Via the International Herald Tribune, The Associated Press reports that four Yezidis, including three children, set themselves on fire today. The act of self immolation was in protest at the inaction of the police in investigating the death of the children’s father. Their grandmother also set herself on fire opposite the Presidential Palace on Yerevan’s […]
Kanayq Hayots, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2006
As I recently posted, an albeit small action to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, as well as raise awareness of the arguably regressing role of women in peace-building and society in general in the South Caucasus, was […]
Reporters Without Borders is organizing an online campaign against net censorship. The campaign focuses on 13 countries with particularly bad records in this area as well as Yahoo who have self-imposed restrictions, as well as worked with the local authorities to persecute dissidents and journalists, in China.
More than 60 cyber-dissidents around the world are currently […]
Ara at Martuni or Bust writes about human trafficking that is becoming more serious in Armenia and in the rural areas in particular where people are poorer. In my previous post discussing the industriousness of the Armenian woman, you can understand how people praying on these young women can use their drive to improve […]
Via Georgien, news of a report on Nationalism, Conflict and Minorities in the South Caucasus published by Minority Rights Group International.
It is ten years since the former Soviet Union Republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia became independent states of the South Caucasus. This report sheds light on a region which is under-reported and […]
Embassy of the Russian Federation, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006
Until recently, Nessuna at the now defunct di cavoli e di re was posting some excellent and very poignant coverage of an increase in attacks on people from the South Caucasus and Central Asia in Russia. Now, according to PanArmenian.net, […]
With tomorrow marking the anniversary adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, statements about the inviolability of the document as the basis for the State abound. First up is the Armenian Prime Minister, Andranik Markarian.
“The Organic Law helped to realize the fundamental principles of independent Armenia and was the guarantor of its […]
Nessuna over at di cavoli e di re has posted her thoughts on today’s protest outside the Russian Embassy in Armenia. It’s worth pointing out that not only did Nessuna tell me about the action, but she also made sure that she attended it. Unfortunately, not many other Armenians felt taking an hour out of their “busy” schedule was worth it.
The good part is there are people who care, even if it’s only a few dozen. The media was present in front of the embassy (which was good), and they accompanied the crowd to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, 45 minutes later.
Why protest? Because one cannot keep silent when racist violence is growing in Russia, and the Russian government does nothing to stop the madness. Well, the Foreign Ministry in Armenia is not any better because it is keeping silent.
Nessuna has also posted an interesting comment to the same post that would have made an excellent blog entry, but anyway.
Just talked to a friend in Moscow on icq, and she was keen on leaving Russia. The sooner the better. Jesus, the whole situation is worse than I thought.
“Of course there are fewer people in Moscow; nobody is crazy to go on a protest in Moscow,†she told me. “The situation is getting really dangerous. They will kick everybody out of Russia, and the government won’t do anything.â€
Today, for example, she was approached by some guys in the subway, who showed her a photo of Bin Laden and told her to confess he was her relative. Few days ago again in the subway a 60 year old woman tripped a young girl up, just because she had dark skin. In daylight, with people watching. The girl fell down, nobody even moved.
Two days ago when she called regarding some job and asked if she could email the link to her portfolio, she was asked what nation she was and then was told there was no need to send the link, because they would not even consider hiring her. Whenever there is an announcement for selling/buying/renting something it almost always specifies FOR RUSSIANS ONLY.
Those are not skinheads, those are “normal†citizens of Russian Federation.
This makes me sick…
Anyway, RFE/RL has posted Anna’s story in English, and it pretty much sums up today’s protest. Although it is exam period for many students in Yerevan at the moment, it really is depressing to find that the vast majority of youth in Armenia are apathetic and couldn’t care less about anything.
Several dozen people staged a rare demonstration outside the Russian embassy in Yerevan on Monday to condemn and protest against the continuing racially motivated killings of Armenians and other dark-skinned residents of Russia.
The protesters, most of them representatives of several Armenian civic groups, accused Moscow of connivance and even complicity in the xenophobic violence widely blamed on tens of thousands of neo-Nazi skinheads operating across Russia. They also denounced the Armenian government’s reluctance to bring the Kremlin to task over the killings.
[…]
Russian human rights organizations say a total of at least 15 people from the Caucasus, Central Asia and Africa have lost their lives in racist attacks since January. The death toll for the last year is estimated at 28.
Few of the perpetrators of those killings have been arrested and brought to justice, with Russian law-enforcement agencies and courts notoriously lenient towards them. A case in point was the trial in Russia’s second largest city of St. Petersburg of seven teenagers who were convicted of collectively stabbing to death a 9-year-old Tajik girl but were sentenced to only between 18 months and five years in prison last February.
In a petition handed to Russian embassy officials, the organizers of the Yerevan protest suggested that the neo-Nazi groups guilty of the attacks are openly operating “with the sponsorship of some Russian state structures.â€
[…]
The protesters also marched to the Armenian Foreign Ministry to condemn its failure to publicly criticize the Russian authorities for their failure to stop the violence. Armenia’s ambassador in Moscow and other diplomats say they regularly raise the issue with Russian officials. But the organizers of the protest insisted that Yerevan is scared of openly challenging its ex-Soviet master and closest ally.
Unfortunately, civil society in Armenia is also still rather impotent, and even the Babe Theory of Political Movements didn’t seem to help. Anyway, A1 Plus also has a news item here.
Embassy of the Russian Federation, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006
Embassy of the Russian Federation, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006
On 5 June 2006 a few dozen young Armenians and representatives of Civil Society assembled outside the Russian Embassy in Yerevan to protest against an unprecedented number of attacks against Armenians and other nationalities in Russia. It was also encouraging to see a number of Armenian-Americans also turning out, although it has to be said that the police and security at the Embassy acted like jerks.
Anyway, after handing in a petition and distributing leaflets that also criticized the Russian authorities for failing to take action against those nationalist and racist groups believed to be responsible for the attacks, the protestors then marched to stage a demonstration outside the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Armenia. Thanks to Nessuna for informing me about today’s action.
The text of the leaflets handed out read as follows:
Statement
The repeated occurrence of virulent racism and xenophobia in Russia in recent years is of great concern. In 2005 alone, 28 persons from ethnic groups other than Russian were murdered and another 402 such persons were assaulted and battered by racist groups. Targeted predominantly are persons who come from the Caucasus and Central Asia, with Armenians constituting a large number among those. Nationalist groups make anti-Armenian pronouncements. They committed ethnic hostility-motivated murders of six young Armenian young men in 2006 in Moscow alone. Yevgeny Baghdasarian, Hayk Dolukhanian, Harutiun Galstian, Robert Feroyan and Vigen Abrahamiants were among their victims as was Arthur Sardarian, the most recent victim murdered on May 25.
The fact that racist and fascist groups operate in an unimpeded fashion and that criminal acts and murders go for the most part unpunished gives grounds to believe that the said groups operate under the patronage of certain State structures of the Russian Federation. We, the representatives of the Armenian non-governmental organizations and the citizens of Armenia, condemn strongly the actions of the racist group raging in Russia and inadequate steps taken with respect to them and demand that the Russian Federation authorities should take prompt action to detain the murderers and bring them to justice.
Helsinki Committee of Armenia, NGO
For Science Development Initiative Group
Collaboration for Democracy, NGO
Free Forum for Civil Initiatives, NGO
Legal Center Forum, NGO
Citadel, NGO
Hope, NGO
Student Council of American University of Armenia
Yeritac Youth, NGO
World Independent Youth Union, NGO
Meanwhile, A1 Plus reports that similar actions were also being held in Moscow. Unfortunately, as was the case here in Yerevan, it doesn’t look as though many people turned out. It appears to be politically expedient for some to decry attacks in Georgia while remaining silent about many more incidents in Russia. In fact, both are wrong.
The Armenian community of Moscow has started a series of rallies in memory of the victims of the skinheads. The organizers of one of the rallies were young people from the Armenian community of Moscow and the nearby areas.
Students and lecturers of the Moscow State University, representatives of NGOs and members of the Armenian Intellectuals’ Union participated in the rally. By the way, the Union of Armenians in Russia refrained from participating in the June 3 rally saying that it was not allowed by the authorities, newspaper «Yerkramas» informs.
Still, that today’s event occured at all is positive, and not least since media attention was significant. I can remember seeing the ARF-D linked Yerkir Media TV there along with some other stations, but can’t recall if Public TV was present. If anyone watches the news tonight please post a comment on whether it reported on the demonstration.
It’s also worth pointing you in the direction of two posts by Nessuna on this subject matter. In addition to posting something on this blog recently, she also posted a news item on the latest murder of an Armenian in Moscow on her own blog. Anna Saghabalyan from RFE/RL was also present today so if there’s anything in English later on I’ll post it and also some more pics.
Embassy of the Russian Federation, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006
Armenian Foreign Ministry, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Hetq Online 2006
I missed this story when it came out last Thursday, but it came up in discussion with RFE/RL’s Emil Danielyan last night and I did see that Blogrel posted something on this rather concerning story. As most parents will tell you, the last place they want their sons to end up is in the Armenian military, and not least because more end up dead as a result of hazing than from the enemy.
Factor in a normal “salary” of $3 a month for a conscript and apalling food, and you can perhaps understand why many pay thousands of dollars in bribes to get out of serving their country. However, this story surpasses all of that.
Three Armenian army soldiers are facing a life in prison, accused of a double murder which they say they did not commit and which their lawyers believe was the work of their military commander in Nagorno-Karabakh.
An appeals court in Yerevan convicted this week Razmik Sargsian, Musa Serobian and Arayik Zalian of killing two fellow conscripts in December 2003, in a trial denounced by Armenian human rights organizations as a parody of justice.
The high-profile case has cast a rare media spotlight on dozens of out-of-combat deaths that occur in Armenia’s Armed Forces each year. Official figures show that Armenian servicemen are at much greater risk of dying at the hands of their commanders and comrades than from enemy fire.
[…]
Several soldiers of their unit were promptly arrested by military prosecutors on suspicion of involvement in the crime. One of them effectively testified that the killings were committed by none other than Captain Ivan Grigorian, the Karabakh Armenian commander of their battalion.
The investigators, however, dismissed the testimony, releasing the suspects and arresting three other soldiers that were subsequently given life sentences. The conviction was based on a videotaped “confession†made by one of them, Razmik Sargsian, after fours days of interrogation in April 2004. Sargsian and a team of lawyers representing the three men insists that the confession was extracted under sadistic duress and threats of rape. The 20-year-old has alleged that Armenia’s chief military prosecutor, Gagik Jahangirian, personally punched him in the face.
Although Sargsian’s face was clearly swollen and bruised in video of the interrogation shown during a court session in Yerevan last year, the investigators have strongly denied torturing him. A court in the Karabakh capital Stepanakert, which has a legally questionable status of an Armenian district court contradicting Armenia’s constitution, refused to investigate the torture allegations before sentencing the three servicemen to 15 years in prison one year ago.
[…]
Larisa Alaverdian, Armenia’s former human rights ombudsperson who has personally dealt with the case, likewise decried “blatant violations†of due process which she believes were committed during the pre-trial investigation and the court hearings in Stepanakert and Yerevan.
[…]
The three young men may now spend the rest of their lives behind bars because of what another human rights campaigner, Mikael Danielian, regards as yet another high-level cover-up of army deaths. “This case is not unprecedented,†he told RFE/RL. “There have been numerous such cases. It’s just that they did not have so much resonance.â€
[…]
The Armenian military insists that the number of deaths within its ranks has steadily declined since the late 1990s. However, even the official death statistics shows that it is still far from eliminating the problem. According to the Military Prosecutor’s Office, 89 soldiers died in the course of last year and only 15 of them were shot dead in skirmishes with Azerbaijani forces on the Karabakh frontline and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
Ishkhanian estimated that at least 1,000 Armenian conscripts aged between 18 and 20 have lost their lives in out-of-combat incidents since the 1994 truce. He could not recall any instances of senior or mid-ranking army officers prosecuted in connection with those deaths.
Great stuff, and something for the Diaspora to bear in mind when they consider applying for citizenship of the Republic of Armenia, or before they condemn the rest of us for decrying the lack of the rule of law and blatant human rights violations in the country. The full news item is here.
