CivilNet presents a weekly round-up of human rights issues around the world.
Human Rights Digest
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Questions raised over close Pashinyan aide’s business dealings
Opposition deputy Artur Ghazinyan has resigned from his seat in Armenia’s parliament, in the latest in a string of opposition resignations. CivilNet investigations uncover murky business dealings regarding former Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan.
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Supporting Armenian democracy and the Armenian people։ An interview with
Damon Wilson is the President and CEO of the National Endowment for Democracy, a Washington-based non-profit that provides grants to grow and strengthen democratic institutions around the world. Mr. Wilson sat down with CivilNet to discuss NED’s work in Armenia and the region, the Armenian government’s reform agenda, and ongoing normalization efforts with Azerbaijan and Turkey.
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Aghavno and Berdzor Armenians may be relocated to two nearby
Armenia’s parliament voted 66-0 at a special session to remove two prominent opposition deputies, Ishkhan Saghatelyan and Vahe Hakobyan, from their leadership positions for excessive absenteeism. The residents of Aghavno and Berdzor may be relocated to the nearby villages of Hin Shen and Mets Shen, says Artsakh’s Human Rights Defender Gegham Stepanyan. This comes after Armenia and Artsakh’s leadership confirmed that the Berdzor subregion will be handed to Azerbaijan in accordance with the November 9, 2020 statement.
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Armenia, Turkey to partially open border in major breakthrough
By Mark Dovich Armenia and Turkey agreed at a meeting in Vienna Friday to open their land border to citizens of third countries “at the earliest date possible,” Armenia’s Foreign Ministry has announced, in the biggest breakthrough in normalization efforts between the two neighboring countries in many years. They also “agreed on commencing direct air cargo trade…at the earliest possible date” and “reemphasized their agreement to continue the normalization process without preconditions,” according to the read-out. Little other detail was made immediately available. Efforts to normalize the extremely fraught relations between Armenia and Turkey took on a new life late […]
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The intersection of science and defense
Areg Danagoulian is an associate professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States. Professor Danagoulian sat down with CivilNet to discuss the intersection of science, education, and national security. He also talked about the Metsamor nuclear power plant and the recent launch of Armenia’s first space satellite.
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Jhangiryan resigns from top judicial body amid recording scandal
By Mark Dovich Gagik Jhangiryan, the acting head of Armenia’s Supreme Judicial Council, has resigned “due to health problems,” a judiciary spokesperson announced Friday. No other information was made immediately available. Council members this week declined to bring disciplinary charges against Jhangiryan for alleged wrongdoing revealed in a recording released two weeks ago that has caused a major scandal in Armenia. A week earlier, Ruben Vardazaryan, the former head of the council, was formally dismissed from his position, just days after he released the recording, which appears to show Jhangiryan, at the time a council member, threatening him with criminal […]
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Opposition lawmakers removed from leadership posts in parliament
By Mark Dovich Armenia’s parliament voted 66-0 at a special session Friday to remove two prominent opposition deputies from their leadership positions for excessive absenteeism. Lawmakers voted by secret ballot to remove Ishkhan Saghatelyan as deputy speaker and Vahe Hakobyan as head of the economic affairs committee. All 66 votes came from the ruling Civil Contract party, which has a total of 71 members in the 107-seat National Assembly. Saghatelyan and Hakobyan are both from the Armenia Alliance, an opposition bloc of 29 members. The two opposition blocs in parliament, the Armenia Alliance and the I Have Honor Alliance, released […]
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Berdzor will be handed to Azerbaijan in accordance with ceasefire
Nagorno-Karabakh’s Berdzor (Lachin) town must be handed over to Azerbaijan in accordance with the November 9, 2020 statement, says Karabakh President Arayik Harutyunyan. Canada will open a full embassy with a resident ambassador in Armenia. Armenia’s government announces plans to raise the minimum wage in 2023 from $167 to $184 a month. Credits: Ruptly