US embassy cable - 04YEREVAN997

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000997 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PHUM, AM 
SUBJECT:  LACKLUSTER OPPOSITION RALLY AND A 
TENTATIVE DIALOGUE WITH A FEW NEW DETENTIONS 
 
REF:  YEREVAN 975 
 
1. (U) Sensitive But Unclassified.  Please treat 
accordingly. 
 
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SUMMARY 
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2. (SBU) Following two days of meetings between the 
opposition and the governing coalition, the 
opposition's April 27 rally of about 5000 
participants went off without incident but with 15 
people taken to the police the next day (April 28), 
questioned and subsequently released.  Over the past 
two weeks, authorities have arrested six opposition 
supporters on criminal charges.  Without being able 
to provide precise numbers, the Human Rights 
Ombudsman's office reports that the majority of 
opposition supporters detained administratively have 
been released.  End Summary. 
 
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BAGHDASARIAN MEETS WITH OPPOSITION 
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3. (SBU) National Assembly Speaker Artur 
Baghdasarian chaired meetings April 26 and 27 
including members of all parliamentary factions as 
well as opposition politician Victor Dalakyan and a 
representative of the National Unity Party.  During 
the meetings Dalakyan reportedly presented the 
following demands: 
 
-- Release all detainees; 
-- Stop political prosecutions; 
-- Ensure the constitutional rights of citizens 
(freedom of movement, assembly and speech); 
-- Withdraw the current bill on rallies and 
demonstrations from consideration at the NA; 
-- Debate proposed referendum of confidence 
legislation; 
-- Provide access to live broadcast time to the 
opposition on state television broadcasts; 
-- Ensure that those who violated election law 
during the 2003 elections are punished; and 
-- Drop all legal cases against opposition 
supporters. 
 
4. (SBU) Although the opposition has announced 
strong disappointment that the governing coalition 
has not agreed to its demands wholesale, the 
opposition has also announced that it will "give the 
government one more week" (until May 4) to meet its 
demands and seems to be willing to at least consider 
participating in a political dialogue on some 
issues.  In a meeting with us April 28, one of the 
opposition parliamentarians hinted that the 
opposition might be looking for a face-saving way to 
end their boycott of the National Assembly. 
 
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LACKLUSTER RALLY, FEW NEW DETENTIONS 
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5. (SBU) The opposition's April 27 rally at Opera 
Square attracted roughly 5000 demonstrators, who 
listened to three hours of speeches politely, then 
dispersed.  (Note:  The opposition's sound system 
once again failed to work consistently, making many 
of the speeches difficult, if not impossible, to 
follow.  End Note.)  We noted little enthusiasm in 
the largely older, unemployed and male crowd, with 
most participants carrying on extended and loud 
conversations with the people standing near them 
rather than paying attention to the speakers.  We 
spoke with various opposition party headquarters 
April 28 and they reported 15 new detentions in 
Yerevan following the April 27 rally (with all 15 
released following questioning).  Opposition leaders 
report additional detentions of party activists 
outside of Yerevan, for a total of 35. 
 
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OMBUDSMAN ON DETENTION NUMBERS 
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6. (SBU) According to Human Rights Ombudsman Larissa 
Alaverdian and her staff, over the course of the 
past several weeks roughly 200-300 people have been 
administratively detained, with about 80 percent of 
them held briefly and released (some protesters have 
been fined the equivalent of USD 1 to USD 4).  The 
Ombudsman has no exact numbers of those in 
administrative detention at the end of April 28, but 
estimates that it could be no more than 50, and is 
likely considerably fewer.  Over the past two weeks, 
authorities have arrested six opposition supporters 
on criminal charges ranging from weapons charges to 
charges of attempting to overthrow the government by 
non-constitutional means. 
 
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COMMENT: LOOKING FOR A WAY OUT? 
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7. (SBU) In announcing its intention to give the 
government a week to meet its demands the opposition 
appears to be looking for a way to back off slightly 
from its previous uncompromising positions.  The 
lack of wide-spread public support for the 
opposition's as-yet-unformulated program for its 
next steps undoubtedly played a role in the 
opposition's decision to lower the rhetorical 
temperature for the time being.  The police's 
decision to detain political activists yet again, 
however briefly, following the April 27 rally is 
disquieting, and a measure of how far apart the two 
sides remain. 
WALKER