The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) has avoided discussing the political situation in Armenia at its ongoing spring session, once again extending its deadline for the release of dozens of Armenian opposition members remaining in jail.
In a fresh resolution on Armenia adopted in January, the PACE again deplored their continuing imprisonment but backed down on its threats to suspend the voting rights of the assembly’s Armenian members.
The resolution cited Yerevan’s pledge to amend Armenian Criminal Code articles used against the most prominent of the oppositionists arrested following the February 2008 presidential elections. It instructed the PACE’s Monitoring Committee to monitor the fulfillment of that pledge and “propose any further action to be taken by the Assembly” ahead of its next session scheduled for April 27-30.
The Armenian parliament passed the promised amendments on March 18, leading state prosecutors to drop coup charges brought against seven opposition figures accused of organizing the deadly post-election clashes in Yerevan. None of them was set free, however. A total of 55 loyalists of opposition Levon Ter-Petrosian remain under arrest.
The Monitoring Committee has twice discussed the matter since then and refrained from making any recommendations to the PACE. Its two Armenia rapporteurs, John Prescott and Georges Colombier, have welcomed the adopted amendments. As a consequence, the issue was not included on the agenda of the current assembly session that began on Monday.
The committee held its most recent meeting on the same day. According to Zaruhi Postanjian, the only opposition member of the Armenian parliamentary delegation in Strasbourg, the meeting lasted for only 15 minutes. Postanjian said she told committee members that the Armenian authorities have done little to comply with all three PACE resolutions adopted over the past year.
“Mr. Prescott objected to what I said, saying that he is also aware of other opinions and that they are still discussing the issue,” she told RFE/RL by phone.
Prescott, who had previously served as Britain’s deputy prime minister, and Colombier met on Tuesday with Arman Grigorian, a Swiss-based representative of Ter-Petrosian’s Armenian National Congress (HAK). Speaking to RFE/RL from Strasbourg, Grigorian said they told him that they have not recommended any further PACE action on Armenia because of their continuing negotiations with Armenian leaders and “certain processes” resulting from the Criminal Code amendments. “In essence, they have to wait until those processes are over,” he said.
Grigorian earlier criticized the Council of Europe leadership’s refusal to again discuss Yerevan’s compliance with its resolutions, saying that it “raises some questions about the PACE’s credibility.”
The resolution cited Yerevan’s pledge to amend Armenian Criminal Code articles used against the most prominent of the oppositionists arrested following the February 2008 presidential elections. It instructed the PACE’s Monitoring Committee to monitor the fulfillment of that pledge and “propose any further action to be taken by the Assembly” ahead of its next session scheduled for April 27-30.
The Armenian parliament passed the promised amendments on March 18, leading state prosecutors to drop coup charges brought against seven opposition figures accused of organizing the deadly post-election clashes in Yerevan. None of them was set free, however. A total of 55 loyalists of opposition Levon Ter-Petrosian remain under arrest.
The Monitoring Committee has twice discussed the matter since then and refrained from making any recommendations to the PACE. Its two Armenia rapporteurs, John Prescott and Georges Colombier, have welcomed the adopted amendments. As a consequence, the issue was not included on the agenda of the current assembly session that began on Monday.
The committee held its most recent meeting on the same day. According to Zaruhi Postanjian, the only opposition member of the Armenian parliamentary delegation in Strasbourg, the meeting lasted for only 15 minutes. Postanjian said she told committee members that the Armenian authorities have done little to comply with all three PACE resolutions adopted over the past year.
“Mr. Prescott objected to what I said, saying that he is also aware of other opinions and that they are still discussing the issue,” she told RFE/RL by phone.
Prescott, who had previously served as Britain’s deputy prime minister, and Colombier met on Tuesday with Arman Grigorian, a Swiss-based representative of Ter-Petrosian’s Armenian National Congress (HAK). Speaking to RFE/RL from Strasbourg, Grigorian said they told him that they have not recommended any further PACE action on Armenia because of their continuing negotiations with Armenian leaders and “certain processes” resulting from the Criminal Code amendments. “In essence, they have to wait until those processes are over,” he said.
Grigorian earlier criticized the Council of Europe leadership’s refusal to again discuss Yerevan’s compliance with its resolutions, saying that it “raises some questions about the PACE’s credibility.”