'Deteriorating' human rights in Armenia cause for concern, conference told

Recent demonstrations in Armenia represent an expression of public concern about "deteriorating" human rights in the country, a Brussels conference was told.

Speaking in the European Parliament, Maciej Falkowski, of the Warsaw-based Centre for Eastern Studies, said the protests, supposedly about a hike in energy prices, also reflect ongoing concern about social, economic and political problems afflicting the country.

"Armenia faces a crisis of its entire political system," Falkowski  told the event, organized by Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF), a leading Brussels-based non-Governmental Organisation.

The debate comes on the eve of a referendum in Armenia this Sunday (6 December) on changes to the country's constitution and also in the wake of recent street protests which, it was said, highlight growing concerns about alleged human rights violations.

Falkowski said demonstrators had taken to the streets against a proposed big electricity price increases but that there was also a "definite" anti-Russian element to the protests.

The 50-strong audience, comprising MEPs, NGOs and EU experts, was shown a short news film of the protests which clearly showed violence being used by the Armenian authorities against the peaceful demonstration.

Opening the lively two-hour discussion, entitled 'Armenia between Eurasia and EU', Estonian centre-right MEP Tunne Kelam noted that Armenia was one of the earliest Christian civilizations and that its first churches were founded in the fourth century.

"However," he said, "Armenia is now a country caught in the crosswinds between Europe and Eurasia."

Corruption was "widespread" and the country's oligarchs had sought to displace the influence of the Church in order to "boost their own social status."

Kelam, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, pointed to several resolutions adopted on Armenia by the European Parliament which had expressed concerns about rights violations.

One particular area of concern, he noted, was corruption in the judiciary and lack of separation between the legislative, executive and judicial powers.

The discussion was told that civil society in Armenia, which gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, had been shocked by the decision in January of the Armenian President Serj Sargsyan to turn his back on the EU and instead join the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union.

Falkowski said: "Russia controls Armenia's electricity network and, having joined Eurasian, falls further under Russia's political umbrella," adding, "so, yes, there was definitely an anti-Russia element to the protests."

Human rights activist Ben Kennard, another keynote speaker, spoke about the European dimension, the "ill-treatment" of people who are arrested on trumped-up charges and the "systemic" problem of domestic violence in Armenia.

Kennard, of the European Caucasus House (EUCASA), a Brussels-based NGO, said that many women in Armenia were reluctant to report abuse as they did not believe their complaint would be properly investigated by the police.

"There is a feeling that the police do not follow up complaints while support services for female victims of abuse are also insufficient, he noted.

Turning to the EU dimension, Kennard pointed out that while Armenia enjoyed tariff-free access to European markets for certain goods, the country was also the signatory to some 27 international conventions and a member of both the UN and Council of Europe.

"It is important," he argued, "that the international community, including the EU, closely monitors implementation of these conventions in the future and addresses these issues."

Kennard also believes that continued visa liberalization with Armenia, which was initiated last year, should be made conditional upon the introduction of comprehensive anti-discrimination laws.

"Visa liberalization should not come at the cost of human rights," he declared. This, he suggests, could also be a way of further promoting "decent" human rights in the country.

He told the debate: "We should not give up on Armenia and human rights and its Eurasian membership is not necessarily incompatible with achieving decent standards of human rights. But this is a crucial time for Armenia."

The EU, said Kennard, also had a role to play in "communicating human rights issues and values" to Armenian citizens, adding: "It is important that ordinary people in the country are exposed to these topics."

Willy Fautre, director of HRWF, addressed serious problems with the country's judiciary and also addressed the decision, after 15 years of an "increasingly close relationship" with the EU, including "significant" economic integration and deepening political cooperation, to join the Eurasian Economic Union.

"This abrupt political U-turn in January of this year, obviously imposed by Moscow, interrupted a number of legislative processes in the field of human rights and created uncertainty among civil society about the future of democratic processes," he said.

Fautre pointed to a study by Armenian NGOs detailing some 56 separate rights violations by the police in a three month period at the start of 2015, including 19 cases of freedom of assembly.

He also highlighted particular problems in the judiciary, saying that Armenian society  "holds low trust" in the judiciary which is "permeated with corruption and remains largely under executive control."

He said Armenian civil society has described the problem as systemic, adding that merely 15% of Armenian citizens said they had trust in the justice system while 53% said they mistrusted it.

"This is not only my opinion but is an opinion raised by many international organizations and human rights NGOs."

Further contribution came from Dr Mark Barwick, policy analyst of HRWF, who also addressed the issue of discrimination against the lesbian and gay community in Armenia, calling it a "lens" for which to view other human rights issues in the landlocked country.

"If you are gay Russia is one of the worst countries to live. But the problems of the LGBT community is emblematic of how minorities are treated generally in the country and how Russia has sought to exert its influence in the region. That's the bigger picture," he said.

He accused Moscow of "actively promoting" homophobia and hereby supporting campaigns against human rights defenders in Armenia, saying Russia had made "colossal efforts" to harden the position of the country's political leaders towards the LGBT community.

"Gay people in Armenia are fearful of being outed into a hostile society where they are not understood or offered any sort of legal protection."

In a question and answer session, Arman Israelian, a representative of Armenia's embassy to the EU, questioned the scale of rights abuses in his country, saying it was wrong to describe it as "systemic".

The diplomat also insisted that the Armenian authorities listen to any complaints raised by civil society.

However, Fautre countered by stating that his assessment was based on the "many conversations" he had had over a period of time with numerous civil society groups in Armenia.

Fautre concluded by saying, "Armenia is currently swinging between Europe and Russia. Some are optimistic about the future, while others are not. But when it comes to human rights abuses we must all remain vigilant."

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