Yesterday in Valencia city of Spain the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) convened a sitting. Among other issues, the Committee examined the implementation of PACE Resolution 1643 (2009) by Armenian authorities. Member of the Armenian delegation in the PACE Armen Rustamyan told our reporter that no decision was made for Armenia. According to him the co-reporters said that “there were positive changes made by the Armenian government during the mentioned period.” As a response to the question what the co-reporters found as a positive change Rustamyan said the “amendments of the criminal code.” However, according to Rustamyan as these changes haven’t been applied in practice the issue of Armenia will be discussed in April session of the PACE. Has the European Commission suggested releasing the political detainees? To that question Rustamyan said, “not yet.” He also mentioned that most probably the decision about Armenia will be made today. Reminder: in January of this year the PACE didn’t deprive Armenia of the voting right and give another chance to Armenia to make concrete steps. What the monitoring group is going to discuss if almost nothing is changed in Armenia after the PACE January session, except the Articles 225 and 300 of the Armenian Criminal Code. There is no essential move in connection with the revelation of the wrongdoers of the March 1 crimes, the political prisoners are not set free, moreover, they may be planned to be put in psychiatric hospitals one after another; the government in fact did not obstacle but neither authorize the oppositional rally on March 1, let alone that the roads bringing to Yerevan were all closed on that day. Moreover, the government is hurrying to discuss the law draft on the Police armies, which factually gives freedom to it, in regard with the public order protection. The best and appropriate response of the PACE monitoring group should probably be their statement that no discussion will be held because there is nothing to discuss. There can be something to discuss only in case the government does something in connection with the accomplishment of the PACE resolutions creating need to discuss the level of the sufficiency of the steps done. Judging from the gradually improving relations between Armenia and Turkey the PACE evaluation was only “satisfactory.” And the PACE could have been more honest if they had changed the opinion about Armenia.
