April 16, 2008

Armenia’s Civil Society is Unwavering in Its Rightful Demands From the Authorities

Yerevan—By the initiative of the National Citizens’ Initiative (NCI), Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center, as well as the “Huis” and “Helsinki Civil Assembly” NGOs, the representatives of Armenia’s civil society—and specifically members from over fifty social associations—today gathered, at the Business Center of the American University of Armenia, to discuss the present-day situation in the country. The participants to the civic forum condemned the post-election violence by the authorities, the latter’s curtailing of human rights and fundamental freedoms and carrying out of political pursuits which all have resulted in a widespread public fear of and mistrust toward the current Armenian administration.

The roundtable attendees also adopted a joint statement wherein they demanded from Armenia’s authorities immediately to release all political prisoners and put an end to the large-scale political manhunt and intimidation of the citizens, to abolish those amendments in the Armenian law which aim to legally consolidate tyranny and curb human rights and fundamental freedoms, and to discontinue the untruthful, provoking, prejudiced, and one-sided news coverage, and specifically by the electronic media.

The representatives of human rights NGOs also maintained that they will continue to gather reports on violence and unlawful actions, to inform the body politic regarding these occurrences, and to assist in the holding of fair trials. In addition, those who were eyewitnesses to—and victims of—unlawful actions, as well as those who had any information on such actions were encouraged to provide relevant facts with respect to any violation of human rights and political pursuits by calling or writing to the following telephone numbers or email addresses:

For further information on the National Citizens’ Initiative, please call (37410) 27-16-00 or 27-00-03; fax (37410) 52-48-46; email info@nci.am.