The Governing Board of CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenian issued a statement on the need to accelerate the process of implementation of transitional justice in Armenia.
“Since independence, the history of the Third Republic of Armenia has shown that over thirty years of fundamental reforms in public life have not been sufficiently directed at creating an atmosphere of shared prosperity and civic solidarity, respecting and upholding democratic values, upholding the rule of law in the country.
Mass Intolerance to Negative Phenomena in Public Life in 2018 in April-May, led to political changes. And it was in those days that the broader public circles, as the primary agenda for bringing about political change, formulated the elimination of systemic corruption, the revelation of facts of violation of the rights and freedoms of RA citizens by the present and former authorities of Armenia, the perpetration of economic crimes, and the restoration of those rights and bringing to liability the “architects” that are responsible for those, returning illegally obtained assets through the legal way, and, why not, through the use of transitional justice mechanisms?
Guided by that agenda, the ruling political force showed political will, and in its pre-election program released during the parliamentary elections, planned to introduce a transitional justice system in the country, expecting in the future to exclude the possibility of recurrence of human rights violations, a corrupt and monopolized economic environment, and create an atmosphere of public solidarity.
Conceivably, being aware of the importance of bringing this agenda to life, the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia (represented by the Armenian Lawyers’ Association Association, which coordinates the secretariat), whose future vision is to build a happy, harmonious, and corruption-free society, has shown the will and consistency aimed to create the transitional justice system in the country and to make it operational as soon as possible with its whole toolset. The Coalition:
- On 28 November, 2018 in cooperation with the Government held a forum with civil society and government on the theme “The Possibilities of Introducing Mechanisms of Transitional Justice in the RA in the Light of International Experience”, https://armla.am/en/3273.html.
- On 21 February, 2019, the ALA published a report on “The Applicability of Transitional Justice Mechanisms in the Republic of Armenia in the Light of International Experience” (hereinafter referred to as the Report), which aimed to present the essence of transitional justice and its applicability in Armenia, the current international experience with successful and failed examples in different countries, tools, mechanisms and institutes applied, as well as a comparative-analytical approach to identifying transitional issues in Armenia and the most effective model with least risks applicable to justice is http://aac.am/911.html .
- During the 24 May, 2019, hearings in the National Assembly, Coordinator of the Coalition Secretariat, President of the ALA Karen Zadoyan acted as the keynote speaker from the civil society http://aac.am/1033.html Chairman of the Governing Board Arkadi Sahakyan, Coalition Governing Board Member Movses Aristakesyan and other Coalition experts delivered speeches on the use of different transitional justice mechanisms at http://aac.am/376.html , https://armla.am/en/4253.html.
Notably, on the 10 October, 2019 session, the Government of the Republic of Armenia approved the “Judicial and Legal Reforms’ Strategy of the Republic of Armenia and its Implementation Action Plan for 2019-2023” presented by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia (hereinafter referred to as the Strategy), in which the recommendations of the report by the period of application, according to the scope of application and the mechanisms of application were partially incorporated. Specifically, the recommendations in the criminal justice section on the establishment of a specialized court investigating corruption crimes; and Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the section of the truth seeking process.
It is worth noting that although the Strategy considered a vital necessity to introduce transitional justice mechanisms in the republic, not all transitional justice mechanisms were provided in the Strategy.
It is also important to take into account the recent events in the country,
- when the crisis around the Constitutional Court is not resolved,
- when the judicial system and decisions made by judges do not enjoy public confidence,
- when public law enforcement agencies have serious professional omissions in providing evidence for solving a crime;
- when the process return to the state budget of the assets illegally withdrawn from the country and return of the funds acquired as a result of illicit enrichment proceeds very slowly,
also undermine the full implementation of the transitional justice tool in the country. Therefore, the Coalition believes that so far, the measures taken are inadequate and slow reforms, the introduction of an effective transitional justice system in the country, in our conditions, cannot guarantee the introduction of the ARMENIAN MODEL of transitional justice based on international experience, which principle aim is the ESTABLISHMENT of solidarity among the citizens of the Republic of Armenia and the Armenian people and generations in general.
Based on the above, the coalition calls on the political authorities;
- Urgently undertake the development and implementation of an action plan based on the concept of transitional justice in Armenia, which will include the necessary measures to implement all four transitional justice delivery mechanisms: the implementation of criminal justice, the truth seeking process, compensation programs, and systemic reforms.
- Collaborate with specialized Armenian civil society organizations in a constructive dialogue format to form a single agenda for transitional justice in the country.
Governing Board of CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia
- “NGO Center” Civil Society Development NGO – Arpine Hakobyan,
- “Armenian Lawyers’ Association” – Karen Zadoyan,
- “Union of Advanced Technology” – Arkadi Sahakyan,
- “Armenian Association of Young Doctors”, – Gevorg Grigoryan,
- “Right and Freedom Center” – Sona Harutyunyan,
- “Center for Economic Rights” – Movses Aritsakesyan,
- “Tukhmanuk Human Rights and Education Center” – Mary Chakhoyan,
- “Union of Communities of Armenia” – Emin Yeritsyan,
- “Support for Equal Opportunities Foundation” – Hayk Margaryan.
19.12.2019