VZCZCXRO5956
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHYE #0398/01 1620531
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 110531Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY YEREVAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9163
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000398 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DRL AND EUR/CARC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KDEM KJUS AM
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT DISBANDS MARCH 1 FACT-FINDING GROUP 
 
REF: 08 YEREVAN 865 
 
YEREVAN 00000398  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Without explaining his decision, President Sargsian on June 
8 disbanded the bipartisan fact-finding group of experts he had 
established last October to examine the violence surrounding 
Armenia's disputed 2008 presidential election.  The decision came on 
the heels of a June 3 statement by a presidential spokesman that the 
"members of the Fact-Finding Group have unfortunately failed to rid 
themselves of their political agendas and to act as truly 
independent experts."  The move also followed the recent resignation 
of three of the group's five bipartisan members, as well as reports 
of mounting tension between them.  Insiders tell us, however, that 
the decision was likely made in response to the group's 
uncomfortably deep probing and imminent publication of reports 
pointing to government culpability for the violence.  In the wake of 
the decision, the ad hoc Parliamentary commission that the 
fact-finding group was advising urged appropriate bodies to submit 
information to it by July 1, and announced the commission would 
incorporate that information in its final report, expected this 
summer.  END SUMMARY. 
 
------------------------------------ 
PRESIDENT ANNULS OWN EXECUTIVE ORDER 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) In a short statement released June 8,  President Sargsian 
annulled his October 2008 executive order establishing the 
"Fact-Finding Group of Experts" tasked to study the fatal 
post-election violence of March 1-2, 2008.  Sargsian had created the 
bipartisan five-member body last October in response to 
international criticism that the composition of the ad hoc 
Parliamentary commission launched by the authorities in June was 
biased in favor of the government. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The annulment of the executive order came on the heels of a 
June 3 statement by a presidential spokesman that "time has shown 
that members of the Fact-Finding Group have unfortunately failed to 
rid themselves of their political agendas and to act as truly 
independent experts."  On June 8, the ad hoc Parliamentary 
commission urged NGOs, political parties, and the opposition 
Armenian National Congress to submit "all facts and information 
regarding the events of March 1-2" by July 1.  The commission said 
it would incorporate this information into its final report, to be 
released this summer. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
TENSIONS, RESIGNATIONS BEFORE THE TERMINATION 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Tensions between members of the fact-finding group -- two 
pro-government, two pro-opposition, and one from the office of 
Armenia's Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) -- reached a boil 
following the release in late April of the group's first report, 
which challenged official accounts of a police officer's death on 
March 1.  Three more reports -- all likely to contradict the 
official version of events -- had been completed and were ready for 
release. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The mounting tensions resulted in the effective end of the 
group's work in early May, when the Ombudsman's appointee and the 
two pro-government members decided to take a two-week vacation. 
When asked by Emboffs about the "vacation," the Ombudsman said that 
his appointee, Vahe Stepanian, felt "caught between two fires," and 
could not bear it any longer. 
 
¶6. (SBU) On May 5, the opposition alleged that the three members' 
sudden vacation was the result of pressure by the authorities in an 
attempt to derail the inquiry.  They noted that the vacations were 
announced shortly after the group had presented the results of its 
first report, on the death of the policeman Hamlet Tadevosian -- one 
of the two policemen killed on March 1 -- to the Parliamentary 
commission.  The opposition also alleged that the break constituted 
a de facto suspension of the group's activities. 
 
¶7. (SBU) When the group reconvened on June 3, Stepanian announced he 
was resigning from the body.  This followed the May 29 announcement 
by Robert Avagian, one of the two pro-government appointees, that he 
intended to resign.  The other pro-government appointee, Gevorg 
Tovmasian, had previously stopped participating in the group.  The 
flurry of resignations had left the group with only two members, 
both from the opposition. 
 
---------------------------------- 
CAUGHT BETWEEEN POLITICAL FACTIONS 
 
YEREVAN 00000398  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) According to opposition contacts, political conflict had 
been raging within the fact-finding group ever since its creation on 
October 23, 2008 (reftel). The opposition claimed that the two 
pro-government appointees repeatedly sought to obstruct the group's 
work at every turn.  Samvel Nikoyan (protect) of the ruling 
Republican Party and Chairperson of the ad hoc Parliamentary 
commission told Emboffs in early June that it would be extremely 
unfortunate were the fact-finding group to stop functioning.  When 
the group sent its findings to the ad hoc Parliamentary commission, 
Nikoyan said, he would have been able to include them in his final 
report without drawing blame from his Republican colleagues. 
 
------------------------------------ 
FIRST REPORT DISPUTES POLICE FINDING 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶9. (SBU) The fact-finding group's first report, leaked to the press 
in April, disputed the official version of the death of policeman 
Hamlet Tadevosian.  Officials had contended that Tadevosian was 
killed by an explosive device thrown by one of the opposition 
protesters.  The group's report, which was not signed by the two 
pro-government members, asserted that investigators failed to 
properly examine the officer's body, clothes and flak jacket, and 
argued that Tadevosian most likely inadvertently blew himself up 
with his own grenade.  (Note and Comment:  The Ombudsman's 
representative confirmed to us that the fact-finding group had 
prepared documentation to support its conclusions, but had yet to 
present these to the ad hoc Parliamentary commission.  It is rumored 
that the leakage of the first report and the prospect of more 
damning material in the pipeline was the main reason the group 
imploded.  End Note and Comment.) 
 
------------------------------------------- 
OMBUDSMAN DENIES COLLUDING WITH AUTHORITIES 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) The opposition has also accused the Ombudsman of colluding 
with the authorities to torpedo the fact-finding group's work.  The 
Ombudsman told Emboffs, however, that his representative had become 
increasingly frustrated by the tensions within the group, and on 
several prior occasions had to be talked out of quitting.  The 
Ombudsman also denied ANC accusations that Stepanian's resignation 
had been coordinated with the ruling coalition.  On May 30 the 
opposition Heritage Party and the ANC released a statement blaming 
the Ombudsman and the authorities for working together in an attempt 
to hamper the activities of the group. 
 
¶11. (SBU) On June 1, the Ombudsman accused the authorities and the 
opposition of using the fact-finding group for their political ends. 
 He strongly denied hindering the group's activities, and said he 
was planning to propose a new representative.  This time, the 
Ombudsman vowed, his representative would be a person better 
equipped to handle the rough and tumble of the group. "One person 
cannot play chess if the other four are instructed to play rugby. 
The reason for the absence of an expert atmosphere in the group is 
not because of the representative of the Defender, but the 
representatives of political forces," he said. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) An independent investigation of the March 1-2 events was 
unlikely to ever reflect well on the GOAM's actions on those days. 
It seems clear that the GOAM, which was never enthusiastic about the 
fact-finding commission and created it under pressure from the 
Council of Europe's Human Rights Commissioner, sought to undermine 
its work from the outset.  The ANC's repeated attacks on the 
Ombudsman, who in our view was trying to play a constructive role, 
further politicized the atmosphere within the group.  The work of 
the ad hoc Parliamentary commission has been one of the few bright 
spots from the GOAM in the wake of the March 1-2 events, and the 
fact-finding group had the potential to enhance the Commission's 
efforts.  It is unfortunate that the group apparently came to be 
seen as a political liability for the authorities, and has now been 
shut down. 
 
YOVANOVITCH