{"id":610,"date":"2008-08-12T02:22:32","date_gmt":"2008-08-12T02:22:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/wordpress117\/?p=610"},"modified":"2012-08-18T13:16:54","modified_gmt":"2012-08-18T13:16:54","slug":"yerkir-unions-appeal-to-international-community-with-respect-to-the-recent-events-in-akhalkalaki","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.hayary.org\/wph\/?p=610&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"\u201cYerkir\u201d Union\u2019s Appeal to International Community With Respect to the Recent Events in Akhalkalaki"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nOn July 17, 2008 a blast took place in the town of Akhalkalaki, regional center of the Akhalkalaki district of the Samtskhe-Javakheti region of Georgia, near the house of the Chief of Police Samvel Petrosyan. There were no casualties.
\nImmediately after the blast, the local police forces initiated an unprecedented wave of arrests within the ranks of the activists of the \u201cUnited Javakhk Democratic Alliance\u201d the local political movement. Thus, up to 15 activists were brutally arrested, some were fiercely beaten. The police also entered the building of the Youth radio station which belonged to the same political movement. For this purpose, the entrance door was crushed and internal doors and windows were damaged. No arms were found however on the premises.
\nOn July 17, around 8:00 p.m., some 40 persons regrouping both police forces and civilians, stormed into the house of the local activist, Gurgen Shirinyan. During this operation, Gurgen\u2019s father was fiercely beaten and one local policeman, Arthur Berudjanyan, was shot dead. Police sources declared that Gurgen Shirinyan fled, while his father and aunt were arrested.<\/span><\/div>\n

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\nOn July 18, \u201cUnited Javakhk Democratic Alliance\u201d issued a statement describing both the blast and the incidents that followed as provocations aiming the destruction of their organization. The statement required from the authorities the holding of an impartial investigation.
\nIn the afternoon Of July 20, another policeman — Armen Gabrielyan was shot dead. According to a declaration on behalf of the authorities, the dead policeman had\u2026 committed suicide.At 4:00 am on July 21, armed and masked Georgian special forces intruded the house of the \u201cUnited Javakhk Democratic Alliance\u201d political movements\u2019 leader, Vahagn Chakhalyan, and arrested all the members of his family. At 5:00 am, Vahagn Chakhalyan\u2019s mother was set free, but he, his father and his adolescent brother were detained in Akhaltsikhe, the center of the
\nprovince. Later on they were taken to Tbilisi, where they continue to remain in custody up to now. Chakhalyan\u2019s, his father\u2019s and brother\u2019s preliminary detention was immediately extended totwo months.
\nParallel to these events, the police stormed once again the building of the Youth radio station, but this time\u2026 arms and ammunition were \u201cfound\u201d and confiscated.
\n\u00d0\u00b3\u00db\u00f1\u00bb\u00dd\u00b3\u00b9\u00b3\u00f1\u00d3\u00e1\u00f5\u00c3\u00db\u00b3\u00dd \u00bb\u00f5 \u00d1\u00c7\u00d9\u00dd\u00b3\u00ed\u00e1\u00f1\u00d9\u00b3\u00dd \u00d1\u00b3\u00eb\u00b3\u00f1\u00b3\u00cf\u00b3\u00cf\u00b3\u00dd \u00cf\u00b3\u00bd\u00d9\u00b3\u00cf\u00bb\u00f1\u00e5\u00e1\u00f5\u00c3\u00db\u00e1\u00f5\u00dd\u00dd\u00bb\u00f1\u00c7 \u00d9\u00c7\u00e1\u00f5\u00c3\u00db\u00e1\u00f5\u00dd Union of Non-governmental Organizations \u00abYerkir\u00bb for Repatriation and Settlement Union de s a s s oc i a t ions \u00abYe r k i r\u00bb pour l e p eupl ement e t l a r \u00e9 ins e r t ion \u0421\u043e\u044e\u0437 \u043e\u0431\u0449\u0435\u0441 \u0442\u0432\u0435\u043d\u043d\u044b\u0445 \u043e\u0440\u0433\u0430\u043d\u0438\u0437\u0430\u0446\u0438\u0439 \u00ab\u0415\u0440\u043a\u0438\u0440\u00bb \u043f\u043e \u0440\u0435\u043f\u0430\u0442\u0440\u0438\u0430\u0446\u0438\u0438 \u0438 \u043e\u0441 \u0432\u043e\u0435\u043d\u0438\u044e Currently, authorities keep under arrest Gurgen Shirinyan\u2019s father (Harutyun Shirinyan), Gurgen Shirinyan\u2019s aunt (Karine Shirinyan), as well as Vahagn Chakhalyan, Vahagn Chkhalyan\u2019s father (Rouben Chakhalyan) and Vahagn Chakhalyan\u2019s brother (Armen Chakhalyan). The building of the \u201cYouth Radio\u201d is closed and sealed, all computers and other furniture are confiscated.
\nOn July 23, \u201cYerkir\u201d Union of NGOs for Repatriation and Settlement, in collaboration with its Georgian chapter \u201cYerkir-Georgia\u201d, has sent a fact finding mission to Akhalkalaki; including a cameraman, a lawyer and members of the UNGO. The delegation interviewed relatives and neighbors of the detained persons, as well as policemen. The Main places where the incidents occurred were also visited and filmed.
\nThe following facts were noted:
\n1. All arrests were conducted with flagrant violations. None of the arrested persons was informed of his legal rights, his legal status, or of his possibilities for self- protection.
\n2. Many of the arrested were beaten both at the time of the arrest and during the
\ndetention period.
\n3. Detained persons were interrogated, (some, for several hours) however written
\nreports on the interrogations were not kept.
\n4. During the search of Gurgen Shirinyan\u2019s house, the police has discovered ammunition, however no external witnesses were present to verify and register the facts.
\n5. An official search warrant was not presented to the father of Gurgen Shirinyan.
\n6. The police officers used degrading treatment toward Gurgen Shirinyan\u2019s relatives, and in particular, Gurgen Shirinyan\u2019s father was slapped and then brutally beaten.
\n7. Under the pretext that an investigation has to ascertain as to whom the discovered ammunitions belong, Gurgen Shirinyan\u2019s father and aunt were arrested and detained without any warrant.
\n8. During Chakhalyan\u2019s house search, arms and ammunitions were \u201cfound\u201d and caused the arrest of Chakhalyan and his relatives. However no external witnesses participated to the search or noted the results of the search.
\n9. Neither Vahagn Chakhalyan, nor any of the members of his family were shown a search warrant.
\n10. The arrest of the members of Chakhalyan’s family was accompanied with violence, Rouben, Vahagn and Armen Chakhalyan were beaten and threatened.
\n11. Chakhalyan\u2019s mother (Gayane Chakhalyan) was also arrested. She was questioned for more than a hour, but no written record was kept of her interrogation. She was threatened and freed without any explanation.
\n12. Armen Chakhalyan, who is a minor, was interrogated without the presence of his parents or of any impartial adult.
\n13. In addition to the above mentioned persons who continue to still remain in police custody, numerous other persons were arrested and interrogated, they were all threatened, many were beaten, but all were released without any explanation and with no written record of the on-going interrogations which concerned them personally.
\nThe \u201cUnited Javakhk\u201d Democratic Alliance\u201d political movement participated in the local elections in October 2006, in which they got about 30% of the Akhalkalaki district votes and took 3 seats in Akhalkalaki sakreboulo (local self-governing body). Yet, the movement rejected the election results as far as it was concerned, dubbing those results as a flagrant fraud. The leaders of this political movement, and especially Chakhalyan, struggles for a long time now for the fulfillment of the Armenian minority rights. Based on this fact, \u201cYerkir\u201d Union strongly believes that Chakhalyan\u2019s arrest and subsequent detention were purely motivated by political reasons.
\n\u201cYerkir\u201d Union considers the recent incidents in Akhalkalaki to be the Georgian government\u2019s unwillingness to solve minority issues, preferring instead to resort to brutal force to suppress expressions of legitimate complaint.
\n\u201cYerkir\u201d Union therefore calls upon the Georgian government:
\n— to guarantee a fair and unbiased investigation of the recent incidents in Akhalkalaki,
\n— to immediately release from detention all relatives of Vahagn Chakhalyan and Gurgen
\nShirinyan,
\n— to immediately investigate all human rights\u2019 abuses which took place during the recent
\nincidents in Akhalkalaki, and in particular, the human rights\u2019 abuses which occurred during
\nthe arrests, the interrogations and the detentions,
\n— to hold a fair and impartial investigation of the assassination of the two ethnic Armenian
\npolicemen,
\n— to guarantee Vahagn Chakhalyan\u2019s rights for a fair and impartial trial.
\n\u201cYerkir\u201d Union also calls upon foreign missions in Georgia, international organizations and
\ninstitutions, international and local human rights organizations and Georgia\u2019s human rights public
\ndefender, Mr. Subari
\n— to recognize Vahagn Chakhalyan and all his detained relatives, as well as Gurgen
\nShirinyan\u2019s detained relatives as political prisoners
\n— to take appropriate steps for monitoring the conditions of detention of all the political
\nprison
\ners, to secure their right not to be subjected to torture and ill-treatment any more,
\nand to assure their right to be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent
\ndignity of the human person.
\n\u201cYerkir\u201d Union urges the Georgian mass-media to respect the right of the Georgian and
\ninternational communities to be informed and to break the information blockade around this case
\nby providing objective and full-length coverage.
\n\u201cYerkir\u201d Union also expresses its concern about the alarming socio-political and psychological
\nimpact which will have the recent incidents on the Armenian minority of Javakheti. We call upon
\nthe Georgian government, as well as upon the international and local organizations and
\ninstitutions to take appropriate and efficient steps for eliminating the possible negative impacts
\nof these recent critical developments.<\/span><\/div>\n

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On July 17, 2008 a blast took place in the town of Akhalkalaki, regional center of the Akhalkalaki district of the Samtskhe-Javakheti region of Georgia, near the house of the Chief of Police Samvel Petrosyan. There were no casualties. Immediately … \u0547\u0561\u0580\u0578\u0582\u0576\u0561\u056f\u0565\u056c \u056f\u0561\u0580\u0564\u0561\u056c →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anouncements","category-armenian-aryan-order"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hayary.org\/wph\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hayary.org\/wph\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hayary.org\/wph\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hayary.org\/wph\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hayary.org\/wph\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.hayary.org\/wph\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.hayary.org\/wph\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hayary.org\/wph\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.hayary.org\/wph\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}