US embassy cable - 04YEREVAN880

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000880 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN; DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, AM 
SUBJECT:  RIOT POLICE BREAK UP DEMONSTRATION IN EARLY 
MORNING HOURS; SEVERAL PARLIAMENTARIANS DETAINED 
 
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
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SUMMARY 
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2. (SBU) At approximately 2:00 a.m. April 13, Armenian 
riot police dispersed a crowd of about one thousand 
opposition supporters that had remained in front of the 
National Assembly since 6:00 p.m. the previous day. 
The police used flash grenades, water cannons and 
batons to push the crowd away from the parliament 
building.  The police have detained an unknown number 
of opposition supporters.  Armenia's Human Rights 
Ombudsman confirms that several prominent opposition 
parliamentarians were detained.  An unknown number of 
opposition supporters have been hospitalized for 
injuries sustained during the confrontation with police 
forces.  End Summary. 
 
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RIOT POLICE BREAK UP DEMONSTRATION 
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3. (SBU) At approximately 2:00 a.m. April 13, Armenian 
riot police dispersed a crowd of about one thousand 
opposition supporters that had remained in front of the 
National Assembly since 6:00 p.m. the previous day. 
Embassy security camera video shows that at 1:50 a.m., 
police fired stun grenades in the direction of the 
demonstrators.  Approximately four minutes later, 
police directed water cannons at the crowd, special 
riot police units then moved into the crowd.  The riot 
police struck an unknown number of demonstrators with 
batons, and chased them down the street, away from the 
National Assembly building.  The newspaper Haykakan 
Zhamanak and the Russian Television station ORT report 
that the police beat journalists from their 
organizations.  One Embassy employee told us she 
witnessed several riot policemen chasing a demonstrator 
and then beating him with their batons for 30 seconds. 
President Kocharian told the Ambassador that the crowd 
engaged in violence, and that twenty policemen were 
injured during the course of the operation, with three 
hospitalized.  (Our review of the video suggests that 
there may have been some objects thrown by 
demonstrators, but only after the first stun grenade 
was fired.) 
 
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DOCTOR CONFIRMS INJURIES 
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4. (SBU) A doctor working at a local hospital told us 
that she had personally treated five individuals who 
were injured during the police action.  Three of them, 
including the ORT journalist, had been treated for cuts 
and bruises and released.  Two others remained 
hospitalized, both with injuries to their legs 
sustained when stun grenades exploded in their close 
proximity. 
 
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OPPOSITION PARTY HEADQUARTERS RAIDED, CLOSED 
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5. (SBU) Police raided the offices of the opposition 
parties who had organized the anti-government rallies, 
detaining an unknown number of party workers.  Armenian 
People's Party (APP) Spokeswoman Ruzanna Khachatryan 
phoned us as police were entering the party 
headquarters at approximately 2:30 a.m.  Khachatryan 
reported that police were breaking into the building. 
The APP and Khachatryan's parents informed us later in 
the day that she is currently in detention at a local 
police station.  At midday April 13, we visited the 
headquarters of the National Accord Party, the Republic 
Party, and the APP.  A police vehicle was parked 
outside of the National Accord offices, and a large 
police contingent had completely sealed the Republic 
Party offices.  No police were present at APP 
headquarters, but a crowd of approximately 40 
supporters of APP leader Stepan Demirchian waited 
outside.  Many were in tears, and told us that waited 
for Demirchian to arrive to "provide instruction." 
From what we could see of the party offices, they 
appeared to be completely ransacked:  no party workers 
were present.  (Note:  We could observe the ground- 
level offices of the APP from the street.  End Note.) 
The Ambassador subsequently spoke with Demirchian, who 
said he was in his office, but that it had been 
ransacked by the police. 
 
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PARLIAMENTARIANS DETAINED 
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6. (SBU) Armenia's Human Rights Ombudsman, Larissa 
Alaverdian, told us that she could confirm that several 
leading opposition deputies had been detained. 
According to Alaverdian, National Assembly members 
Tatul Manasarian, Arshak Sadoyan, Shavarsh Kocharian, 
and Albert Bazayan were taken into police custody. 
(Note:  We spoke with Manasarian later in the day; his 
detention was brief.  End Note.)  As members of the 
National Assembly they are entitled to complete 
immunity from prosecution: it is unclear under which 
authority the police hold them in detention.  OSCE 
Ambassador Vladimir Pryakhin told us that he has been 
informed that all four parliamentarians will be 
released by the end of the day.  A National Democratic 
Institute representative told us that opposition 
parties have reported the detention of at least four 
other National Assembly members:  Alexan Karapetyan of 
the National Accord, Vardan Mkrtchyan of APP, as well 
as Artak Zeynalyan and Vagharshak Harutunyan of the 
Republic Party.  National Assembly Speaker Baghdasarian 
told the Ambassador that he had assurances from the 
police that no deputies had been "arrested," rather, 
they had been "detained for questioning."  He said he 
expected them to be released shortly. 
 
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COMMENT: PROVOCATION AND OVERKILL 
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7. (SBU) It is not clear that the opposition calculated 
the impact of their decision to maintain a large crowd 
in the street indefinitely.  They left themselves no 
maneuvering room, and were either unwilling or unable 
to declare the demonstration a success and disband at a 
certain time--a decision that would have completely 
changed the current negative dynamic.  The authorities, 
for their part, allowed the demonstration to continue 
for about eight hours, despite the fact that the 
protestors had closed a major city street.  Earlier, 
they had not interfered with a much longer 
demonstration by several hundred activists over the 
weekend in the plaza adjacent to the Opera House. 
However, while the police actions to disperse the 
protestors involved only non-lethal force, its use 
turned excessive as demonstrators were fleeing. 
Subsequent efforts to detain opposition supporters and 
ransack opposition party offices are even more 
troubling.  The combination of opposition provocation, 
and government overkill, render the prospects of a 
quick political resolution to the crisis remote indeed. 
ORDWAY