Epress.am News from Armenia
“We follow all internal political developments, demonstrations and marches in Armenia, and we hope that the Armenian authorities will maintain the right of free assembly and will continue to carry out the electoral reform program,” said Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions & Human Rights (ODIHR), Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, during a conference within the framework of the ODIHR’s Trial Monitoring Project in Armenia.
While speaking about the monitoring of trials that took place in the aftermath of the March 2008 post-election violence in Yerevan, Lenarčič stressed the importance of the courts being fully independent and noted that it’s impossible to acquire this independence in a single day.
“In the coming months, we will be meeting with members of [Armenia’s] judicial system and working toward making their activities more independent,” he said.
Between April 2008 and July 2009, 37 ODIHR monitors observed the trials of the individuals charged in connection with the clashes. A 114-page report based on the monitoring of 93 criminal cases during a 16-month period was published on Mar. 8, 2011, offering detailed recommendations on how to address identified shortcomings.
The report’s recommendations include limiting the use of pre-trial detention and upholding the presumption of innocence. It also recommends measures to ensure equality between prosecution and defense in court and comprehensive investigations into all allegations of torture or other ill-treatment in order to eliminate the use of evidence obtained through illegal means. It says judges would benefit from further training to enhance impartiality and professional conduct.