The 6th session of the Council of Europe Forum for the Future of Democracy was held from 19th up to 21st of October in Yerevan (Armenia). The Forum was established by the Third Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe in Warsaw in May 2005 with the aim “to strengthen democracy, political freedoms and citizens’ participation”. It is open to all member states and civil society, and is aimed at enabling the exchange of ideas, information and examples of best practices, as well as discussions on possible future action in the field of democracy.

Human rights defenders from Armenia send an appeal to Secretary General of the Council of Europe Mr. Thorbjørn Jagland, who is going to visit Yerevan in the next few days.

Narek Hovakimyan, a member of Armenia’s pro-democracy youth movement Hima, was attacked and beaten yesterday, June 25, 2008, in downtown Yerevan.

Narek, a 19-year old freshman at Yerevan State University, was approached by an unknown young man, as he was leaving school after classes at around 3:30pm, and was asked to “have a conversation” outside the campus.

Notwithstanding the hot sun thousands of people are going up to the Matenadaran square, shouting “Freedom”, “Free, independent Armenia”, etc.

As part of their investigation into yesterday's assault of a leading human rights defender, the Armenian authorities should investigate the extent to which the victim's human
rights work was a motive for the attack, Human Rights Watch said today. Mikael Danielian, the chairman of the Armenian Helsinki Association, was wounded by an air gun on May 21, 2008 in Yerevan, the country's capital. Danielian was not seriously wounded.

21 may about 3:00 an unknown person fired a shot at the chairman of the Helsinki Association-Armenia Mikael Danielian on Terian Street, Yerevan. According to Danielian's friend they had hardly stopped under a traffic light when Danielian noticed a friend walking along the pavement. He stretched out to salute him.

On April 9 40 days have passed since the violent dispersal of the demonstrations in Yerevan, organized to protest against the disputable results of elections in Armenia. During this dispersal at least 8 persons were killed and several hundreds wounded. Besides, an unknown number of people were imprisoned.

Open Letter from the Wives, Mothers, and Sisters of Victims of Political Persecution in Connection with the 2008 Armenian Presidential Election

We are writing this letter as the wives, mothers, and sisters of those citizens of the Republic of Armenia who have been subjected to illegal measures by the authorities in connection with the February 19, 2008 presidential election, during the pre-election process, at the time of the election, and in the days since then.