U.S. Embassy will be closely watching electoral processes in Armenia  over the next few months

ArmInfo.The U.S. Embassy witnessed some troubling trends in the areas of human rights and rule of law over the past 15 months that give cause for real concern, U.S.  Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills said in his remarks to American  Chamber of Commerce of Armenia in Yerevan on Feb 1.  

"Despite some progress and notable success stories which give reason  for hope, we have also witnessed some troubling trends in the areas  of human rights and rule of law.  Let me first mention some of  Armenia's very laudable successes in this area.  One of the most  impressive is the fact that it retained its status as a Tier I  country in the State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report for  the fourth straight year, thanks in large part to its interagency  working group, which is a model of cooperation between the government  and civil society," the Ambassador said.

Richard Mills noted that with regard to the constitutional referendum  of December 2015, the Embassy was deeply concerned about the credible  allegations of electoral fraud that came from non-partisan observers,  media, and civil society.  "Following the constitutional referendum,  I very much welcomed President Sargsyan's public commitment to  address the public's lack of trust in the electoral process.  I agree  with the President's characterization that these elections will shape  the future of Armenia and it is crucial they be free and fair, and  that the Armenian people have confidence in the results.  To help  make the Armenian government's public commitment to credible  elections a reality, USAID - in partnership with the European Union,  the UK, Germany, and the UN Mission to Armenia - has provided  financial support for the new voting processes and electoral  equipment agreed upon by the government, political opposition, and  civil society last year, unprecedented agreements that required  compromises on all sides. These measures will make possible same-day  voter authentication and the publication of signed voter lists after  the elections. But let me be clear:  these additional measures  cannot, by themselves, guarantee free and fair elections," he said. 

Ambassador Mills thinks that those measures can make the electoral  process more transparent and make it more costly to commit fraud, but  the elections will be free and fair only if the government  demonstrates the political will to make them so, and if the political  opposition and civil society act to safeguard the process. "For free  and fair elections to take place, the government must also create a  climate in which media and civil society are free, independent, and  unfettered.  We have recently heard intimations of increased pressure  on media and civil society that seems designed to constrain their  freedom of expression and redirect critical editorial views in  advance of the parliamentary elections this spring.  If true, this  would be very worrying and would further erode Armenia's standing in  reports issued by international organizations on press freedoms  worldwide.  We do take the government at its word that it intends to  conduct free and fair elections, just as we take the opposition  parties and civil society at their word that they intend to play a  constructive role in the process, and this is something we'll be  watching closely over the next few months," he said. 

Richard Mills also addressed the events of Erebuni (seizure of a  police compound by Sasna Tsrer (Daredevils of Sassoon) - editor's  note) last July. "During much of the 15-day standoff, Armenia's law  enforcement struck a good balance in terms of securing Armenians'  safety and security around an active site, while defending Armenians'  rights to peacefully protest.  However, we were deeply concerned by  the credible reports of excessive use of force used by the police  against unarmed protestors and journalists on July 29-30.  We made  our concerns clear at that time, noting that such actions violated  press freedom and the rights of Armenian citizens to the freedom of  expression and of peaceful assembly," Ambassador Mills said.  Another  area of concern which the fallout of Erebuni highlighted, has been  the Government's use of pre-trial detention, he said. "I will be  frank that in the case of Erebuni and other politically sensitive  cases this year, we are concerned by the pre- trial detentions of  several defendants who participated in the demonstrations or are  suspected of giving non-violent support to the militants, but were  not involved in the actual armed seizure of the police station or in  the deaths of the policemen. Let me be clear, my intention in  mentioning these cases is not to prejudge their guilt or innocence,  but to emphasize that each pre-trial detention decision must be based  on a strong, fully transparent legal rationale," he noted.