On October 27, several individuals entered Armenia's parliament and assasinated Armenian Prime Minister Vasgen Sarkisyan, Speaker of Parliament Karen Demirchian and other senior officials during a live radio broadcast. Gunmen held approximately fifty individuals in the parliament hostage following the attack.

The attacks came in the wake of tense parliamentary elections in May, local elections in July that had been marred by violence among supporters of the former prime minister, and a series of direct meetings between Armenian president Robert Kocharian and Azerbajiani president Heydar Aliyev to discuss resolution of the Nargorno Karabakh conflict. President Kocharian had announced earlier in the month that he was optimistic about the prospect of a settlement of the eleven-year-old conflict.

For background on the human rights situation in Armenia, please see:
HRW letter to President Kocharian, January 15, 1999 and
HRW press release on former president Levon Ter-Petrosian's forced resignationFebruary 1998.