US embassy cable - 05YEREVAN1927

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 001927 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN, DRL 
NSC FOR DAVID MERKEL 
USMISSION OSCE FOR KIT TRAUB 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/01/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PHUM, AM 
SUBJECT: LOCAL ELECTIONS END WITH ALLEGATIONS OF CONTINUED 
VIOLATIONS 
 
REF: A) YEREVAN 1790 B) YEREVAN 1731 
 
Classified By: A/DCM Robin Phillips for reasons 1.4 (b,d). 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1. (C) Armenian local elections -- held September 18 through 
October 23 -- met international standards, Central Electoral 
Commission Head Garegin Azaryan told reporters during an 
October 28 press conference.  Local election monitors, 
however, disputed Azaryan's claim and alleged "widespread 
violations" that included voter list inaccuracies, police 
interference, ballot box stuffing, illegal campaigning, and 
abuse of proxy rights.  Council of Europe (CoE) Special 
Representative Bojana Urumova previewed a November 9 report 
that she told us would support domestic monitors' claims of 
"widespread violations."  End Summary. 
 
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ELECTIONS OFFICIAL:  ELECTIONS MET INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS 
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2. (C) Central Electoral Commission (CEC) Head Garegin 
Azaryan, told reporters at an October 28 CEC press conference 
that Armenian local elections -- held September 18 through 
October 23 -- met international standards.  (Note:  Azaryan 
is one of few GOAM officials to publicly endorse the local 
elections as "free and fair."  End Note.)  Azaryan quoted 
Council of Europe (CoE) monitoring team leader Sean O'Brien, 
who told reporters during an October 17 press conference that 
the local elections were "generally consistent with the 
Council of Europe's electoral standards."  (Note:  On October 
31, CoE Special Representative Bojana Urumova told us that a 
full CoE report on the local elections -- scheduled for 
release on November 9 -- would contradict O'Brien's 
assessment, and be much closer to the generally negative 
evaluations of domestic observers.  "O'Brien's comments were 
unfortunate," Urumova told us.) 
 
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ELECTIONS FAILED TO MEET INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS 
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3. (C) Armenian NGO "It's Your Choice" (funded by the 
National Democratic Institute and the British Embassy and 
generally linked to the government's detractors) released 
weekly reports throughout the election period documenting 
"widespread violations and voter list inaccuracies."  IYC 
Executive Director Harut Humbartsumyan told us that, in each 
of the local elections, monitors observed election commission 
officials turning voters away from the polls after their 
names "inexplicably vanished" from previous versions of the 
voters registration lists.  IYC's reports also recorded 
specific incidents of police interference, ballot box 
stuffing, illegal campaigning, and abuse of proxy rights. 
"The elections were nowhere near international standards," 
Humbartsumyan said.  Humbartsumyan told us IYC plans to 
release a full report in early November. 
 
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POLICE, NOT ELECTIONS COMMISSION, NOW REGISTERING VOTERS 
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4. (C) Effective June 8, Armenia's revised election code 
transferred responsibility for local voter registration to 
the National Police Passport and Visa Department.  "The 
police," according to Humbartsumyan, "have obviously failed." 
 Humbartsumyan complained that police in many precincts 
supplied the final version of voters lists (which IYC claimed 
contained many inaccuracies) only hours, and sometimes 
minutes, before the polls opened.  "Disenfranchised voters" 
who could not find their names on the list, according to 
Humbartsumyan, rarely sought redress in court or other 
polling stations. 
 
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COMMENT:  FLAWED LOCAL ELECTIONS A TASTE OF THINGS TO COME? 
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5. (C) As a test case for the November 27 referendum on the 
Council of Europe-approved package of constitutional 
amendments (reftels), the Armenian elections establishment 
failed to live up to expectations.  IYC's reports echo news 
stories of widespread elections violations and raise serious 
concerns about the GOAM's ability to administer a referendum 
that the public will accept as free and fair.  On October 27, 
the Ambassador announced a package of USG democracy 
assistance programs focused on the upcoming 2007 and 2008 
elections.  None of these programs, however, is intended to 
change the environment before the referendum on November 27. 
EVANS