Armenian News, Analysis & Photography — Oneworld Multimedia :: Protest Outside Presidential Palace :: February

February 28, 2007

Protest Outside Presidential Palace

Although the Constitutional Court ruled last April that the eviction of tenants from their homes in central Yerevan to make way for arguably the largest land grab in Yerevan’s history was unconstitutional, nothing much has changed. Indeed, while ruling in their favor, the Constitutional Court was careful enough to word their decision so vaguely as to allow for further evictions and to prevent the true worth of the land their homes once stood on from being paid out.

The Constitutional Court ruled that a 2002 government decision that paved the way for the ongoing massive redevelopment in the city center violated several articles of Armenia’s constitution.

[…]

The verdict deals a serious blow to the credibility of the Armenian government which has insisted all along that large-scale construction which is rapidly changing central Yerevan is legal and fair.

Hundreds of local residents have been forced to vacate their mostly decrepit houses over the past two years. Many of them are unhappy with the amount of compensation paid to them by the state, saying that it was set well below the market value of their properties as a result of government corruption. Some have resisted eviction orders with hunger strikes and other extreme methods of struggle.

[…]

The court decision seems to be a largely moral victory for the disgruntled evicted residents as it is unlikely to entail any practical consequences. The court only ordered the Armenian government and parliament to bring the relevant legislation into conformity with the constitution and said nothing about property restitution or compensation.

As a result, after what can be considered the largest mass violation of civil and human rights in an independent Armenia which included the beating and detention by the National Security Service (NSS, formerly known as the KGB) of a human rights lawyer defending many of the tenants, international watchdogs such as Amnesty International continue to report on the illegality of the evictions.

In August the police allegedly used excessive force against peaceful protests by residents of Yerevan over demolition of their homes for an urban renewal scheme. Those who refused to vacate their homes had parts of their houses destroyed. One resident was allegedly removed by force and severely beaten. The police forcibly removed barricades. A lawyer representing several residents, Vahe Grigorian, was arrested on 10 October, reportedly on fabricated fraud charges based on evidence obtained under duress. He was still in pre-trial detention at the end of the year. The father of one of his clients told the Ombudsperson’s Office that he had been ill-treated and forced to incriminate Vahe Grigorian. The protesters said the compensation paid was not adequate and their eviction illegal – claims supported by the Ombudsperson’s Office, which received more than 200 complaints.

The resulting construction boom has largely benefited government-connected businessmen and officials involved in the construction of elite apartments intended for the rich and wealthy in Armenia, as well as for ethnic Armenians from the Diaspora.

The Armenian constitution stipulates that private property can be confiscated only in “exceptional cases defined by law” and with “commensurate compensation” paid to their owners. The ongoing redevelopment in Yerevan, however, is being regulated by government directives. Critics, among them former human rights ombudsperson Larisa Alaverdian and opposition leaders, say the entire process is therefore illegal. The opposition Justice alliance tried this year to initiate a parliamentary appeal to the Constitutional Court on this issue. But the appeal failed to collect the minimum of 27 supporting signatures by members of the Kocharian-controlled National Assembly needed for legal action.

Equally controversial has been a serious lack of transparency in the allocation of municipal land to property developers. Few of the lucrative land auctions handled by the Yerevan mayor’s office have been announced through mass media with at least one month’s notice, as is required by Armenian law. “You won’t find a single person in Yerevan who believes that the land auctions are fair,” Kocharian publicly blasted Mayor Yervand Zakharian and his aides on January 20, effectively accusing them of corruption.

However, no government official has been prosecuted or sacked as a result. “Kocharian’s statements are pathetic because nobody acquired land in central Yerevan without permission from the presidential administration,” said journalist Baghdasarian. “All big companies engaged in construction have powerful patrons in the government.”

In a detailed report on the problem released in early February, the Armenian branch of the anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International urged the authorities to extend their stated anti-corruption measures to the booming construction sector. The report concluded that the government has so far lacked the political will to tackle urban development practices that create a “fertile ground for corrupt transactions.”

“There have been no known cases of any urban development activity in Armenia affected by an official or unofficial expression of public opinion,” the report charged.

Not surprisingly, the Armenian President, Robert Kocharian, was forced to offer residents a refund of the rather inappropriate income tax taken off the less-than-market-value payments to former tenants, but this has not gone far enough to satisfy many. Today, for example, at 11am, a few dozen former residents of the Buzand and South Streets in central Yerevan gathered outside the Presidential Palace to protest as the President greeted the visiting Foreign Minister of Poland, Anna Fotyga.

What was staggering was the number of police present for such a small crowd, and not least because as many more were waiting in an adjoining street.

Presidential Palace, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian, CRD / TI Armenia 2007

Even more surprisingly, what with the high profile of these evictions and an imminent parliamentary election, representatives from the Republican Party, Prosperous Armenia and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation — Dashnaksutyun (ARF-D), not only declined to turn up to meet the protesters, but they also failed to respond to their letter. Orinats Yerkir, which was expected, didn’t turn up, leaving only People’s Party MP, Vardan Mkhrtchyan, and its Press Secretary, Ruzan Khachatryan, in attendance.

Interestingly, the situation in terms of support sounded as bleak when it came to international diplomatic missions and organizations. With the exception of the OSCE’s Yerevan office which was involved with the Constitutional Court hearings, only the British and French Embassies responded to the protesters appeals for assistance by at least meeting with them. According to Vachagn Hagopyan and Setrak Baghdasaryan, the two organizers of the protest, the U.S. Embassy and European Commission showed no interest at all in their case.

Worse yet, according to the two men, nor did UNDP and UNICEF in Armenia.

That should please two-and-a-half year old Ashot Boghosyan (pictured with his mother below). Not only was Ashot just six months old when he was made homeless by what can now be considered unconstitutional means, but two years later he is still without a home. So, because there is no registration at any place of residence, his grandfather says he is unable to register to vote in the coming parliamentary election, even though he’d like to. First unconstitutionally deprived of their home, they are now deprived of the constitutional right to their political franchise.

The CRD/TI Armenia Election Monitor 2007 will be looking more closely at the issue of voter registration in the near future.