On May 19 the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Mr Tigran Torosyan received the delegation headed by Ms Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe. The Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in Armenia Ms Boyana Urumova and the Permanent Representative of Armenia in PACE Mr Christian Ter-Stepanian attended the meeting.

Stressing the support that Armenia had repeatedly received upon different occasions during its seven year membership to the Council of Europe the President of the National Assembly Mr Tigran Torosyan touched upon the steps, undertaken to fulfill the PACE 1609 resolution. It was noted that the discussions On Amending the Law on Conducting Meetings, Assemblies, Rallies and Demonstrations are also an example of wonderful cooperation with PACE, when in one month it was possible to reach an agreement over recommendations with the experts of the Venice Commission and already in parliament the amendments made on the basis of those recommendations. Mr Torosyan also noted that at the consultation held by the President of the Republic of Armenia Mr Serge Sargsyan an agreement was reached on setting up an Ad-hoc Committee of the National Assembly (during the June four-day sittings), which will investigate the reasons of the March events with the participation of extra-parliamentary forces, public and international organizations. The definition of the problems and authorities of that committee was highlighted. The NA President also touched upon the opposition’s rights recorded in the PACE 1601 resolution, noting that there were already 22 from 27 of them by RA Constitution and laws, and the two of them require constitutional amendments, and a draft law was being prepared over three of them. It was noted that the President of the Republic of Armenia was going set up a Public Council, which could become an important platform for the dialogue with opposition proposed by PACE. The NA President reminded that 8 criminal cases had been investigated, as a result of which the accused were released, provided not to commit a crime. The NA President underlined that he fully shared the view, according to which, those who committed crimes criminally punished should be obligatory punished, but the people should not be punished merely for their expressed views and ideas. The NA President also said that for the improvement of the electoral legislation and process a working group was set up in the National Assembly with participation of the representatives of parties, international and public organizations. Mr Torosyan noted that the March events, as a result of which there were 10 victims and more than 200 wounded, should not be connected with elections: the presidential elections had received their assessment by the international observers, the results were appealed in the Constitutional Court, and its decision had already been. The NA President considered unacceptable the assessment that the police applied force towards peaceful demonstrators, noting that, of course, there were peaceful demonstrators in the territory adjacent to the Embassy of France, but unequivocally there were also people armed with metallic rods, grenades and “Molotov cocktails”, who reached up to Mashtots avenue. They had destroyed places and they should be punished for the crimes they had committed . We should do everything possible in order to avoid such events being repeated.

Ms Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, noted that in the Council of Europe they were well aware of the events taking place in Armenia, and they tried to support Armenia, and she expressed her satisfaction that in the National Assembly they rapidly touched upon the recommendations on Amending the law on Conducting Meetings, Assemblies, Rallies and Demonstrations. As Ms Maud de Boer-Buquicchio assessed, the committee for the investigation of the March events should be independent, enjoy the society’s trust and act transparently. She stressed the disclosure of the reasons of what took place, and considered necessary the participation of the representatives of the civil society. The consultation with the Commissioner of CE Human Rights was regarded useful with the purpose of including experts. The Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe also touched upon the issue of the detained, noting that the issue was discussed with the Minister of Justice too, and she asked to pass to the relevant instances that it would be right to release those who would not hamper the investigation of the case. In Ms Maud de Boer-Buquicchio’s opinion, the issue of lawfulness of the actions of the law enforcement bodies should be also investigated.

The President of the National Assembly Mr Tigran Torosyan noted that at the consultation held by the President of the Republic of Armenia, it was underlined in that issue that if the investigation clarified the use of severe punitive measures, those who are guilty, would be punished. The NA President ensured that the cases are completely under investigation, as well as Ms Maud de Boer-Buquicchio’s question – to what extent are lawful the actions of the law enforcement bodies. He expressed hope that though there is need of a great amount of work, but the complete picture would be clarified as a result of investigation.

During the meeting other issues were also discussed.