The white storks that have made the village of Apaga their summer home are now preparing for the arduous flight to warmer climes in anticipation of the coming winter. When a pair of storks leaves their massive nest, village residents will find their missing odds and ends, a missing shoe, a child’s toy or even a garden tool, in the maze of branches above. »»»»»

The hill seen in this photo is located in the town of Hrazdan (Kotayk Marz). The hill is the site for a new iron ore mine and enrichment plant. Explosives will be used to unearth the iron veins below. »»»»»

Naira Galstyan’s 7 year-old son and 4 year-old daughter don’t have birth certificates. The children must soon go to school and kindergarten but without documents they won’t be accepted. This family in need also doesn’t receive any state assistance because of the lack of documentation.

In 2002 and 2005, when Naira Galstyan gave birth to her son Erik and daughter Lianna, she had no passport and problems arose when she was discharged from the hospital. The mother says that the hospital administration handed her a piece of paper that the Erebuni and Nubarashen branch of the Civil Status Acts Registry (CSAR) refused to accept. Thus the children’s births were never formally registered. »»»»»

The minister is one of the law-breakers

Starting in the 1990’s, numerous buildings continue to be constructed on the shores of Lake Sevan – private houses, hotels, cafes. Frequently, they are built right on the shore at a distance less than 1,905 meter mark above sea-level, placing them in a zone where they will be submerged if the water level of the lake rises. »»»»»

Lycos is known for being an internet portal whose services include web design, advertising, electronic shopping, internet chat, etc.  Over 700 specialists work for Lycos, now based in Germany, of which some 200 are employees of Lycos Armenia. The market for Lycos services is centered in Europe.

The office of Lycos Armenia in Yerevan refused to divulge any information on the closing but local employees, of which 150 are top professionals in the IT field, have already received news of the company’s closing.
For Mikayel Ghazaryan, a Lycos employee, the prospect of losing his job is the cause for major concern. “I, like many of my colleagues have taken out credit loans. Now, not only do we face the daunting task of finding new jobs but jobs that will pay a corresponding salary to that of Lycos,” states Mikayel.

The Armenian team at Lycos comprises approximately 3% of the total IT workforce in the country. According to ROA Ministry of Economy statistics there are some 5,000 specialist presently working in the sector in Armenia. Other sector representatives place the figure at 6,000.

Zhenya Azizyan, who heads the Information Technologies Development Department at the Ministry of Economy states that the ministry is now engaged in finding new jobs for the soon to be unemployed specialists. “The best solution for us would be if we could reorganize the entire Lycos team within another company, in the same building, since they have coalesced as a team unit. Their work is computer related and even if every one of them found work elsewhere our primary aim is for them to continue as a team,” says Ms. Azizyan. The department will begin to take practical steps in this direction only after Lycos Europe ceases to be the official employer of the specialists.

The only issue of concern in the matter for Karen Vardanyan, Director of the Information Technologies Union in Armenia, is what to do in order that the Lycos professionals do not remain unemployed. “We want to locate businesspeople willing to make the necessary investments in order to keep the Lycos team, now out of work, together. Then too, the government can also have its share in the investments. This would really be hands-on assistance especially given that the Armenian Economics Ministry has expressed an interest in the matter,” suggests Mr. Vardanyan  who adds that if the issues involved aren’t to be solved on a concrete level then all such talk is just empty banter.
The initial official pronouncements regarding the economic crisis enveloping the globe and its impact on Armenia were intended to allay the fears of people and convince them that the crisis would pass Armenia by. Later on however, when the reality of the situation painted a much different picture, there was a flurry of pronouncements stating that Armenia could somehow benefit from the crisis. However, as Mr. Vardanyan asserts, the method to ‘take advantage’ hasn’t yet shown itself in the IT sector, even though the possibilities are numerous.

Mr. Vardanyan states, “We don’t possess the policy means to take advantage of the crisis.”
At the Ministry of the Economy officials insist that they are working on a package to ‘derive benefit’ from the crisis and that they will present it to the government within ten days. Over the weekend a meeting of industry leaders took place whose cooperation is vital for solving the issues at hand.

IT Development Department Head Zhenya  Azizyan states, “We had been preparing to come up with the specifics of developing the sector, but now we have other objectives whose realization is a priority and must be speeded up in order to salvage the situation and take advantage of the moment.”

In many of the countries negatively impacted by the crisis professionals working in this sector are losing their jobs. Many companies, in order to economize, are looking for other markets in which to invest in.

Karen Vardanyan states, “We have to think of ways in which to create new companies because there is the possibility of attracting new specialists to our market from other countries. Or else we have to devise the means to enter new markets because the well-known financial centers of the United States and Russia are being transferred overseas, to the Arab Emirates, Greece, Egypt and elsewhere.”

There are currently some 200 companies operating in the information technologies and communications sector in Armenia of which 60 are foreign firms.

The village of Lernadzor is one of the closest rural communities to the town of Kajaran. Five year-old school children were selected as research subjects.

Mercury was discovered in the hair of two of the five children examined. In one of the kids the level of mercury was found to be 7.5 times the normal range. Cadmium was found in the hair of all the children tested. One child\’s hair contained 2.2 times the normal range for cadmium and another 1.6 times the norm.

Arsenic was only found in the hair samples of one child, at a rate of 3 times exceeding the norm. Copper, lead and nickel traces were found in all the hair samples. Molybdenum was not found in any of the hair samples.

Evelina Ghoukasyan is one of the experts who helped conduct the research. "At first we took hair and nail sample but the toxicologists stated that these indices weren\’t adequate to obtain a true picture of the heath of the organism. However, the recurrent high levels of heavy metals in the hair and nails were compelling reasons to continue the research and to perform additional blood and urine testing."

Since high levels of precious metals were found in the hair sample of the children of Kajaran they were the first to undergo blood and urine testing. The testing was carried out by the CENS. Armen Saghatelyan, the CENS Director, stated that in the blood of almost 43% of the children tested fairly high levels of lead were found and in 3% of the children these levels had reached toxic proportions.

High levels of lead in the body impact the nervous system and can lead to mental underdevelopment as well as sight, hearing and speech problems. High lead levels cause damage to kidneys, the stomach and the digestive system.

It is well known that copper, at high levels, is toxic. If high levels of the metal remain in the body for an extended period tumors can develop. The metal infects the nervous system, the kidneys and liver. Excessive levels of cadmium can lead to skeletal deformities and lung infections.

There are many ways that these metals enter the human body- through the soil, water, air and domesticated animals. For example, in the area that lies between Lernadzor and Kajaran there is located the Voghji tailings dam that was covered over with dirt in 1977. The tailings dam was the repository for wastes emanating from the copper-molybdenum plant for tens of years. The tailings dam is located in the flood plain of the Voghji River. Spanning an area of some 70 hectares it is the largest of its kind.

According to research results, high concentrations of molybdenum and copper were found in the Voghji soil and a propensity for the concentrations to grow according to depth was also noted.

Cows belonging to the Lernadzor village, some 250 animals in all, graze on the tailing dam site. After finding high traces of some toxic elements on the grasses that grow on the site milk samples were taken from three herds of cows. Excessive levels of lead, arsenic and mercury were registered in the milk samples.

Local villagers grow vegetables on the dam site as well. Samples tested showed that the tubers of dill, beans and potatoes were highly infected with molybdenum and copper. In the research results it is noted that essentially all cultivated crops contain high concentrations of heavy metals and that they are not fit for human consumption.

From our conversation with Lernadzor Village Mayor Stepan Petrosyan it was evident that he was aware that grazing cows and planting crops on those lands was forbidden. Despite the ban, no steps have been implemented by either the local or regional authorities to enforce it.

Kajaran Mayor Vardan Gevorgyan states that, "As part of the works program designed to protect the surrounding environment, we intend to enclose the tailings dam lands and replant the site with trees and bushes." This project is envisaged fro 2009-2012.

In the research study the experts noted that covering tailings dams with soil doesn\’t always assist in the regreening of such sites. Today the surface of the tailings dam has been reduced to zero and as a result heavy metals existing in the substance of the dams are subject to migration and thus they infect components of the eco-system.

The above description of hunting for Armenian mouflon appears in the May edition of the Russian hunting magazine, Ochoa, entitled, “Highlights of a Spring Hunt”. The headline for the above article reads, “Following the tracks of Armenian mouflon”. The hunt described above took place this past spring in the Yeghegnadzor Gorge in Armenia’s Vayots Dzor Marz.

Let us point out that Armenian variety of mouflon (Ovis musimon) are listed in Armenia’s Red Book of endangered and threatened species. Naturally, this fact isn’t noted in the above magazine article, which makes both hunters and hunt organizers violators of the law.

In 2004 the Armenian government decided to hand over the tract of land where the hunt took place to the Armenian-Italian company Safari International for supervision in perpetuity and free of charge. The government’s decision stipulates that areas of the Yeghekis Gorge in Vayots Dzor Marz and tracts of the Gehi and Darmanadzor forest reserves in Syunik Marz are being allocated to Safari International to insure the natural reproduction of wild animal stocks and to draft projects aimed at developing eco-tourism and hunting tourism.

The President of Safari International is none other than Vardges Matevosyan, the Regional Governor of Vayots Dzor. He categorically denied that a mouflon hunt took place this year. He stated, “Hunting doesn’t take place here at all.”

However, when we visited the company’s website, www.safariinternational.com, we found the following price list and information on the page headed: AArmenian Mouflon Sheep and Bezoar Ibex Hunting in Armenia.

Given that the penalties for illegal poaching of the Armenian mouflon amount to 3 million drams no one wants to be caught. That such hunts constitute  poaching is clearly spelt out in the following section of the ROA Criminal Code – Licenses for the utilization (also hunting) of areas in the flora and fauna world are granted by the Bioresources Management Agency (BMA) of the ROA Ministry of Nature Protection (MNP).

Karen Chenterechyan,who heads the Department of Animal Resources Management at the BMA states that, ‘No authorization to hunt Armenian mouflon has been granted this year.”

According to Article 27 of the ROA Law regarding the “Animal World”, the utilization, including hunting, of animals listed in the Armenia’s Red Book is permitted only in extraordinary circumstances, namely scientific research and reproduction in artificial and natural conditions.

In this light, there has been no government decision, no hunting authorization and no contract signed with any hunting outfit. This is more than sufficient to consider the above hunt as a violation of the law.

Not even Tigran Grigoryan, who heads the State Environmental Inspectorate at the MNP, knew anything about the illegal poaching. He claims that no Armenian mouflon hunting has taken place this year.

Thus, it remains unclear why Safari International publicizes mouflon hunting in Armenia given that hunting the animal is permitted only for research and reproduction purposes which require specific permission by government decree or appropriate licensing by the Ministry of Nature Protection.

According to statistics of various Armenian organizations the number of Armenian mouflon in the country has increased in recent years. This good news however is due to the fact that Armenians have become more law-abiding or the agencies of the MNP better organized. Rather, the increase is due to the fact that Safari International is interested in maintaining mouflon as a business enterprise.

The company invites people to hunt the animal, specifies the cost of the hunting expedition and pockets all the proceeds; nothing is paid to the state, not even the prescribed environmental fee. Even when mouflon are hunted for research purposes are any environmental fees paid, given that such hunts are considered to take place in the name of science.

According to the ROA statutes, the flora and fauna of the country are considered the property of the Armenian state. However, it is perfectly clear that the state cannot even assume control of its own resources.

Mamikon Ghasabyan, Head of the Vertebrate Research Laboratory of the Institute of Zoology attached to the ROA Academy of Sciences, “We do not receive one penny towards research of the Armenian mouflon. We don’t even possess a vehicle to go on research expeditions. We neither have the equipment or the appropriate gear and outfits.”

In your statement regarding what happened to Hetq’s editor-in-chief you stated that in the case that the crime isn’t solved it would be correct for the higher echelons of the Police Department to review the competency of the Department’s Investigations Units. Do you think that the government will implement your proposal?

Yes, if crimes are not solved perhaps it would be correct to review the issue of the competency of law enforcement. In normal countries such officials would at least resign from their positions if they were unable to reveal either the perpetrators or those ordering so many assaults. That is why we emphasize that if they are not capable of solving these crimes they should resign. I am not sure if the government will take such drastic action and demand the resignation of anyone or not. We, however, must harden our stance in order to reach our objective.

If certain individuals do not agree with press reports, why is it that they don’t take their complaints to the courts for redress?  What does it say when matters are resolved in such a fashion and what is the thinking involved?

All this speaks to the absence of democracy and the inadequate defense when it comes to human rights. People do not seek other avenues of redress perhaps because they understand that an investigation of the matter will be taken up by the courts and, in the end, it will turn out that their protestations are baseless. They will open up an unwelcome can of worms by taking the matter to the courts. An innocent person, with nothing to hide, will always go to the courts to prove his innocence. At least, for the first time, we saw the Prime Minister visit the injured journalist in hospital. I am hopeful that in this case the political will exists to seriously investigate the matter and find the culprits. Contrary to other incidents, I see this difference here. I assure you that if the political will exists all other questions are resolved.

What is the underlying rationale for so many such assaults?

If the political system isn’t democratic the most troublesome person around is the reporter. Reporters will always find themselves in hot water. The “inconvenience” that reporters create leads to conflict and especially of the physical sort. The more democratic the system the more commonplace is the reporter that writes “hard-edged” news. Our political system has a tough time digesting what is written by an objective reporter.

What then must be done?

This is not just a problem for this or that reporter. It’s a problem for all of society. Tomorrow it will be the problem of another reporter, of another official. What remains is to struggle and to adopt a tougher stance when it comes to defending our rights.

In February of this year, when a memorandum was signed i between the ROA Ministry of Nature Protection and  “Rosatom”, the Russian State Nuclear Energy Corporation, regarding cooperative geological exploration, production and reprocessing in the Armenian uranium sector, stories linked to the uranium mine, long since forgotten, began to resurface in Lernadzor.

Aleksei Hakobyan, a 75 year-old Lernadzor resident remembers the year when the Russian geologists came to the village. His recollections perfectly reflect the atmosphere of secrecy that dominated during those years.

Mr. Hakobyan recounts, “We didn’t know anything. All I remember is after the Russians opened the mine, one or a few of them died. After that, in the course of one night, the mine opening was plugged up with cement. They took the corpses back to Moscow and everything came to an end.”

The countless retelling of this story has instilled fear into the hearts of residents whenever uranium is mentioned. Suffice to say, no one knows what actually happened back then and what caused the death of the geologists.

Sergey Kiriyenko, the President of “Rosatom”, shed some light on the history of the Syunik uranium mine at the memorandum signing ceremony when he stated that the 1970’s Russian exploration team uncovered a mine containing some 30,000 tons of uranium. In the uranium sector, this is considered to be a medium-sized mine.

In April, a few months after the memorandum signing, a contract was penned between the ROA Ministry of Nature protection and the Russian mining company “ARMZ Uranium Holding” to take preparatory steps towards joint research and operation of uranium mines in Armenia.

At the time ROA Minister of Nature Protection, Aram Harutyunyan, stated that exploratory work would begin by September of this year. No such work however has begun in Lernadzor as yet.

The house of Lernadzor Mayor Stepan Petrosyan is located a stone’s throw away from the mine. He is building a new home and every time he hears reports in the media regarding the inter-governmental contracts and memorandums being signed, he’s thrown into a state of confusion.

Mayor Petrosyan relates that, “ Officially, they tell me nothing whilst the area of exploration includes the villages of Lernadzor, Poukhrut and Katnarat and those lands belong to the community of Lernadzor. I haven’t seen one researcher till now.”

Environmentalists and village residents are opposed to the operation of the mine. Residents are fearful of uranium, whatever the case, while environmental activists oppose the opening of yet another mine in Syunik, a Marz (Region) that is already home to many of the largest mining operations in Armenia (Kajaran, Kapan, Agarak) and the largest tailing dams (Artzvanik, Voghtchi, Darazami, Geghanoush).

The rise in international market prices is based on the factor of changing approaches regarding the use of nuclear energy. Even energy rich nations like Iran and the United Arab Emirates are developing plans to harness nuclear energy. Even Azerbaijan, already thinking about its long-term energy security, has expressed a desire to build a nuclear power plant in preparation for the day when its oil and gas reserves are drawn down. Armenia’s current atomic power plant will operate till 2016v and the proposed new one will demand much more raw material in order to meet the growing energy demands of the country. (According to the forecasts of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources the energy demand of Armenian in 2025 will equal about 10 billion kilowatts per hour.)

The Russian and Armenian partners in the uranium project claim that with the implementation of modern technologies, any environmental damage will be minimal.

Sergey Grigorian, a member of Armenia’s National Academy of Sciences, is the author of two research papers on the location and operation of concealed uranium mines. The Academician states that uranium doesn’t pose a threat in the exploratory phase and only gives off radiation after being enriched.

Official sources have repeatedly claimed that uranium enrichment will not occur in Armenia. The Armenian party in the uranium project has already expressed a readiness to have the exported uranium processed at the Angarsk Enrichment Plant, a joint Russian-Kazakhstan venture constructed in 2007.

The fact that pelicans are targeted by week-end hunters doesn’t seem to faze either the hunters themselves or the administrators of the Sevan Park, whose job is to ostensibly protect and preserve the flora and fauna within the Preserve.

The fact is that the expanse isn’t being monitored given that bird hunting has become an established routine since way back. We have photos of poachers that were taken in the autumn and winter of last year. One of the poachers, who wished to remain anonymous, stated that he knew nothing about a hunting ban. (Even though the hunting season is in full swing, such activity is outlawed in the Preserves.)

According to Sevan Park’s 2007-2011 management plan, the boundaries of the Preserve have been extended. The plan states that this step has been taken the protect bird nesting sites as well as to preserve and stimulate the growth of valuable fish species such as the Sevan trout.

These regulations remain just words on paper for apart from some poachers, grazing cows and picnickers, we saw no one else.

Gagik Martirosyan, Director of the Sevan National Park, stated that all violations are duly registered and that those engaged in poaching within the Preserve mostly come from the neighboring villages and are people in social need who enter the area to collect wood, hunt and fish.

Such explanations however do not justify the lackadaisical attitude of the Park administrators since the hunting of birds listed in the Armenian Red Book of endangered and threatened species is more a hobby than a means of sustenance.

The Lijk-Argich Preserve is an ideal site for nesting birds since there are three small lakes located within its boundaries. Furthermore, the Argich, Lijk, Bakhtak and Tzakqar Rivers all flow in Lake Sevan with Preserve boundaries as well. The Preserve itself covers some 1,175 hectares of which 693 hectares are covered with water.