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PACE PROPOSES ARMENIAN POLITICAL FORCES TO HOLD DIALOGUE UNDER ITS AEGIS
Mediamax
March 19, 2008
Yerevan /Mediamax/. The Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) expressed its "deep concern"
about the arrest of more than one hundred people in Armenia and
"the conditions in which such arrests took place".
Mediamax reports that the statement of the Monitoring Committee of
PACE, spread following the results of the session in Paris on March
18, reads this.
"In the opinion of the committee, the arrest of large numbers of
opposition leaders and of three Members of Parliament is inevitably
perceived as a crack-down on the opposition by the authorities and will
do nothing to ease the tensions in Armenia. The committee called on
all sides to refrain from any action that would increase the tensions
and to commit themselves to a genuine dialogue to resolve the current
crisis", the statement reads.
PACE Monitoring Committee called on all sides to accept the following
proposals of their rapporteur John Prescott, who had visited Yerevan
on March 7-8:
- the recognition by all sides of the authority of the Constitutional
Court and its ruling on the outcome of the Presidential elections; -
the lifting of the state of emergency and the restoring of individual
human rights and freedoms; - the release of all jailed activists
who have not committed violent crimes; - the establishment of an
independent inquiry into the circumstances that led to the events on 1
March 2008 and the monitoring of the on-going investigation process;
- the initiation of a dialogue between all political forces, in the
following areas: - reform of the electoral framework with a view to
regaining public trust in the conduct and outcome of elections; -
reform of the political system with a view to providing a proper place
for the opposition in the decision-making process and governance of
the country; - media reform, especially aimed at the creation of a
truly independent public broadcaster.
The Monitoring Committee noted that the dialogue between all political
forces could be initiated in the form of round tables under the aegis
of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly.
Mediamax
March 19, 2008
Yerevan /Mediamax/. The Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) expressed its "deep concern"
about the arrest of more than one hundred people in Armenia and
"the conditions in which such arrests took place".
Mediamax reports that the statement of the Monitoring Committee of
PACE, spread following the results of the session in Paris on March
18, reads this.
"In the opinion of the committee, the arrest of large numbers of
opposition leaders and of three Members of Parliament is inevitably
perceived as a crack-down on the opposition by the authorities and will
do nothing to ease the tensions in Armenia. The committee called on
all sides to refrain from any action that would increase the tensions
and to commit themselves to a genuine dialogue to resolve the current
crisis", the statement reads.
PACE Monitoring Committee called on all sides to accept the following
proposals of their rapporteur John Prescott, who had visited Yerevan
on March 7-8:
- the recognition by all sides of the authority of the Constitutional
Court and its ruling on the outcome of the Presidential elections; -
the lifting of the state of emergency and the restoring of individual
human rights and freedoms; - the release of all jailed activists
who have not committed violent crimes; - the establishment of an
independent inquiry into the circumstances that led to the events on 1
March 2008 and the monitoring of the on-going investigation process;
- the initiation of a dialogue between all political forces, in the
following areas: - reform of the electoral framework with a view to
regaining public trust in the conduct and outcome of elections; -
reform of the political system with a view to providing a proper place
for the opposition in the decision-making process and governance of
the country; - media reform, especially aimed at the creation of a
truly independent public broadcaster.
The Monitoring Committee noted that the dialogue between all political
forces could be initiated in the form of round tables under the aegis
of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly.