INTERVIEW WITH ALBERT VOSKANIAN
Several days ago a seminar was held in London Royal Institute of International Affairs on the topic «Political Development and Calls for Security in South Caucasian Conflicts». Representatives of international and non-governmental organizations, politicians and diplomats from different countries took part in the seminar. Nagorno Karabakh was represented by the director of the Center for Civil Undertakings Albert Voskanian who reported on the impact of «frozen» conflicts on the development of democracy. According to Albert Voskanian, the seminar was highly organized, the participants were given an opportunity to present the current situation in their countries, discuss different political developments and challenges threatening the security of the region and express their viewpoints on the ways of resolution of the conflicts. «In Nagorno Karabakh we are highly conscious that the international community considers the democratic state built on social justice to be the cornerstone of the present world system of values,» said Mr. Voskanian in his address. «In this respect we are highly conscious of the fact that we shall attract the attention of the international community only when we build a truly democratic society in our country. We are also aware that we have not achieved this aim yet. At the same time we are convinced that the rapid resolution of «frozen» conflicts through peace talks with direct participation of the conflict parties will greatly favour this process, for every nation has its idea of its future. At the same time we recognize that being left behind in the modern processes of development, particularly having no opportunity of receiving aid from international organizations, Nagorno Karabakh needs to rely on its own resources and the aid of the Armenian Diaspora, as well as look for non-standard ways and methods of using the potential of the region. The Diaspora and, of course, Armenia help Karabakh to improve economic management, efficiency of different governmental organizations and agencies, develop democratic institutions and the mass media in the republic, and other matters. However, we realize that at present these are merely auxiliary factors for our republic.» Evika Babayan: «Mr. Voskanian, would you tell about the human rights organization Center for Civil Undertakings?» A.V.: «I would like to mention that the organization contributes to the creation of a civil society, development of the public sector and democratic institutions in Nagorno Karabakh. One of the main directions in the activities of the organization is the monitoring of the prisons of Nagorno Karabakh held since April 2003 with the permission of the authorities of the republic, which is an unprecedented step in our region. Why unprecedented? It is the first time that a non-governmental organization fulfills such an activity on a regular basis in Karabakh. The motto of our organization in this work is the phrase of Winston Churchill «prison is the mirror of the society». On the basis of the information and observations gathered during the visits to the prisons the Center prepares reports and extends them to the Council of Europe, OSCE, the UN Commissar on Human Rights, Alert International, Amnesty International, Penal Reform International, Committee Against Torture and other international and human rights organizations, as well as the corresponding organizations of Nagorno Karabakh. We report both the positive and negative sides, gives instructions to the administrations of prisons for the improvement of the situation. In practice we see that the administrations of the prisons take into account our opinion. The aforementioned organizations also respond to our reports. We got a letter from the Council of Europe asking to inform them about the activities of our organization. If necessary we give practical advice to international and other organizations dealing with the same problem. I would like to state not without pride that our activity carried out on a charity basis has its contribution to the process of democratization of the society in Karabakh. Our organization consistently acts in favour of transferring the prisons of Nagorno Karabakh from the Police under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice, for we think this will favour maintaining international standards in this sphere more rapidly, as well as the effective and many-sided solution of the current problems.» E.B.: «Mr. Voskanian, we know that the human rights organization was among the first to respond to the idea of abolishing capital punishment.» A.V.: «Yes, in fact, we were among the first to propose abolition of capital punishment in our republic too. By the way I would like to mention that in Nagorno Karabakh capital punishment was abolished (de facto) in 1997, which was included in the OSCE report. The last capital punishment in NKR was executed before 1997. In Nagorno Karabakh capital punishment was abolished since August 1, 2003 after the enactment of the corresponding law. According to the law capital punishment as the ultimate form of punishment is replaced by life imprisonment in Nagorno Karabakh.» A.V.: «Presently more than a hundred non-governmental organizations are registered in the republic of which only a small number operates due to the lack of local and international donors. The humanitarian sphere is politicized for the reason that the republic is not recognized, which, actually, hinders setting up relationships abroad.» E.B.: «Did the seminar correspond to your expectations?» E.B.: «On the whole yes, especially that the discussion of the questions raised at the seminar will resume in Tbilisi this July. The final document containing instructions for the governments and the public sector will be presented. The document will be aimed at establishing constant dialogue between the government and the society, which will in the long run have a positive impact on the regional processes.»
- EVIKA BABAYAN
INTERVIEW WITH ALBERT VOSKANIAN
EVIKA BABAYANSeveral days ago a seminar was held in London Royal Institute of International Affairs on the topic «Political Development and Calls for Security in South Caucasian Conflicts». Representatives ...
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