15 July 2004, 22:14
Elections in Azerbaijan, Armenia massaged - IHF
The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) has addressed the OSCE with a request that facts of manipulation of election results in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Chechnya should be considered at a regular meeting of the Commission for Election Standards and Obligations which starts in Vienna on July 15-16. The address indicates opposition candidates in Armenia and Azerbaijan were disqualified from the elections; the media coverage was entirely in favor of the authorities' nominees; and the cruel treatment of demonstrators by the police and arrests of some oppositionists give reasons to consider the elections in these two countries non-democratic. In both countries, the elections were rigged.
The address also contains a request that the Russian Federation should put off the presidential election in Chechnya scheduled for August 29, as the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights and the Moscow Helsinki Group documented serious violations at the recent constitutional referendum, the presidential election and the Duma election conducted in Chechnya.
Author: Zaur Rasulzade, CK correspondent
