On October 1-5 the PACE autumn session, in the works of which the delegation of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia  headed by Mr. Davit Harutyunyan, is taking place. The delegation members are: Mr. Avet Adonts, Mr. Armen Rustamyan, Mr. Raffi Hovannisian, Mr. Mher Shahgeldyan, Mr. Grigori Margaryan, Mr. Vahe Hovhannisyan.

Three reports on migration and refugees were included in the October 1 agenda of the Assembly. The delegation members of the RA National Assembly Mr. Armen Rustamyan, Mr. Davit Harutyunyan and Mr. Avet Adonts were registered to deliver a speech concerning the report on the theme “The activities of the International Organization for Migration.” The rapporteur was the member of the Azerbaijani delegation in PACE Mrs. Gultakin Hajiyeva. Due to the lack of time only Mr. Armen Rustamyan, had an opportunity to deliver a speech. Mr. Davit Harutyunyan’s and Mr. Avet Adonts’ speeches were handed over to the secretariat of the Assembly and would be included in the session protocol. Mr. Armen Rustamyan in his speech noted that Mrs. Hajiyeva, taking the advantage of being a rapporteur, evaded from the main theme of the report and in the part of reasoning (which is not voted by the Assembly) referred to the Nagorno Karabakh issue and displayed biased approach. Mr. Davit Harutyunyan, the member of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population, expressed his satisfaction and disagreement on the reasoning part in his letter addressed to the Committee Chairman, which was also presented to the other members of the committee.

During the session the delegation had a series of meetings.

At the meeting the delegation of the National Assembly drew the attention of Mr. Terry Davis, Council of Europe Secretary General, to the fact that dictating preconditions on the eve of the visits of the experts of the Council of Europe, the fact-finding missions of PACE and other international structures, the Azerbaijani side continuously fails the study of the situation of the khachkars/cross-stones of the Jugha medieval cemetery in Nakhijevan. At the course of the meeting the sides referred to the issues regarding the deepening of cooperation within the frameworks of support programme between the Council of Europe and the Republic of Armenia.

On October 1 Lord Russell-Johnston, PACE Ad-hoc Committee Chairman met the heads of the Armenian and Azerbaijanian heads Mr. Davit Harutyunyan and Mr. Samed Saidov for the discussion of the implementation of PACE 1416 Resolution. At the core of the meeting was the issue of the expediency of continuing the further activity of the Ad-hoc Committee, as the visit of the Ad-hoc Committee scheduled on October 8-12 to Nagorno Karabakh failed because of the precondition on visiting the Nagorno Karabakh only through the territory of Azerbaijan, which was put forward by the Azerbaijani side. At the meeting the head of the NA delegation in PACE emphasized the importance of the visit to Nagorno Karabakh and expressed regret that Azerbaijan creates artificial obstacles in order to have the visit of the members of the subcommittee. This time Azerbaijan has chosen the path of the format change. The head of the Armenian delegation has reminded that the visits of the international structures, including the PACE to Nagorno Karabakh have been made through the Armenian territory for many years.

Lord Russell-Johnston expressed his concern over the created situation and said about the obligatory refusal from the scheduled visit. The further development of the situation is not known yet.

Mr. Davit Harutyunyan, the head of the delegation also had a working visit with Mr. George Colombier, Co-Rapporteur on Armenia’s obligations and discussed the works to be done.

On October 2 in PACE the Armenian delegation of the National Assembly met Mr. Rene van der Linden, PACE President. During the meeting Mr. Davit Harutyunyan, the head of the delegation drew the attention of the PACE President to the issue of the failure of the PACE missions, in particular, the failure of the visits of Mr. Edward O’Hara, rapporteur of the Sub-committee of the Cultural Heritage to the South Caucasus and Nagorno Karabakh, as well as the Ad-hoc Committee on Nagorno Karabakh of PACE bureau by the Azerbaijani authorities by presenting preconditions at the last moment. The head of the delegation proposed the PACE President to present these issues, as well as ask the Committee of the Ministers of the Council of Europe and the Secretary General to take appropriate measures for the implementation of the missions of the Council of Europe. Referring to his visit to the South Caucasus on July 2007, the PACE President expressed his concern that there was no progress registered during the recent years in the settlement of the conflict, but there was aggravation of relations and tension of the atmosphere.

In connection with this Mr. Davit Harutyunyan, the head of the delegation pointed out the war-like statements made by the Azerbaijani officials, which result in the aggravation of the situation and rise of the level of tension. In this aspect Mr. Avet Adonts, member of the delegation stressed the role of the Council of the Europe and other European organizations, which will address their efforts for the formation of the atmosphere of confidence in the South Caucasus, the development of the regional cooperation, which is an important factor for the settlement of the conflicts.

Referring to the forum on the frozen conflicts in Berlin on November 5 on the initiative of the Monitoring Committee, Mr. Davit Harutyunyan proposed to invite the representative of the Nagorno Karabakh as a conflicting side, emphasizing that the participation of the Nagorno Karabakh would provide balance, both in the context of participation and presenting opinions.

In Strasbourg the delegation of the National Assembly also met with Mr. Per Sjogren, head of the Ago Monitoring Group of the Committee of the Ministers of the Council of Europe and the group members. The Group asked the Armenian parliamentary delegation to give details on the amendments of the Electoral Code preceding the upcoming presidential elections in 2008, the procedure of the fulfillment of the constitutional reforms adopted in 2005 and developments related to the law on Radio and Television. The head of the delegation Mr. Davit Harutyunyan said that in the nearest future the amendments of the Electoral Code being introduced for the debate in the parliament more refer to the provision of the transparency of the ownership of the financial means of the campaign, the execution of the audit, as well as the mechanisms directed to the prevention of the illegal financing of the campaign. In connection with the law on Radio and Television it was noted that the last amendments made to the law are conditioned by the constitutional amendments adopted in 2005, but a new law is envisaged to present for the debate in the parliament in 2008. The head of the delegation also informed the Group about the debates and process of adoption connected with the judicial system reforms, administrative, administrative proceedings codes.

In connection with the above-mentioned issues Mr. Mher Shahgeldyan, member of the delegation highlighted the electoral reforms, exclusion of the election violations found during the elections and the imperative of whole broadcasting of the announcements and question and answer session of the MPs.