Чья бы мычала?! Jhangiryan and... human rights

So did I miss something? Where was the promised ‘breaking news’ during the opposition rally in Yerevan? Not that I expected any not alone ‘breaking’ news taking into account past experiences and trend... Same old speeches, no inspiration, no drive to move people, no real alternative. Disappointing. Boring.

And please, someone ask Jhangiryan to shut up. Former military prosecutor was himself accused in human rights violations and torture. And now he is ‘lecturing’ about human rights:

“For me the army is a most delicate subject, as I worked with the army for ten years and know about progress in army construction and all the aspects of army life. However, what we have been witnessing over recent months sometimes defies imagination of even experienced people. “I could never imagine that an Armenian soldier’s dignity and life might be so valueless that he would be regularly humiliated and beaten up and get pleasure from it [the Youtube video is meant],” Jhangiryan said. “It is criminal and permissiveness that is the real enemy,” he said.”

RFE/RL report, April 2007:

A court in Yerevan on Monday gave military prosecutors the green light to continue their investigation into mysterious killings of two Armenian soldiers that has been dogged by allegations of a cover-up and grave human rights abuses. [...]

The case against the now demobilized soldiers is essentially based on an April 2004 “confession” made by one of them, Razmik Sargsian. The latter retracted the testimony shortly afterwards, saying that it was extracted by force. The two other soldiers also claim to have been badly ill-treated in custody.

Sargsian insisted on Monday that he incriminated himself and his comrades after being brutally tortured by investigators, including Deputy Prosecutor-General Gagik Jahangirian, who led the probe in his previous capacity as Armenia’s chief military prosecutor. “Gagik Jahangirian personally slapped me when I was taken to his office,” he said. “He was angry because I was unable to raise my head and look him in the eyes due to the beatings. He cracked one of my teeth and dislocated my jaw.”

I CAN speak/write about human rights violations in the army. You, Mr. Jhangiryan, CAN’T. So, please, shut the f* up.

Pope's visit to the UK: Sinéad O'Connor and "Protest the Pope"

Ahead of Pope's visit to the UK, Sky News today reminded of the incident of 1992 when Sinéad O'Connor ripped into pieces a copy of a photograph of then Pope John Paul II while appearing on NBC's Saturday Night Live programme.

Wikipedia: On 3 October 1992, O'Connor appeared on Saturday Night Live as a musical guest. She was singing an a cappella version of Bob Marley's "War", which she intended as a protest over the sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church, by changing the lyric "racism" to "child abuse." She then presented a photo of Pope John Paul II to the camera while singing the word "evil", after which she tore the photo into pieces, said "Fight the real enemy," and threw the pieces towards the camera.

There will be "Protest the Pope" march and rally in London this coming Saturday, along with other actions as part of the campaign against the State Visit of Pope Ratzinger to the UK which starts tomorrow. Campaigners protest Vatican's cover up of child abuse cases, as well as its stance on other human rights issues:

- opposing the distribution of condoms and so increasing large families in poor countries and the spread of AIDS.
- promoting segregated education.
- denying abortion to even the most vulnerable women.
- opposing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender rights, including universal decriminalisation of homosexuality.
- failing to address the many cases of abuse of children within its own organisation.
- rehabilitating holocaust deniers and appeasers like bishop Richard Williamson and the war-time Pope, Pius XII.

Disgusting. New video allegedly shows bullying and violence in the Armenian army

UPDATE 23 September 2010: Exposed online. First - denial. Now - confirmation. Sadistic officer in Armenia army arrested and faces up to 5 years in prison for abuse of soldiers

UPDATE 17 September 2010: Armenia MoD confirms that those depicted in army hazing video were identified and detained. More details to be provided.

UPDATE 16 September 2010: Video was removed from Dailymotion too, but available elsewhere, e.g. on YouTube. It keeps getting removed and reappearing again. What is more important is that according to the media reports, the sadistic officer on the video was identified, and soon Armenian MoD will make a statement. MoD refused so far to confirm media reports. Will keep you posted on developments.

UPDATE 12 September 2010: Video was removed from YouTube "due to terms of use violation", but re-appeared on Dailymotion.
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This video was put on YouTube today and started circulating on Facebook. It titled (AM) Բանակի իրական դեմքը (‘The real face of the army’) and allegedly shows bullying and physical violence in the Armenian army. No description for the video is provided, and it’s not known when and where this video was taken. I can only assume it was taken via mobile phone.




Urgent investigation is needed to reveal the full details of this incident. What is depicted in this video is simply disgusting. This follows recent cases of “suicides” and non combat deaths in the Armenian army. Over the last couple of days there were more reports on “suicide” and non combat violence in the Armenian army.

This video is similar to previously emerged alleged photo evidence of beating in Armenian army as well as similar incidents in Azerbaijan (see here and here)

Yerevan - Baku taxi experiment: listening to the ‘enemy’ music

Good experiment. [This film was made as part of the project by the Eurasia Partnership Foundation supported by the British embassy in Yerevan.]



I can’t say that opinions expressed from both sides were surprising. They were mainly based on cliches and due to the lack of direct communication between Azeris and Armenians following Karabakh war. That’s the reason why social networks, blogs or offline meetings are so important, although they could be used for inciting hatred too.

However, I was mostly interested in taxi passengers’ reaction to playing Armenian music in Baku, and Azeri music in Yerevan. And it was not balanced in that there were more opinions recorded from the Armenian side than from Azeri side. I’d be interested to hear more reaction from Baku residents too. And in general, I’d like to see this music part of the experiment expanded. Would be also interesting to repeat the experiment on different settings. For example, the reaction of exchanging respective cuisine set in Yerevan and Baku restaurants etc.

My pick of newly/recently launched Armenian online news outlets

Recently, there has been surge in numbers of Armenian online news outlets. However, many newly launched resources are simply copying each other, at times almost indistinguishable, whether by look or content, and carrying the same news stories from site to site.

For now, the most successful is Tert.am that quickly became one of the main and popular sources of Armenia related news. I remember, up until a year or so ago, when I wanted to visit one site to know what’s going on in Armenia, the choice was obvious - A1+. Now it’s Tert.am for me. Let’s see if they’ll keep it up.

Another interesting project which I’d recommend you to check out is the Armenian Version. With the writer and journalist Lusine Vayachyan & co on board, the ArmVersion is fresh, and regularly posts challenging stories tackling sensitive and relatively taboo subjects.

Still, there is need for independent journalism from Armenia that - as The Independent would put it - “free from party-political ties and proprietorial influence”. Hetq.am is still OKish, but sadly it shifted more towards providing daily news (like dozen others) rather than investigative journalism which it was famous for.

Epress.am - new online outlet by independent journalists’ network in Armenia

Last week my attention grabbed this newly launched project - epress.am by the Independent Journalists’ Network. As I learned, the former editors of Tert.am are behind this project. It is available in three languages - Armenian, Russian and English. For now, they have a small team of journalists and translators working out of a rented apartment in central Yerevan.

Says Adrineh, the editor of the English-language version of the site: “The aim is to have news that's not pro-government and not pro-opposition. It's not about "who's side you're on" — it's about reporting the news, just the facts, objectively and without any other motives. The Independent Journalists' Network is the NGO and they/we are able to do the work we do because of funding from the Norwegian government. There's no other funding at the moment.”

Upcoming plans for epress.am include launching a Turkish-language version of the site and blogs section, both pending funding.

What I want to see on epress.am is independent and investigative journalism, with challenging stories, stories that I won’t necessarily find anywhere else.

Arcade Fire rock band + Google Chrome interactive video project “The Wilderness Downtown”. Yerevan experience

The Independent: "On August 30, rock band Arcade Fire, together with Google and artist Chris Milk, launched an interactive video set to the band's track "We Used to Wait." Called "The Wilderness Downtown," the online project makes use of Google Maps and Google Street View to incorporate images of the viewer's hometown into the video. Viewers begin the experience by providing their childhood address. The video experience then unfolds in multiple windows, taking viewers on a tour of their hometown to the tune of the Arcade Fire track. Users can also write a note to their younger selves in a tree branch-inspired font that is incorporated into the video. "The Wilderness Downtown" is optimized for Google Chrome and should also run on any browser that supports HTML5."
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It worked great with my London address. Unfortunately, when I tried submitting Yerevan or more specific addresses in Armenia, the following notice came up: “Your address doesn't contain enough Street-View and/or Google Maps data to 100% enjoy this experience.”

Still, you may click this link to see The Wilderness Downtown project’s Yerevan experience: http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/#Yerevan,+Armenia

Or go to the website http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com and try playing with addresses and cities yourself.

You will have a chance to make postcards too. I did not have much time and made a simple one but from my heart :)

For more info about the project, visit http://www.chromeexperiments.com/arcadefire Overall, pretty fun experience. Enjoy!

Be yourself

Good message in this modern interpretation of Alla Pugacheva’s classic song by A-Studio.

Resist temptation and pressures to succumb to the averageness of the majority. It’s too grey out there.



*thanks to Sevak for the link

'Suicide soldier' (graffiti in Yerevan)

*by Garik Engibaryan and Edgar Amroyan, underground pass at Khandjyan-Vardanants crossroad, close to the statue of Vardan Mamikonyan

Outrage as British Council Armenia sponsors homophobic radio station in Yerevan

Shameful and utterly disappointing.

Read full post on Unzipped: Gay Armenia

Thank you, stranger!

I was carrying a pretty heavy luggage through London underground (metro) the other day and a guy, one of the fellow commuters, offered his hand to help. Nothing special, you might think. But it was special to me. It has never happened to me before. I mean never before a guy, complete stranger, would offer me help in such situation. I have not noticed this man-helping-man-in-transport-of-London pattern around too. What I normally see is when a guy offering help to another woman. I personally did offer such help too quite a few times, but it never occurred to me offering similar help to another guy. (Btw, I have not seen a reversed example: woman offering help to a man in similar matters. Oh, gender roles...)

When he offered his help, at first I was confused and thanked him by saying it’s OK, I can do it myself. But then he insisted, and I agreed... and it felt nice. Simple and nice. Thank you.

'Eco'-shoes

Selfridges, London

Re: Armenia PM’s “Rock Association”

I like that Armenia PM Tigran Sargsyan loves rock music. I like that he blogs about it. But “Rock Association”? Rock should be free, if it is rock, and not a court rock. Rock should not be part of “association” with the head of government, regardless of PM’s - however good or honest - intentions. Meeting with rockers over drinks or something, listening music, discussing stuff... THAT I would understand and quite like to see. But seating on a stage, on a very different level than the rockers seat (picture below, via 517design), this is a big NO. Also, the ‘dress-code’ of quite a few of the rockers in the audience doesn’t not provide with much reasons for optimism (not to mention that I spotted one particular musician there). This is not rock. This is rock-control.

London - Yerevan direct flight: bmi out, Armavia in?

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been hearing rumours that bmi will stop operating its direct London-Yerevan-London flights from September or so. Instead, Armenian national air carrier Armavia will launch its first ever Yerevan-London-Yerevan direct flights from around early autumn.

I asked bmi to clarify this info: whether it's true or not, and if yes, what were the reasons for such decision. Allegedly, bmi flights to Yerevan direction were not profitable enough, and bmi decided to keep only Tbilisi route. There have been some, however, who pointed out to me that this cannot be the case, as many Diaspora Armenians and others use bmi’s London-Yerevan-London to fly from /to the USA and other destinations. And this must be profitable, they insisted.

bmi representative denied the rumours and came back to me with the following statement: “there are no plans to remove this route from the bmi network”.

However, when I shared bmi’s response with knowledgable sources in London, the reaction was that despite bmi’s denial, 'the rumours are true and the plans are progressing'. There might be few pleasant surprises for passengers when new Yerevan-London-Yerevan route launches this autumn, I learned.

When I checked bmi’s website today, before posting this entry, it was possible to make bookings for London-Yerevan-London return flight up until a year in advance, 25 July 2011. As of today, there are no formal indications of London route on Armavia's website.

Armenia: Quote of the Day (AM)

"Հայաստանում կան առնվազն երկու պետական կառույցներ՝ Պաշտանության նախարարություն եւ Ոստիկանություն, որոնց ներս մուտք գործելով, ՀՀ քաղաքացիները պարբերաբար ինքնասպանություն են գործում:"

*source: Հրանտ Տէր-Աբրահամեան Ինքնասպան լինեք դո՛ւք

Related to: “Suicide”... or evidence of abuse and ill-treatment in the Armenian army?

and Armenia police: shoot to kill?

“Suicide”... or evidence of abuse and ill-treatment in the Armenian army?

This morning many Armenian users of Facebook (myself including) were shocked (read also here) by learning of yet another "suicide" in the army. Artak Nazaryan, contract service officer/commander in Armenia’s Tavush region, brother of local journalist Tsovinar (currently studying in the US), died of what the Ministry of Defense wants us to believe a “suicide”. A Facebook group was set up demanding the truth to this story Չի´ կարելի լռել.

It was shocking... not because it was the first such incident. There has been quite a few similar cases over the past years (and not only in the army), and relatives of those died regularly protest in front of the government building demanding justice for what they believe a cover-up of abuse and ill treatment in the Armenian army.

It was shocking... not only because he was a brother of journalist, friend of many Facebook users, although this fact certainly added a very personal touch to the tragedy.

It was shocking... because IT IS SHOCKING. Any single “suicide” case in the army is shocking.

Mother and relatives mentioned of “tensions” they lately noticed and that Artak did not fit in.

“Mom, I want to be a different commander for soldiers. I do not want to be like them”. He was considered a “weak commander” because “he did not beat up soldiers”.

Reports (via Lragir, + picture above) indicate on traces of physical violence found during the autopsy. Reports suggest they were left six hours before Artak Nazaryan’s death. The Ministry of Defense officials did not offer immediate condolences. Instead, they were quick to present this case as a “suicide” which reminds a very recent similar attempt by the Armenia police chief. (+ Forced suicide is a murder)

How long this culture of abuse and ill-treatment will continue in the Armenian army?

Below are few similarly shocking cases of “suicide” in the Armenian army from the archives of Helsinki Association (2007 reports, Armenia and Karabakh). Apparently, nothing much has since changed.

This should be a wake-up call for Armenia Defense Minister and the authorities to clean up this horrific and disgraceful state of affairs still prevalent in the army. In fact, they should have acted yesterday. Time is running out.

[language below as in original]
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Investigator to the case – It’s a murder for 99 percent

On 07 July 2007 Hovhannes Meltonyan, a soldier performing his compulsory military service in No. 27229 military unit of the Defense Ministry of Armenia, was killed. According to an official version, unable to endure beatings and scoffing by his co-servicemen, he entered the armory-room of the company shot himself by the machine-gun assigned to him.

However, both the parents of H. Meltonyan and his representatives claim that the official version is false and groundless. Both the facts and the reliable statements made by the injured party show that H. Meltonyan was killed by three co-servicemen. This is stated orally by prosecutors belonging to military prosecutor office, who, still insist on the version they find suitable – SUICIDE. According to the medical examiner’s report, traces of beatings and torture were found on the body of the deceased. Seven days after the incident, the father of the killed solider went to the prosecution office and evidenced as soldiers who were witnesses to the case of his son’s death, were tortured and intimidated. This allows us to come to a conclusion that the investigation needs “good evidence” to this case.

Discontinue or not?

On 10 August 2005 at 06:45 the corpse of Private Robert Hovhannisyan, an Armenian national, was found in one of the military posts of the artillery battalion belonging to the No. 36534 military unit of the Defense Ministry of Armenia (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic), with firearm wound in the head. According to the medical examiner’s report, the corpse bore many traces of torture. A. Krkyasharyan, an investigator to the case, brought charges against several persons by adopting the version of suicide. However, unable to reason his false approach to the incident, he suspended the case due to the impossibility to find those who committed the crime.

It is clear that the investigator is not willing to uncover the murder. In April 2007 the injured party applied to Prosecutor General of Armenia with a request to consult with the case-file. Right after the request was submitted, the military prosecutor cancelled the suspension order and remitted the case to an additional investigation. The injured party filed a challenge against the investigator in charge of the case and the other day received quite an unexpected reply – the case has been suspended once more.

Suicide is the only way out

According to the papers presented by the prosecution office, on 07 July 2007 at 6:30 a.m. Garik Mikayelyan, an Armenian national, who was performing compulsory military service as Liaison Platoon Commander at No.75937 military unit located in Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, suffered a power shock from a power supply station located in the military unit. He received third-degree burns of the upper extremities and as a result had both his arms amputated. A criminal case No. 90603507 was opened into the incident led by investigator Gnel Manukyan.

From the information that we possess and the statements made by G. Mikayelyan it can be drawn that the attempted suicide was prompted by a number of senior military officers of the military unit, who had regularly beaten, abused and demeaned the soldier. Some time after the incident they kept G. Mikayelyan in the military unit without medical aid hoping that he would die and never tell the truth. Besides these facts, it becomes evident from the way the investigation is carried out that the investigation is not concerned to conduct an impartial investigation and to find those guilty.

Private Arsen Simonyan commited suicide by shooting himself 8 times

Arsen Simonyan, an Armenian national who was performing his military service in N.36534 military unit of the Defense Ministry of Armenia (Republic of Nagorno Karabakh) died on 7 July 2005. Officials state that he committed suicide. Investigation says A. Simonyan’s “suicide” was prompted by constant abuses he was subjected to by his co-servicemen, namely Junior Sergeant M. Mkhitaryan and Sergeant G. Barseghyan.

Eight cartridge cases were found in the area where the incident took place. Both witnesses and accused alleged during the trial that the prosecution investigators obtained evidence under torture. Soldiers that happened to serve with the late A. Simonyan in the same military platoon were taken to the Military Prosecution Office of Hadrut Region of Nagorno Karabakh Republic where they were kept for 20 days. During that time the investigation was “getting” necessary evidence from them in the presence of G. Mailyan, Commander of the battalion they all belonged to.

Bizarre story: Swedish model, his ex-lover Saudi Arabian princess and her Armenian chauffeur

'Gold-digger': Swedish model Patrick Ribbsaeter is alleged to have attacked his (Saudi Arabian princess) ex-girlfriend's chauffeur in a drunk and drug-fuelled rage after she caught him having a three-some with two other women in her flat in London.

Trial: Sarkis Tokatlian (chauffeur), left, was attacked while trying to protect Saudi Arabian princess Sara Al-Amoundi, right, it has been claimed.
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This is a bizarre story. It started last year, and trial is currently underway in London.

Daily Mail reports that Swedish model Patrick Ribbsaeter had met Saudi Arabian princess Sara Al-Amoudi on holiday in Thailand and the pair became lovers. "The relationship offered the promise of unimaginable wealth to Ribbsaeter, 30, who has modelled for a host of household names, including Calvin Klein, Armani, Gucci and Christian Dior.

But his hopes of a gilded future promptly disappeared when she caught him with the [two] other women in her flat in Victoria, Central London, the court heard."

The circumstances of the alleged assault are not that clear and pretty bizarre, in fact. Reportedly, last September, after Saudi princess found out about cheating, the couple went for a dinner. Then Tokatlian drove them "to a series of nightclubs [Unzipped - !], including the Ministry of Sound, before the couple returned to her flat in the early hours of Sunday." According to the British tabloid, it was only after that night of clubbing the princess "realised" that "Patrick was, after all, not the man for her".

"Mr Tokatlian returned to the flat after dropping off the car and it became apparent that Ribbsaeter and Miss Al-Amoudi had split up. The trio talked until Miss Al-Amoudi fell asleep. But Ribbsaeter is then said to have lunged at her, prompting the chauffeur to respond."

"At this point her driver Sarkis Tokatlian stepped in to stop him, giving him a bloody nose, but Ribbsaeter smashed a wine glass and stabbed the driver six times in his face before beginning to strangle him, a jury was told".

"After the alleged glass attack, the pair struggled on the floor by the dining table until Ribbsaeter climbed on top of the victim. He grabbed his throat with both hands, and began to strangle him, stopping only when Mr Tokatlian pushed his thumbs into his attacker's eyes, the court heard."

"The jury was told Ribbsaeter has a previous conviction in Sweden for strangling a different ex-girlfriend. Ribbsaeter told the jury that Mr Tokatlian was the aggressor and that he had only defended himself. He said he had been drinking and had taken a tiny quantity of ketamine and an ecstasy tablet while the two others had taken much more."

The case continues.

*Info and pictures - via Daily Mail

Watching football in 3D

For the first time, selected cinemas in London were showing World Cup matches in 3D. This followed successful trials in pubs across country of 3D broadcasting few English Premier League games couple of months ago.

I was curious and wanted to experience football in 3D and thought that World Cup is a perfect and exciting opportunity to do so.

It was an interesting experience, a different one. Stadium full of people looked a bit surreal in 3D. Players looked smaller than usual. At times, it was as if I was watching a toy game instead of real football.

The quality of picture was not as good or clear as in High Definition TVs. 3D was great in close-up scenes, but the nature of televised football does not allow for getting much close-ups. Also, to be honest, it did not feel that there is necessarily need for a 3-rd dimension there. In films, it’s different. Animations or selected other films (but not all), like Avatar, are great in 3D. But wearing additional glasses and focusing on dimensions could be pretty inconvenient or distracting too.

Verdict: Good to experience it, but for now I prefer watching football on HDTV (high definition).

*In picture: Spanish football fans went crazy after semi-final win over Germany and took over London’s Piccadilly circus (7 July 2010) - Piccadilly Español :)

National Cinema Center of Armenia and... Constitutional Court

As a big film fan, I am all excited with the launch of “promising” cinema related online projects. And it was with the excitement that I started exploring the website for the National Cinema Center of Armenia.

Boy, I was in for a surprise.

Have a look at this screenshot and remember which website you are looking at. Spotted anything bizarre or unusual for the occasion? I thought so too.

Why on earth under the Links section are links... to the president’s, parliament’s, government’s and constitutional court’s (!) websites is beyond me.

I understand that the website is still ‘under construction’. But would not you expect to see cinema and art related links when you enter the National Cinema Center of Armenia? You would not necessarily search for the Constitutional Court of Armenia there, would you?

Interestingly, they were in such a hurry to put those websites in, that they forgot the most relevant one - Ministry of Culture’s. Oh my...

Armenia: Constitution Day, or is it?

“On 5 July Armenians mark Constitution Day.”

Well, sort of. Officially, that is. In order to celebrate or mark something, you have to feel it.

And I feel nothing. No, it's not because I now live in London and suddenly started feeling detached from the Armenian realities. It’s simply there is absolutely nothing to celebrate today, although it’s always good to have legitimate reasons for a day off.

Constitutions, including Armenian, may contain lots of nice words and articles. But the content per se is not that important. In order for the Constitution to withstand the test of time, it has to be a viable foundation during crisis times.

Two years ago, during 1 March bloodshed, it failed spectacularly. It did not help in averting the crisis, nor did it help in the aftermath. Do not get me started about the so called Constitutional Court joke in Armenia.

For me, the question is: Does the Constitution provide a basis for mechanisms in place that will work regardless of personalities? Mechanisms that will ensure democracy and human rights. If the answer is “Yes”, then Cheers! to the Constitution. For now, however, it all depends on who and how wants to implement it.

Read also Կեցցե՜ Սահմանադրության Օրը (AM) by Lusine Vayachyan.

Watching Spain vs Chile World Cup match with Spanish fans

Was watching World Cup Spain vs Chile match with hundreds of Spanish fans at Camino bar in London. A friend of mine suggested this place, as I wanted to watch the match with Spanish fans and in a place where I have not been before. I am so grateful for this suggestion. It was an excellent choice. A genuine Spanish-like atmosphere. Friendly staff and security. Relaxing environment. I am definitely coming back, and not only for World Cup matches.

During the match I kept comparing the experience of watching football with Spanish and English fans.

What I like in Spanish fans is that they always manage to turn the occasion into a celebration. The atmosphere was very friendly, hot, crazy. I loved it. I did not like throwing half-empty cans of beer at each other though. I do not know if it's a tradition or just a one-off thing, as have not noticed such things before.

True, there is always a good level of craziness present with English fans too. And the atmosphere (and fans) could be pretty hot too. So you could get hotness and craziness with both Spanish and English fans in different ways and depending on where you watch it.

What I dislike in English fans is that there is too much stress and anger present during England games. Also, more frequent nationalistic sentiments expressed during commentary, shouts and some songs. I have to admit though that the level of adrenalin is higher when watching football with English fans.

Below is a short video I made today, and few pictures.