In the evening of the previous day the US State Department released its report on Human Rights 2009, which mildly said contains rough evaluation on Armenia. The report underlines that the atmosphere continues to remain heated in Armenia after the fraudulent presidential election of 2008, which caused the death of 10 people. The US State Department has also adverted and criticized the ad hoc commission in charge of the investigation of the events of March 1-2 headed by NA Deputy Chair Samvel Nikoyan. "On January 23, Samvel Nikoyan, head of the ad hoc parliamentary commission investigating the March 2008 postelection violence, called on the government to open criminal proceedings against the four police officers for mishandling riot equipment that resulted in three deaths. On June 24, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) issued a resolution expressing concern about the lack of concrete results of the prosecutor general’s investigation into the deaths and called for the investigation to be satisfactorily concluded without delay. Relatives of some of the persons killed in the clashes criticized the official investigation and the leniency of charges against the officers. At year’s end the criminal proceedings were still in the investigation stage, and no police officer had been prosecuted for mishandling equipment. The significantly flawed February 2008 presidential election and violent break-up of ensuing protests that resulted in 10 deaths continued to fuel a political crisis that remained largely unresolved during the year and resulted in numerous human rights abuses,” reads the State Department report 2009. The report blamed authorities, the opposition, and the media alike for escalating the election-related tensions that preceded the clashes. In fact there is nothing new in the report of the State Department. And the Armenian society is good and well aware of the reality. In fact this report is addressed to the Armenian government. In the current phase of Turkish-Armenian relations this is another reminder that Armenia needs to abide with its obligations. As of yesterday the RA government hasn’t yet responded to the report of the State Department. In the meantime, however, the head of the RPA faction Galust Sahakyan has so rudely “reprimanded” the State Department that the government now has to apologize via the foreign affairs ministry by saying that Sahakyan has got nothing to do with the government. “We cannot agree with this. I don’t think this is the document that we should take into account. The report is very grim and biased. If they don’t see anything positive then it’s their problem,” said Sahakyan by advising the State Department to change their glasses.
