Chief Procurator Agvan Hovsepiyan
Office of the Procuracy
6 Khorhrdaranayin Street
Yerevan 375010, Armenia

Mr. Serge Sarkisyan
Minister of Internal Affairs and National Security
130 Nalbandyan Street
Yerevan 375015, Armenia

On behalf of Human Rights Watch, I extend my greetings. Human Rights Watch is an independent, nongovernmental organization dedicated to monitoring human rights practices worldwide and to urging compliance with international human rights law and standards. It is the largest human rights organization based in the United States and has consultative status with ECOSOC.

I write to express our concern regarding the harassment of Militza Birg, a forty-five year old dual citizen of Austria and Yugoslavia, by a Erebuni District procuracy official. Human Rights Watch believes that Ms. Birg was threatened by the procuracy official in an attempt to dissuade her from inquiring into the disappearance of her husband, Mushegh Minasyan, a forty-four-year-old Armenian citizen, from his home in Yerevan in June.

Ms. Birg reportedly saw her husband last at approximately 11:15 p.m. on June 23, as he left their apartment after a neighbor, Norid Kazayan, knocked on the door to request that Mr. Minasyan answer a telephone call in the neighboring apartment. The call was from Sarkis Patatyan, a thirty-seven-year-old resident of Yerevan and an acquaintance of Mr. Minasyan. Ms. Birg reported that a short time after her husband left their home she heard Mr. Patatyan and her husband's voices in the neighboring apartment. At approximately 4:00 a.m. on June 24, Ms. Birg apparently was awoken by the sound of four or five gun shots.

Ms. Birg told Human Rights Watch that she and members of her husband's family have not seen or spoken to Mr. Minasyan since his disappearance, and that police officials from the criminal investigation department of the Erebuni district police reported they have no information on his whereabouts or the status of the investigation, although they acknowledge that Mr. Patatyan is in custody.

During the second week of July, Ms. Birg contacted Erebuni district procurator Hovanesyan to inquire into the status of the investigation and to sign a statement regarding the disappearance of her husband. She claims that during the meeting Mr. Hovanesyan threatened her, asked her the duration of her visa and told her that she had to leave the country. Ms. Birg currently holds a valid three year residency permit in Armenia. She also notes that upon the request of the criminal investigators from the Erebuni District police, she turned over her husband's passport to police after his disappearance, indicating that it is highly unlikely that Mr. Minasyan has traveled outside of Armenia, as Mr. Hovanesyan asserted during their meeting.

Ms. Birg told Human Rights Watch that she has spoken to witnesses who said they have knowledge that Mr. Patatyan is currently being held in Yerevan's Central Prison Hospital No. 1. She added that Mr. Patatyan is the son-in-law of Col. Mikhail Haroutunyan, a senior Defense Ministry official, and that she believes police and procuracy officials are reluctant to thoroughly investigate her husband's disappearance and provide information on his whereabouts due to Mr. Patatyan's relationship to Col. Haroutunyan.

We respectfully remind you that as a lawful holder of a three-year residency permit in Armenia, under Article 13 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Ms. Birg has a right to judicial or administrative review of any action by the government to deport her, and that any attempt by procuracy officials to unilaterally force her to leave the country would be a violation of this right.

Human Rights Watch strongly urges you to carry out a thorough investigation into claims that Ms. Birg is being harassed by the Erebuni District procurator. We further urge you to make the results of the investigation public, and if appropriate, to take action against Mr. Hovanesyan.

We look forward to your response to these concerns.

Sincerely,

/s/

Holly Cartner
Executive Director
Europe and Central Asia Division