Protests in Armenia in 2008

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As protests in Armenia in 2008 is called the days of mass rallies in the capital Yerevan on 20 February to 2 March 2008 against the alleged rigging the presidential election results. The main site of the demonstrations, in which hundreds of thousands of people took part, was Yerevan Freedom Square. The defeated presidential candidate Levon Ter-Petrosyan and his supporters accused the government authorities of widespread electoral fraud and demanded that the votes be counted again. The rallies, which were largely peaceful and non-violent at the beginning, escalated into serious riots and street battles on March 1st with severe crackdown by the police and army units. As a result, 10 people, including 2 police officers, were killed.

For the excessive use of force against the demonstrators, Human Rights Watch strongly condemned the Armenian government and called on it to initiate a prompt and independent investigation to determine what had actually happened.

background

Levon Ter-Petrosjan, first President of the Republic of Armenia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union , ruled between 1991 and 1998. When he came to a compromise solution with Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict at the end of 1997 (including withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied regions around Nagorno-Karabakh ) decided, a counter-front was formed headed by the native Karabakh Armenian Robert Kocharyan , whom Ter-Petrosyan had appointed Prime Minister of Armenia only a few months ago. Together with the then defense minister and later president Serzh Sargsyan (leader of the so-called "Karabakh clan"), Kocharyan refused to make any concessions on the Karabakh question and raised the majority of the population and the parliament against Ter-Petrosyan with publicity was forced to step down as president in February 1998. After this forced departure, Kocharyan became the incumbent president. He emerged victorious from the early elections in March of the same year, which were criticized by OSCE observers for the irregularities. In March 2003, Kocharyan was re-elected in the second ballot with 67.5 percent of the vote. The mass protests after the elections were followed by the arbitrary arrests of at least 200 opposition members. The OSCE and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PVE) reported gross manipulation.

Kocharyan's second term ended in February 2008. Since he was no longer allowed to stand for election according to the Armenian constitution, he specifically promoted his successor. The incumbent Prime Minister and long-time comrade Serzh Sargsyan had already been negotiated as the most promising candidate in this sense. His most prominent challenger was Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who surprisingly announced his return in a speech at the end of October 2007 after almost 10 years. Above all, he accused the Kocharyan government of excessive corruption and theft of billions. The elections, which took place on February 19, 2008, were won by Sargsyan, who ran as chairman of the Republican Party , with almost 53 percent of the vote in the first ballot. Ter-Petrosyan came up with just over 21 percent. The observers from the OSCE, the PVE and the European Parliament came to the conclusion that the vote was largely in line with international standards.

chronology

On the second day of the mass demonstrations (February 21), up to 25,000 opposition supporters gathered on the streets of Yerevan. Ter-Petrosyan expressed confidence that the army units would not intervene against the protesters, claiming that two deputies of the Armenian Defense Minister were behind the demonstrators. Nikol Pashinyan , Ter-Petrosian’s election worker at the time, called on the government to call new elections immediately and called on the protesters to take continuous action until their demands are met. On February 22, the alleged backing of the demonstrators by two deputies was officially denied by the Defense Ministry of Armenia.

The rallies were not coordinated with the government. On February 23, the number of protesters rose to 50,000. Several tent camps were set up on Freedom Square. The outgoing Kocharyan accused the opposition camp of trying to seize power by force and threatened to take decisive countermeasures to restore “stability and order”. The Yerevan police also declared their readiness to crack down on any attempt that would amount to endangering public order. On February 26th, up to 100,000 demonstrators followed Ter-Petrosyan's call. That day, some of his prominent supporters were arrested. There were also reports that the Republican Party had directed several university rectors on target to send students to a pro-Zargyan demonstration in Republic Square. But instead of demonstrating for Sargsyan, the majority of the students joined the opposition, which doubled their number. On the same day, the nervous Kocharyan said that his patience was running out and appealed to the crowd to "come to their senses".

The mass protests reached their climax on March 1st with the intervention of the security forces. At 7:00 a.m., Interior Ministry troops began surrounding protesters in Freedom Square and then dispersing them with batons , tear gas, and electric batons . There were severe clashes between the conflicting parties, followed by arbitrary scenes of looting. As a result, Kocharyan imposed a 20-day state of emergency on Yerevan by decree. Several opposition politicians and hundreds of other demonstrators were arrested, and Ter-Petrosyan himself was placed under house arrest. An eyewitness told Human Rights Watch that police attacked people from all sides with rubber truncheons and electric shocks without warning: "People were running and being hunted by the police everywhere." Later, Lieutenant General Grigor Grigorjan, commander of the Internal Forces, admitted, that he was the one who gave the order to the snipers to “neutralize” the armed participants in the rally. The angry crowd in turn pelted the soldiers and policemen with stones, Molotov cocktails and used the metal rods to attack. From his residence, which was isolated from the outside world, Ter-Petrosjan turned to the rally participants on March 2 at around 4 a.m. and called on them to stop protests in view of the increasingly threatening security situation.

According to the Armenian Prosecutor General, a total of eight demonstrators and two police officers were killed in the course of the violent clashes. In addition, 180 police officers and 48 civilians were injured. On March 10, the government eased the state of emergency . However, the media continued to be subject to state censorship .

During one of the memorial marches on August 1, 2008, 15 extra-parliamentary parties and a socio-political organization brought the Armenian National Congress (AN) into being. AN got seven places in the 2012 parliamentary elections. Ter-Petrosyan, however, renounced his mandate.

Investigations

At the urging of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, a committee was set up in the National Assembly of Armenia under the leadership of Samwel Nikojan , a member of the Republican Party, to investigate the bloody events. In the final report, which was presented to the public on September 15, 2009, the commission assessed the disproportionate use of force by the security forces against the demonstrators as appropriate and necessary. Another similar initiative was rejected by a majority of parliamentarians in March 2014.

10 years later

Nikol Pashinyan, who was sentenced to seven years in prison in July 2009 as one of the leaders of the anti-government actions (he was released through an amnesty in 2011), rose to become leader of the revolution in 2018. On May 8, the Armenian National Assembly named Pashinyan as the new Prime Minister.

After the victorious outcome of the "Velvet Revolution" in Armenia in April 2018, which resulted in the overthrow of the incumbent Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan, the criminal prosecution of the perpetrators began. Ex-President Robert Kocharyan was arrested for two months on July 27, 2018 after a judicial decision for violating the constitutional order. He is said to have illegally manipulated the results of the 2008 presidential election in favor of Serzh Sargsyan and thus influenced his victory. He was also charged with killing protesters in Yerevan Freedom Square. Kocharyan, who has resigned as president in Russia, described the allegations against him as "politically motivated" and announced that he would appeal. On August 13, an appeals court released him from custody on the grounds that Kocharyan, as the ex-head of state of Armenia, had constitutional immunity.

At the beginning of July 2018, the new rulers of Armenia put the former defense minister of the country Mikael Harutunjan , who is said to have given the order to shoot the demonstrators on March 1, 2008, to be wanted .

Also Yuri Chatschaturow , acting general secretary of the Russia-dominated Organization of the Treaty on Collective Security , is in the sights of Armenian investigators. On July 26, 2018, he came to Yerevan to answer questions from the Special Investigation Commission. Khachaturov acted as head of the Yerevan military garrison in 2008.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Armenia: Skewed Prosecution Over 2008 Clashes . In: Human Rights Watch . February 25, 2009 ( hrw.org [accessed August 23, 2018]).
  2. ^ Human Rights Watch Demands Probe Into Armenian Crackdown. Retrieved August 23, 2018 (Armenian).
  3. ↑ Erich Reiter: The War for Nagorno-Karabakh. Crisis and conflict management in the Caucasus region . tape 2 . Böhlau Verlag, Vienna-Cologne-Weimar 2009, ISBN 978-3-205-78404-3 , p. 51-53 .
  4. ↑ Alexander Babajanyan: Integration of the South Caucasus in the Council of Europe . LIT Verlag, Hamburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-8258-0547-0 , pp. 63 .
  5. ↑ Hanspeter Mattes: Middle East Yearbook 2003: Politics, Economy and Society in North Africa and the Near and Middle East . Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2004, ISBN 978-3-8100-4160-9 , p. 235 .
  6. ↑ Armenian Ex-President Confirms Comeback Plans. Retrieved August 23, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Armenia. Retrieved August 23, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Thousands challenge victory of Armenian PM in presidential vote in 2nd day of protests - Feb. 22, 2008 . In: KyivPost . February 22, 2008 ( kyivpost.com [accessed August 23, 2018]).
  9. ^ Armenian Opposition Protests Gain Momentum With High-Ranking Support. Retrieved August 23, 2018 .
  10. ^ Armenian leader warns protesters . February 24, 2008 ( bbc.co.uk [accessed August 23, 2018]).
  11. ↑ Попытка " оранжевой революции " в Армении в 2008 году . ( rossaprimavera.ru [accessed August 23, 2018]).
  12. ↑ MARCH-1-ARMENIA --- 2008. Retrieved August 23, 2018 .
  13. ^ Ter-Petrosian, 'Under House Arrest,' Rally Broken Up. Retrieved August 23, 2018 (Armenian).
  14. ^ WORLD: Unrest: In Armenia there is now a state of emergency . In: THE WORLD . March 1, 2008 ( welt.de [accessed on August 23, 2018]).
  15. ^ Armenia: Police Beat Peaceful Protesters in Yerevan . In: Human Rights Watch . February 29, 2008 ( hrw.org [accessed August 23, 2018]).
  16. ↑ Кавказский Узел: В Армении экс-глава внутренних войск сознался, что отдавал прикавал прикавал прикавал . In: Кавказский Узел . ( kavkaz-uzel.eu [accessed August 23, 2018]).
  17. ↑ Кавказский Узел: Бунт в Армении. 10 лет спустя . In: Кавказский Узел . ( kavkaz-uzel.eu [accessed August 23, 2018]).
  18. ^ Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com): Armenia's rebel with endurance qualities | DW | 04/27/2018. Retrieved August 23, 2018 .
  19. ↑ Friedrich Schmidt, WANADSOR / ERIWAN: Nikol Pashinjan: The man of the hour . In: FAZ.NET . ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed August 23, 2018]).
  20. ↑ Armenia Nikol Pashinyan elected as new prime minister. Retrieved August 23, 2018 .
  21. ↑ The ex-president is arrested in Armenia. Retrieved August 23, 2018 .
  22. ^ The Armenian Mirror-Spectator: Former President Kocharyan Released from Jail, Prosecutor General's Office Appeals - The Armenian Mirror-Spectator . In: The Armenian Mirror-Spectator . August 14, 2018 ( mirrorspectator.com [accessed August 23, 2018]).
  23. ↑ Armenia's ex-Defense Minister accused of overthrowing Constitutional order in 2008 . In: Public Radio of Armenia . July 3, 2018 ( armradio.am [accessed August 23, 2018]).
  24. ^ Yury Khachaturov comes to Armenian Special Investigative Service for interrogation. Retrieved August 23, 2018 .