[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 136 (Friday, September 27, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11566-S11567]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          ARMED TROOPS IN ARMENIA ARREST DOZENS OF PROTESTERS

   Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, I was sorry to read the story in 
the New York Times by Steve LeVine under the title ``Armed Troops in 
Armenia Arrest Dozens of protesters.''
  Armenia is generally moving in the right direction.
  While there may have been abuses in the election, the fact that the 
election results showed the incumbent president getting 51 percent and 
his major rival 42 percent suggests to me that it was basically a free 
election.
  I have come to have great respect for President Ter-Petrossian who 
apparently has been reelected.
  I believe that restraint is essential for freedom to survive in 
Armenia.
  We do not want Armenia to go in the direction of chaos.
  An overreaction to protests does not help the future and the 
stability of Armenia.
  I was particularly concerned about the suggestions in the story that 
opposition leaders have been jailed or chased underground and that 
government troops went into an opposition party office and arrested 
eight people.
  I will continue to do what I can for Armenia in or out of the United 
States Senate, but I hope self-restraint is used by the government. 
Self-restraint is essential for stability and for freedom.
  Mr. President, I ask that the New York Times story be printed in the 
Record.
  The article follows:

               [From the New York Times, Sept. 27, 1996]

          Armed Troops In Armenia Arrest Dozens of Protesters

                           (By Steve LeVine)

       YEREVAN, Armenia, Sept. 26--Government troops arrested and 
     beat dozens of demonstrators and bystanders today in an 
     effort to end three days of protests against Armenia's 
     presidential election, which was tainted by charges of fraud.
       Armored vehicles blocked the streets, parks and squares 
     where tens of thousands of opposition supporters had 
     protested the announced victory by President Levon Ter-
     Petrossian in the election on Sunday.
       Bands of soldiers in full combat gear patrolled the 
     streets, breaking up gatherings of civilians as the 
     Government imposed what in effect was a state of emergency in 
     parts of the capital.
       The main opposition leader, Vazgen Manukian, a former Prime 
     Minister who trailed in the vote to Mr. Ter-Petrossian 
     according to official results, disappeared from public view 
     and his whereabouts were unknown. An Interior Ministry 
     spokesman said Mr. Manukian, 50, was ``being pursued.''
       Some tension remained this evening, but the Government 
     moves seemed to bring at least a pause the three days of 
     protests outside Parliament in which crowds of opposition 
     supporters called for Mr. Ter-Petrossian to resign.
       With the crackdown, Mr. Ter-Petrossian has now jailed, 
     chased underground or forced into exile most of his key 
     political opponents.
       The Government action came a day after demonstrators tore 
     down a gate and part of a fence surrounding Parliament, 
     charged onto the grounds and beat up the Speaker.

[[Page S11567]]

       The protesters asserted that fraud nudged Mr. Ter-
     Petrossian over the 50 percent mark in the election, allowing 
     him to avoid a runoff in Armenia's first presidential 
     election since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
       Government troops dispersed the crowd by firing in the air 
     and beating protesters on Wednesday, and a state newspaper 
     reported today that a policeman and a civilian were killed.
       In a television address this morning that opened with 
     pictures of the protest, Mr. Ter-Petrossian condemned his 
     rivals and banned unauthorized public gatherings. Citing the 
     strife in neighboring Georgia and Azerbaijan since the Soviet 
     collapse, Mr. Ter-Petrossian suggested that he was the only 
     barrier between calm and chaos in Armenia.
       ``Can it possibly be that the mistakes of our immediate 
     neighbors have taught us nothing, or did we have to feel this 
     on our own skin''? Mr. Ter-Petroassian asked. ``I warned you 
     about this danger, the danger of fascism from one group of 
     mentally ill people who wanted to rule over you.''
       Within an hour, troops stormed into an opposition party 
     office, beat up and arrested eight people, according to a 
     Reuters reporter who witnessed the incident.
       At the same time, soldiers fired live ammunition into the 
     air near the Opera House, an opposition gathering place. Men 
     booed and women screamed as soldiers and armed men in 
     plainclothes pursued, beat and arrested several bystanders.
       Pro-Government Members of Parliament beat up six opposition 
     members when they entered a morning emergency session. The 
     opposition politicians were then arrested by Interior 
     Ministry troops.
       Government officials said the deputies and some other 
     opposition figures would be tried in what they are calling an 
     attempted coup.
       Near the concentrations of Government troops, residents 
     were openly bitter, angry and frightened. Uniformed soldiers 
     and men in black leather or denim jackets roamed these areas, 
     slapping, kicking or beating seemingly any Armenian who 
     inquired in less than polite tones about the action.
       ``This is a nightmare,'' said Vartan Petrossian, a musician 
     who was strolling with his wife to buy some fish. ``This has 
     happened to our neighbors, but how can this happen in 
     Armenia''? I don't want a government that splits in my 
     face.''
       Another man, who did not want to give his name, asserted: 
     ``They are worse than the Communists. What kind of government 
     do we have that keeps power this way?''
       In the sprawling flea market near the Razdan Soccer 
     Stadium, a dozen merchants expressed sympathy with the 
     opposition. But they voiced dismay that the opposition would 
     risk disorder in a republic that until now has been spared 
     it.
       The ferocity of the crackdown has perplexed diplomats who 
     generally admire Mr. Ter-Petrossian, who rose to power in a 
     wave of nationalism that began here in 1988 and once had been 
     jailed with Mr. Manukian, then a close ally.
       It has been hard for some diplomats to reconcile the harsh 
     local ruler with a President who is moderate on other matters 
     like seeking better relations with Turkey.
       ``What has surprised me is that the Government is doing 
     nothing to sound conciliatory,'' a Western diplomat said 
     today of the crackdown. ``They just sent out the attack 
     dogs.''

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