US embassy cable - 05YEREVAN2105

UNCLAS YEREVAN 002105 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, AM 
SUBJECT: GOAM DETAINING, HARASSING OPPOSITION IN 
DISQUIETING MOVES 
 
REF: A) YEREVAN 2075 B) YEREVAN 2081 C) YEREVAN 2083 
 
     D) DOELL/WITMER 12/2 E-MAIL 
 
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POLICE DETAINING OPPOSITION SUPPORTERS 
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1. (SBU) In the wake of a marred constitutional referendum 
and modest opposition rallies protesting the electoral fraud 
(reftels), over the past week the GOAM has opted to detain at 
least 50 opposition supporters for several hours at a time, 
with a number of the detainees credibly alleging that the 
police beat them while they were in custody.  While the 
opposition clearly does not currently command widespread 
popular support, continued GOAM overreaction could easily 
change that. 
 
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ANEMIC RALLY FOLLOWED BY POLICE OVERKILL 
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2. (SBU) Although an unsanctioned opposition rally December 2 
attracted no more than 1700 supporters, within 30 minutes of 
the close of the rally (mostly plainclothes) police had 
rounded up approximately 35 opposition supporters and taken 
them to various Yerevan police districts for 2-4 hours of 
questions.  We have well-documented, detailed information on 
roughly half of the detentions the opposition is citing, 
including one supporter who had been detained on five 
separate occasions. 
 
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COMMENT:  CLEARLY THE WRONG DIRECTION 
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3. (SBU) The GOAM is clearly too insecure to simply ignore 
the lackluster, poorly attended opposition protests, and is 
reacting in a decidedly ham-handed manner.  That having been 
said, the scope of the detentions is still relatively 
limited, especially when compared to GOAM overreaction to 
opposition protests in 2004.  We are watching these 
disquieting developments closely and continue to push the 
GOAM to moderate its excessive anti-oppositionist zeal. 
EVANS