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SOCIETY IN 2014: ANOTHER YEAR OF CIVIL ACTIVISM, SUCCESSES AND FAILURES
SOCIETY | 26.12.14 | 10:22
http://armenianow.com/society/59634/armenia_2014_society_events
RELATED NEWS
Pension Protest: Activists stage demo near Presidential Palace,
PM meets them
Protest Leads to Arrests: Police detain 27 activists in action over
electricity tariffs
"Freedom Fighter" Fights: Attacks on veterans said to be act of
intimidation
This year the Armenian society had numerous occasions to fight for
its rights, for cultural heritage, creating a new culture of struggle,
and actually managed to register some victories.
The year started and continued by a Dem.am campaign that created
a new culture of civil movements. The civil initiative's activists
were opposing controversial pension reforms for months holding street
protests, they even caused a number of political parties to turn to
the Constitutional Court and their demands were partially satisfied.
In summer civil fight heated up, especially when it became clear that
the Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) plans to approve
the increase in the electricity tariffs by 10 percent from August
1. Let's Stop Increasing Electricity Tariffs initiative members held
protests during which some were detained by police.
Summer was hot in the center of Yerevan as well as dismantling
of a 130-year-old building known as Afrikyans Club continued. For
days hundreds of activists fought for preserving the building. Jazz
pianist, the winner of the 2006 Monk international jazz competition,
Tigran Hamasyan joined in the fight.
Another civil initiative, Out of Our Pockets, organized protests
in Yerevan demanding elimination of the so-called red lines for
paid parking and reducing the size of penalties for traffic rules
violations that are now also recorded by numerous surveillance and
speed cameras in the city.
The part of the society that found Constitutional changes unnecessary
said "You Won't Pass" and formed a civil initiative trying to foil
that process.
Hundreds of small and medium-sized business owners in Armenia took
to streets, complaining against the changes in the tax legislation
that were enforced from October 1.
And women proved capable of uniting and fighting for their maternity
leave benefits. Their fight yielded results. The government's
legislative initiative of cutting significantly working women's
pregnancy and maternity leave benefits, which is considered by many
as a violation of a number of rights of working women, made hundreds
of women to go into the street and picket government offices. Their
fight ended in a partial success after the government and the National
Assembly decided not to cut benefits for most categories of women.
The 'Reporters Without Borders' international organization has released
its annual freedom of press index, where Armenia, as compared to last
year, improved its position by three points, reaching rank 78 among 180
nations and becoming a leader in the region. Meanwhile, according to
Freedom House rankings, even though Armenia had some progress in terms
of development, it regressed by one point in terms of press freedom.
Armenia is ranked as a "free" country in the Freedom on the Net 2014
report that was released by the Freedom House on December 4.
Armenia is ranked 103rd among 142 countries in the Global Gender Gap
Report 2014 released by the World Economic Forum on October 28.
According to Transparency International's (TI) 2014 data on the index
of corruption perception in the world, Armenia did not improve its
position in the list of 175 countries, however, compared to last
year the index of corruption perception among the Armenian society
increased by one point becoming 37 (on a scale from 0, perceived to
be highly corrupt, to 100, perceived to be very clean).
On March 24, the judge presiding over the trial of six persons accused
of beating to death a customer at the Harsnakar restaurant, military
doctor Vahe Avetyan, in an incident that happened in June 2012, read
out the verdicts in the court of the general jurisdiction of Yerevan's
Avan and Nor Nork districts, finding all the six defendants guilty
as charged and sentencing them to 12 years in prison and 100,000
-dram (about $250) fines each - one year less than demanded by the
prosecuting attorney.
The trial of Shant Harutyunyan and his friends, which lasted for
almost a year, ended in October in a verdict passed by a Yerevan
court, according to which Shant Harutyunyan - the initiator of the
"I am starting a revolution" protest, his underage son and 12 other
friends were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 1 to 7 years.
In 2014, there were also different attacks on political activists,
as well as Karabakh war veterans.
In the educational sphere, the United World Colleges opened the
Dilijan International School that is currently attended by nearly
100 students from different parts of the world.
From: Baghdasarian
SOCIETY | 26.12.14 | 10:22
http://armenianow.com/society/59634/armenia_2014_society_events
RELATED NEWS
Pension Protest: Activists stage demo near Presidential Palace,
PM meets them
Protest Leads to Arrests: Police detain 27 activists in action over
electricity tariffs
"Freedom Fighter" Fights: Attacks on veterans said to be act of
intimidation
This year the Armenian society had numerous occasions to fight for
its rights, for cultural heritage, creating a new culture of struggle,
and actually managed to register some victories.
The year started and continued by a Dem.am campaign that created
a new culture of civil movements. The civil initiative's activists
were opposing controversial pension reforms for months holding street
protests, they even caused a number of political parties to turn to
the Constitutional Court and their demands were partially satisfied.
In summer civil fight heated up, especially when it became clear that
the Public Services Regulatory Commission (PSRC) plans to approve
the increase in the electricity tariffs by 10 percent from August
1. Let's Stop Increasing Electricity Tariffs initiative members held
protests during which some were detained by police.
Summer was hot in the center of Yerevan as well as dismantling
of a 130-year-old building known as Afrikyans Club continued. For
days hundreds of activists fought for preserving the building. Jazz
pianist, the winner of the 2006 Monk international jazz competition,
Tigran Hamasyan joined in the fight.
Another civil initiative, Out of Our Pockets, organized protests
in Yerevan demanding elimination of the so-called red lines for
paid parking and reducing the size of penalties for traffic rules
violations that are now also recorded by numerous surveillance and
speed cameras in the city.
The part of the society that found Constitutional changes unnecessary
said "You Won't Pass" and formed a civil initiative trying to foil
that process.
Hundreds of small and medium-sized business owners in Armenia took
to streets, complaining against the changes in the tax legislation
that were enforced from October 1.
And women proved capable of uniting and fighting for their maternity
leave benefits. Their fight yielded results. The government's
legislative initiative of cutting significantly working women's
pregnancy and maternity leave benefits, which is considered by many
as a violation of a number of rights of working women, made hundreds
of women to go into the street and picket government offices. Their
fight ended in a partial success after the government and the National
Assembly decided not to cut benefits for most categories of women.
The 'Reporters Without Borders' international organization has released
its annual freedom of press index, where Armenia, as compared to last
year, improved its position by three points, reaching rank 78 among 180
nations and becoming a leader in the region. Meanwhile, according to
Freedom House rankings, even though Armenia had some progress in terms
of development, it regressed by one point in terms of press freedom.
Armenia is ranked as a "free" country in the Freedom on the Net 2014
report that was released by the Freedom House on December 4.
Armenia is ranked 103rd among 142 countries in the Global Gender Gap
Report 2014 released by the World Economic Forum on October 28.
According to Transparency International's (TI) 2014 data on the index
of corruption perception in the world, Armenia did not improve its
position in the list of 175 countries, however, compared to last
year the index of corruption perception among the Armenian society
increased by one point becoming 37 (on a scale from 0, perceived to
be highly corrupt, to 100, perceived to be very clean).
On March 24, the judge presiding over the trial of six persons accused
of beating to death a customer at the Harsnakar restaurant, military
doctor Vahe Avetyan, in an incident that happened in June 2012, read
out the verdicts in the court of the general jurisdiction of Yerevan's
Avan and Nor Nork districts, finding all the six defendants guilty
as charged and sentencing them to 12 years in prison and 100,000
-dram (about $250) fines each - one year less than demanded by the
prosecuting attorney.
The trial of Shant Harutyunyan and his friends, which lasted for
almost a year, ended in October in a verdict passed by a Yerevan
court, according to which Shant Harutyunyan - the initiator of the
"I am starting a revolution" protest, his underage son and 12 other
friends were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 1 to 7 years.
In 2014, there were also different attacks on political activists,
as well as Karabakh war veterans.
In the educational sphere, the United World Colleges opened the
Dilijan International School that is currently attended by nearly
100 students from different parts of the world.
From: Baghdasarian