Vardan Haroutyunyan, President of the "Rights and Freedom Center" NGO has circulated an open letter demanding the immediate release of all political prisoners now being held in Armenia. "To the consternation of the demands of the Armenian society and world public opinion, the Armenian authorities continue to hold political prisoners. Not content to imprison their political opponents on fabricated charges, the government is now carrying out various forms of pressure and physical assault on them in the jails," writes Mr. Haroutyunyan.

He argues that the authorities are attempting to break the will of the political prisoners so that they are forced to give up on their struggle and forego their beliefs. Mr. Haroutyunyan says the government continues to enact such a policy that has failed in the past.