The Fact-Finding Group of Experts has been effectively paralyzed for the past month by mounting tensions between its pro-government and pro-opposition members. Its non-partisan chairman, Vahe Stepanian stepped down last week, citing the wrangling. Two other group members chosen by Armenia’s governing coalition have also effectively terminated their involvement in the inquiry.
The five-member group was set up by Sarkisian last October with the aim of collecting information that would shed more light on the causes of the March 1, 2008 clashes between opposition protesters and security forces. The opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) and Zharangutyun party each named one member of the group. The state human rights ombudsman, Armen Harutiunian, picked the fifth member, Stepanian.
Stepanian and the group’s two pro-government members caused a stir in early May when they went on a two-week vacation, forcing a temporary suspension of the Western-backed inquiry. The group resumed its work on May 17 only to suspend it again two days later. Its rival members have publicly traded bitter recriminations since then.
“Time has shown that having been nominated by political forces, members of the Fact-Finding Group have unfortunately failed to rid themselves of their political agendas and to act as truly independent experts,” Sarkisian’s press secretary, Samvel Farmanian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service. Farmanian said this fact has in effect led to “the failure of the group’s activities” and makes its existence “controversial.” He did not specify whether that means it will be formally disbanded by the president soon.
The Armenian opposition has already accused the authorities of deliberately sabotaging the probe to prevent further embarrassing revelations about their bloody suppression of opposition demonstrations sparked by the disputed presidential election of February 2008. In its first and so far only report submitted to parliament in late April, the Fact-Finding Group disputed the official version of the death of Captain Hamlet Tadevosian, one of the two police servicemen killed in pitched battles with opposition protesters who barricaded themselves in central Yerevan.
Tadevosian was apparently the first casualty of the fierce clashes that also left eight civilians dead. According to the Armenian law-enforcement authorities, he was killed by an explosive device thrown by one of the protesters. The group’s report, signed only by Stepanian and the two pro-opposition members, cast doubt on this assertion, saying that investigators failed to properly examine the officer’s body, clothes and flak jacket.
The five-member group was set up by Sarkisian last October with the aim of collecting information that would shed more light on the causes of the March 1, 2008 clashes between opposition protesters and security forces. The opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) and Zharangutyun party each named one member of the group. The state human rights ombudsman, Armen Harutiunian, picked the fifth member, Stepanian.
Stepanian and the group’s two pro-government members caused a stir in early May when they went on a two-week vacation, forcing a temporary suspension of the Western-backed inquiry. The group resumed its work on May 17 only to suspend it again two days later. Its rival members have publicly traded bitter recriminations since then.
“Time has shown that having been nominated by political forces, members of the Fact-Finding Group have unfortunately failed to rid themselves of their political agendas and to act as truly independent experts,” Sarkisian’s press secretary, Samvel Farmanian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service. Farmanian said this fact has in effect led to “the failure of the group’s activities” and makes its existence “controversial.” He did not specify whether that means it will be formally disbanded by the president soon.
The Armenian opposition has already accused the authorities of deliberately sabotaging the probe to prevent further embarrassing revelations about their bloody suppression of opposition demonstrations sparked by the disputed presidential election of February 2008. In its first and so far only report submitted to parliament in late April, the Fact-Finding Group disputed the official version of the death of Captain Hamlet Tadevosian, one of the two police servicemen killed in pitched battles with opposition protesters who barricaded themselves in central Yerevan.
Tadevosian was apparently the first casualty of the fierce clashes that also left eight civilians dead. According to the Armenian law-enforcement authorities, he was killed by an explosive device thrown by one of the protesters. The group’s report, signed only by Stepanian and the two pro-opposition members, cast doubt on this assertion, saying that investigators failed to properly examine the officer’s body, clothes and flak jacket.