US embassy cable - 03YEREVAN2853

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 002853 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN; DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PREL, AM 
SUBJECT:  COE SKEPTICAL NEW OMBUDSMAN LAW MEETS 
MEMBERSHIP OBLIGATIONS 
 
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
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SUMMARY 
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2. (SBU) Under substantial pressure from the Council of 
Europe, the Armenian National Assembly (NA) voted 
September 9 to create the position of Human Rights 
Ombudsman to oversee the human rights situation the 
country.  Numerous human rights NGOs and the Council of 
Europe itself have voiced serious misgivings about the 
independence of the ombudsman, and urged the National 
Assembly to enact further legislation to provide 
greater parliamentary oversight of the position and 
further define the ombudsman's duties.  End Summary. 
 
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OMBUDSMAN LAW FINALLY PASSED 
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3. (SBU) As part of its membership obligations to the 
Council Of Europe (COE), Armenia was required to create 
the position of a Human Rights Ombudsman, an individual 
who would take responsibility for the protection of 
human rights and civil liberties in the country.  In 
September 2002, a COE investigative panel found Armenia 
generally negligent in adopting the legislative reforms 
required by the body, and set a deadline of January 
2004 for their adoption.  To meet the COE's deadline, 
the government has aggressively pushed several high- 
profile human rights related bills through the National 
Assembly (NA) during the fall 2003 session.  The NA 
passed the bill creating the ombudsman position 
September 9, and President Kocharian signed it into 
law.  Under the Armenian constitution, the president 
would appoint the ombudsman and, according to several 
government sources, he is likely to do so by the end of 
the year. 
 
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COE: OMBUDSMAN BILL NOT WHAT WE EXPECTED 
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4. (SBU) According to Natalia Vutova, Special 
Representative of the COE Secretary-General in Armenia, 
Armenia's ombudsman bill does not meet COE standards. 
Vutova contends that both the COE and OSCE have very 
explicit requirements for human rights ombudsmen, 
including its complete independence from executive 
authority.  Under the current Armenian constitutional 
framework, the National Assembly is not empowered to 
review the president's selection for the ombudsman 
post, which would be under executive administration. 
Vutova stated that the COE requires "not just laws to 
be adopted, but the right laws with the right content." 
The ombudsman law, along with draft laws on alternative 
military service and the media, falls short of meeting 
COE requirements. 
 
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HUMAN RIGHTS NGOs ALSO SKEPTICAL 
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5. (U) Human rights NGOs, including the Helsinki 
Commission, the International Union of Lawyers, and the 
Armenian Union of Journalists, organized a seminar in 
October 2003 to discuss the shortcomings of the 
ombudsman law.  Most agreed that the lack of 
independence of the ombudsman would make the post 
nearly as ineffective at examining the human rights 
situation as the Presidential Commission on Human 
Rights, which has not held hearings on any issue in a 
year.  The Helsinki Commission of Armenia noted that in 
a frantic rush to meet the COE deadline, the NA was 
passing ineffectual human rights laws.  Helsinki 
Commission Chairman Avetik Ishkhanyan said to the 
press, "It seems that Armenian authorities are in a 
hurry to [fulfill] several [COE] obligations, but they 
don't care how they are going to do that." 
 
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CANDIDATE FOR OMBUDSMAN NOTES LAW'S SHORTCOMINGS 
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6. (SBU) Larissa Alaverdian, a member of the 
President's Commission on Human Rights and former 
parliamentarian, pointed to additional shortcomings in 
the ombudsman law.  She contended that the ombudsman 
law had serious structural flaws, and would have to be 
amended.  According to Alaverdian, the ombudsman's 
duties are not clearly defined, nor is the position's 
relationship to other government agencies.  Alverdian 
stated that another concern is that the ombudsman does 
not have an independent budget, and would have to rely 
on the executive branch to fund its operations. 
Alverdian confirmed recent press speculation that she 
is one of three finalists for the ombudsman position, 
and, despite her misgivings about the law, she told us 
she would accept and welcome the appointment. 
 
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COMMENT: COE CONCERNS MAY RESULT IN PUNITIVE ACTION 
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7. (SBU) The concerns raised by the COE over the 
ombudsman law highlight its disagreement with the GOAM 
over what membership obligations to the organization 
entail.  Armenia's seeming indifference to the COE 
protests over the content of its human rights 
legislation, including bills on alternative military 
service, the media, and the ombudsman, and its 
continued failure to meet deadlines for constitutional 
reform could have negative consequences for its 
membership in the organization.  The Parliamentary 
Assembly of the Council of Europe has commissioned a 
report on Armenia that will be released in January 2004 
that will address the dispute over Armenia's membership 
obligations.  Vutova said that based on the report, 
which will also include a review of the flawed Armenian 
2003 presidential and parliamentary elections, PACE may 
decide to impose punitive actions, such as the 
suspension of the Armenian delegation's voting 
privileges. 
 
ORDWAY