VZCZCXRO7344
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHYE #0060/01 0361015
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 051015Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY YEREVAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9998
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000060 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DRL AND EUR/CARC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KDEM KJUS SOCI AM
SUBJECT: UPDATES IN YOUTH ACTIVIST WHISTLEBLOWER CASE 
 
REF: 09 YEREVAN 645 
09 YEREVAN 859 
09 YEREVAN 866 
 
YEREVAN 00000060  001.3 OF 002 
 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (SBU) In an apparent reversal in a controversial whistleblower 
case (reftels), the prosecutor general's office on January 11 
launched a criminal investigation against a former instructor at a 
special needs school for allegedly sexually abusing his students. 
Previous investigations into the sexual abuse had resulted in 
charges not against the instructor but against the youth activist, 
Mariam Sukhudian, who blew the whistle on the alleged abuse. 
Although a welcome development, slander charges against Sukhudian 
remain pending.  Post will continue to weigh in on the case with the 
authorities, and is planning to honor Sukhudian with the Embassy's 
first Women of Courage award.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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ACTIVIST BLOWS WHISTLE ON SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOL 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶2. (SBU) Mariam Sukhudian, a youth environmental activist, blew the 
whistle on alleged sexual and other abuses at a state-run boarding 
school for children with special needs in 2008 (ref A) where she and 
her peers were carrying out a UNDP-sponsored volunteer project. 
Initially the police and prosecutor general's office refuted the 
abuse allegations and charged Sukhudian in August 2009 with "false 
crime reporting," which carries up to five years' imprisonment.  The 
activist and local human rights monitors criticized the charges as 
trumped-up retaliation for Sukhudian's activism in bringing the 
abuses to light, and called for an impartial investigation into the 
conditions at all state-run special needs schools.  On October 21, 
police informed Sukhudian that the charges against her had been 
downgraded to slander, punishable by a fine only.  Authorities also 
offered to amnesty her if she admitted her guilt, but Sukhudian 
refused and stood by her allegations of abuse at the school, many of 
which she says she and her peers personally witnessed. 
 
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PG'S OFFICE RE-OPENS CASE IN RESPONSE TO OUTCRY 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Following significant media attention and a number of 
protests held by NGOs, the prosecutor general's s office reopened 
the investigation against Sukhudian (that had concluded on October 
21, 2009) and tasked a different police jurisdiction with the 
follow-up investigation.  During this period, the Embassy also 
raised the issue with the Prosecutor General and the Minister of 
Education (refs B-C), and sent an official letter with our concerns 
to Prosecutor General Hovsepian on December 22, 2009, in which we 
requested his personal intervention in the case and offered to 
explore providing technical assistance regarding whistle-blower 
protections to his office. 
 
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PG'S RESPONSE TO EMBASSY'S LETTER 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) In a January 14 response letter, the prosecutor general's 
office detailed recent developments in the case, noting the 
discovery of new evidence that appears to corroborate Sukhudian's 
whistle-blowing.  According to the letter, after the investigation 
was reopened the students of the special needs school gave 
drastically different accounts of what had happened, and confirmed 
that Levon Avakian, a former instructor, had committed "lecherous 
actions" against them.  Based on the new evidence, the Prosecutor 
General on January 11 ordered a criminal investigation into the 
allegations of lecherous actions.  That investigation remains in 
progress. 
 
------------------------------------ 
BUT SUKHUDIAN'S FATE STILL AMBIGUOUS 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Embassy confirmed with the prosecutor general's office 
on January 25 that charges have yet to be brought against the 
instructor, but as soon as they are -- if they are -- their office 
plans to drop all charges against Sukhudian.  As for Sukhudian, she 
tells us that she still does not know the exact status oQthe 
investigation against her -- even whether there is still an active 
criminal case.  Interestingly, the decision to investigate Avakian 
has also not been made public yet. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Sukhudian also shared with us that she has been in touch 
with the students at the special needs school.  The students 
 
YEREVAN 00000060  002.3 OF 002 
 
 
reported that they had been frequently called to the police to 
testify, that they were very satisfied with the treatment shown them 
by police investigators who appear to be taking their testimonies 
seriously.  Sukhudian told us, however, that neither she nor her 
peers who volunteered at the special needs school have been called 
to testify to date on the abuses they either saw with their own eyes 
or heard about from the students. 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶7. (SBU) We welcome these new developments in the Sukhudian case, 
even if the slander charges against the youth activist have not yet 
been dropped.  The re-opened investigation into the abuses, the 
police's humane treatment of the special needs children, and the 
criminal investigation launched against the former instructor occur 
in a harsh law enforcement landscape where whistle-blowers and 
victims normally suffer retaliation for exposing problems in state 
institutions.  We think our advocacy has played a key role, and we 
will continue to weigh in with the authorities on Sukhudian's behalf 
on the need for special education reforms.  In the near future, we 
also plan to honor Sukhudian with the Embassy's first ever "Woman of 
Courage" award. 
 
YOVANOVITCH