15
07, 2008

Today President Serzh Sargsyan received the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Thomas Hammarberg

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Today President Serzh Sargsyan received the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Thomas Hammarberg.

The President of Armenia said that the authorities have scrupulously studied Resolutions 1609 and 1620 and are determined to implement them. He welcomed the efforts exerted by the Commissioner for Human Rights towards the resolution of the problems encountered by Armenia.

Assessing both Resolutions as an important starting point, Thomas Hammarberg spoke about the evaluation report presented by him on September 11 at the meeting of the Monitoring Commission, and stressed three important issues:

The first issue raised by T. Hammarberg concerned the meetings, rallies, and demonstrations. In this regard the Commissioner for Human Rights praised cooperation with the Venice Commission, introduced legislative amendments and highlighted the importance of the proper implementation of the law.

The second issues related to the investigation of the March 1 events, which, according to the Commissioner for Human Rights, should be independent, transparent, and truthful. He offered to make a distinct separation between the fact-finding process and the assessment of the facts.

Underlining the resolve of the Armenian authorities to conduct the investigation of the March 1 events objectively, comprehensively and impartially, President Sargsyan agreed with the importance of separating the process of fact finding and the assessment of the facts and as an essential condition for conducting a thorough job mentioned the necessity of involving international experts.

The third issue raised by the Commissioner for Human Rights concerned the currently detained individuals. With this regard the President of Armenia reiterated that in his opinion the charges by the law enforcements bodies should be pressed only against those individuals who took part in the acts of violence.

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