Doctors say that they have had encouraging results with patients
suffering from sarcoidosis, eczema and psoriasis, as well as with
children with mild cerebral palsy. Speleotherapy is also said to
benefit pregnant women and their unborn children.
Medical staff at `Bnabuzhutyun', which include five doctors from
Aghihank, decide which patients are suitable for speleotherapy.
A research conducted jointly with the All-Union Institute of
Pulmonology still in the Soviet times showed that speliotherapy had a
positive effect in particular on asthma patients. Thus, it was
established on the example of 820 patients that the number of days
they spent on sick lists during the year decreased eleven times on the
average after they had taken a course of speleotherapy (from 66 to 6).
Now the center receives about 15 to 20 patients a month of all
ages. But for technical and safety reasons speleotherapy is not
allowed for children under 3 and people that have physical problems
preventing them from going or staying 235 meters underground.
Therefore the center has also developed a speleotherapy simulator
called a Halochamber, which is situated a few meters
underground. Patients sit in a cozy chamber where the health benefits
of speleotherapy are modeled using crystals agitated by a quantum beam
of light.
The process takes place to audio and video effects as patients relax
in easy chairs. Children can play in a sand box of rock salt, where
the sand is enriched with medicinal microelements.
The course of therapy covers between 10 and 40 sessions lasting up to
90 minutes.
Speleotherapy and halochamber services are available to some patients
with state funding, which means that the state covers the cost of
treatment. A typical course costs up to $500.
Voskanyan says, to make it affordable to more people, the center has
designed take-home products that will be available in pharmacies
across Armenia from September.
They include: a solution of rock-salt enriched with microelements for
baths (costing up to 1,000 drams, or $2.2 per bath), especially for
children with skin problems; powders that form a wash for treating
mouth cavities and infectious diseases of the nose and throat (a
portion that would last a person about two weeks will cost about $2);
a night-lamp - lusatu - that can be used in children's bedrooms for
chromotherapy (worth $50 or more depending on the design); and
inhalers containing a special solution of rock-salt (costing about
5,000 drams).
Haunted by Memory: Genocide leaves its mark on boy who lost 30 members
of his family
By Marianna Grigoryan
ArmeniaNow reporter
`So many Armenians were killed and tortured by the Turks that the Kars
canyon was full of corpses. We walked through the corpses, on the
corpses. Bodies were everywhere. And the Turkish bullets and shells
poured like rain on those still alive.'
The terrifying memories of his childhood stir pain in the memory and
heart of 93-year-old Baghdasar Hakobyan. He no longer sees well but
the visions of his past come hurtling back through the decades like
the `Turkish bullet' of memory.
For `grandpa' Baghdasar, the Armenian massacres and his escape are an
indelible history that deprived him of relatives, parents and
childhood.
He was born in the village of Ziraklu near Kars, where he lived with
his parents, three brothers and a large extended family before the
killings. As a five-year-old boy at the time, he says, he does not
remember everything, but some scenes have haunted him ever since.
`Before we fled from Ziraklu, the Turks called my father and my elder
brother and killed both of them,' he remembers. `Then our lives turned
into long years of refuge with terrifying stories.'
Grandpa Baghdasar says there were almost 30 in his big family, living
together in a big house in the traditional way for that time. The sad
page of their history began in 1918.
`When the slaughter began some of us somehow escaped, the rest were
either missing or dead from illness or the Turkish bullet,' he says.
`When the Turks began the massacre, we left our native village and
fled. First, we escaped to Kars. They used to catch people and push
them into the hay stores and burn them alive. The smoke spread into
the world.'
After the murder of his father and eldest brother, responsibility for
the family fell on Baghdasar's mother Antaram. Baghdasar remembers
her with a smile, trying to revive her beauty in his mind.
The old man says the Turks would take away the beautiful Armenian
women, which is why his mother always covered her face with a veil and
spread soot over her beautiful features.
`The road was terrible; we understood later what deprivations our
mother suffered to keep us alive,' tells Baghdasar. `For three years
she passed broken hearted and exhausted through the Turk's fire,
against starvation and illness, with my two brothers by her side and
me in a bag.'
`People endured hardships, many of them were unable to stand. Besides
the difficulties on the road, the Turks would frequently attack and
torture Armenians, throw them into rivers, or have them shot, killed
and burned.'
He adds: `They were horrifying times. We walked slowly at the back of
someone's carriage, we were hungry and homeless.'
Eventually, Baghdasar arrived on foot in Armenia with his mother and
one of his brothers.
`On the road a terrible illness hit the refugees and it took my other
brother's life away,' he says in explanation.
Baghdasar's mother also died soon after reaching Armenia, totally worn
down by the hardship and illness during the journey.
`I remember very well it was spring when we came to Armenia, but there
was snow. Since we were orphans, we were immediately taken to the
Gyumri orphanage where there were many children like us,' he recalls.
`Those were years of hunger and disease and people lived hard. Many
children died, unable to stand the conditions.'
Baghdasar grew at the orphanage and at age 10 he began tending cattle
in the village of Getashen in Hoktemberyan region to be able to earn
his piece of bread.
`I had nobody to care for me, to send to school to get educated. There
was nobody to look after me so I tried to somehow look after myself.'
Later, as an adult, Baghdasar began working in construction. In the
1930s, he built his house in Yerevan with his own hands and in 1937 he
married Satenik.
`Then the Patriotic War began and I lost my last kin, my only brother
who had survived. I was badly wounded in the battlefield and sent back
to Armenia.'
At home, Baghdasar and Satenik raised six children. Baghdasar became a
respected specialist at the oil and soap factory, tended his garden
and enjoyed his children, grandchildren and now
great-grandchildren. He has 29 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
`Only I remained from our family' - regularly sitting by his house or
under the trees, Baghdasar recounts his story to his old friend and
neighbor Stepan, 80.
The talks of the two friends on the past days are very different: the
escape, the Patriotic War, the USSR years, the present government,
Kocharyan and politics...
Baghdasar has grown apricots, apples, and grapes for many
years. Glancing over to one corner of his garden, he smiles and says:
`The crop in my garden seems good this year. It's a pity I don't see
well any more and my health has worsened, otherwise I would cultivate
the garden again and see the trees bloom every spring.'
Brawn and Brains: Bodyguard schools seek to create more professional
protection
By Suren Deheryan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Hovhannes Galechyan now has all the qualifications needed to be a
bodyguard.
The 21-year-old received his graduation certificate this week at the
end of a ten-month course at the Tiknapah (Bodyguard) college of
Yerevan's Gitak University.
Only Galechyan made the grade from among two dozen students, since he
passed all stages of his training with the excellent grades that
course administrators say are necessary for being a real
bodyguard. The rest of the students qualified only as security guards.
Students at Tiknapah study 12 subjects, including six specialized
ares: hand-to-hand combat, bodyguard's work, shooting, mountaineering,
criminal law and psychology.
The desire to be a bodyguard or security worker, and to work in the
private sector, has grown lately among Armenian youths. Training
centers are increasing in number simultaneously.
Tiknapah is one of the seven schools in Armenia for the training of
bodyguards. There is also the National Association of Bodyguards of
Armenia (NABA), whose president Robert Nazaryan thinks that the
profession suffers from an image problem in today's Armenia.
The reason is that the businessmen or state officials who hire private
bodyguards mainly choose sportsmen of a certain appearance - muscled
arms, a thick neck and usually a clean-shaven head.
Specialists argue that such an image arouses fear only in ordinary
citizens, since `skinheads' are hardly an obstacle for the killers
doing their job.
Nazaryan estimates that there are about 500 private bodyguards in
Armenia today and the number is rising day by day, not least because
it is seen as a status symbol. A few years ago there were no more than
two dozen.
`Many such bodyguards are not ready to react appropriately at the
moment of danger,' says Nazaryan. `If there is danger, the bodyguard
must quickly render the criminal harmless and evacuate his client to a
safe place. But here sometimes you see such heavy bodyguards that they
need five minutes just to get out of the car, let alone do their job.'
It is already an ordinary scene in Yerevan to see a motorcade
consisting of several expensive cars accompanying a wealthy man in an
even more lavish vehicle. Such bodyguards accompany the MPs Ruben
Hayrapetyan, Gagik Tsarukyan, Khachatur Sukiasyan, and others.
`A local guy, when he makes a lot of money, prefers to buy a posh car
and avail himself of life's pleasures. They strive to surprise the
others, but they are reluctant to create a good bodyguard or security
system,' says VIP Security Systems President Hayk Gaboyan.
Bodyguards in Armenia are paid $200-500 a month. Although this is
considerably more than the salary of state security service officers,
bodyguards complain that it is insufficient.
`Every client puts his own value on a bodyguard - one does it
according to his prestige, another on family ties. But a professional
bodyguard will not work for less than $500,' says Gaboyan.
`There is a proper style of work, for which one has to be paid
appropriately. No bodyguard will properly defend his client for
$200-500. Many such bodyguards think of having lunch with their
client, a cup of coffee and to earn money. It is not a real
bodyguard's job,' says Arsen Davtyan, President of the White Eagle
Bodyguard Academy.
`If you are not ready to accept your client as someone dear to you and
if you work only for money, you must not work.'
Davtyan says he had his training in France and worked as a bodyguard
in the Czech Republic. He wishes to convey the knowledge he gained in
Europe to Armenian youths through his academy, so that they have a
correct idea of this profession.
Private bodyguards have been working already for several years, but
there is still no law that determines the legal basis for bodyguards'
activities.
A draft law `On a bodyguard's activities' was drawn up a year ago,
authored by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation MPs Hrayr
Karapetyan, Levon Lazarian and Deputy Speaker Vahan Hovhannisyan.
It states: `After Armenia gained independence the formation of new
economic relations entailed a real demand in society for organizing
the non-state defense of physical and juridical persons, and their
property. It is no secret that activities, including usage of arms,
are already implemented, and the absence of an appropriate legislative
regulation does not make it possible to exercise due control in
relation to such activities, which in practice gives rise to certain
negative manifestations.'
The bill has not been put on the National Assembly's agenda yet. Some
experts believe that it will be dragged out as long as possible, since
many bodyguards lack the required qualifications.
It is already six years that Sargis Grigoryan, 25, and Arman Sahakyan,
27, have worked for VIP Security Systems, providing services to local
or foreign businessmen and officials in Armenia.
They argue that the adoption of a law is necessary, first of all to
give them legal protection for their activities. With a suitable
license, for example, they would have the right to carry weapons.
`The presence of such a law will enable us to do our job properly and
make sure that our activities are viewed within the framework of law,'
says Sahakyan.
Hovhannes Galechyan already faces a choice. He says he has received
several job offers and should decide which one to choose.
`I like this profession, however it doesn't mean that I should always
be a bodyguard. It is possible that I myself will have a bodyguard one
day,' he says.