Kara McDonald, the deputy assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, arrived in the Armenian capital on Wednesday for talks with government officials, politicians and civil society members. The officials included Justice Minister Karen Andreasian and Deputy Foreign Minister Vahe Gevorgian.
The U.S. Embassy in Armenia said that during the two-day trip McDonald “underscored the U.S. commitment to continue helping the Armenian people build a future based on shared democratic values.”
It emerged on Friday that she held a separate meeting with representatives of the two opposition alliances represented in the Armenian parliament.
Gegham Manukian, an opposition parliamentarian, said they discussed a wide range of issues, including “shameful practices” in the Armenian judiciary and police actions against participants of continuing opposition rallies aimed at toppling Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. McDonald took note of concerns voiced by the oppositionists, he said.
The U.S. Embassy did not comment on that meeting. The embassy posted on its Twitter page photographs of McDonald’s meetings with other individuals, including leaders of four parties not represented in the Armenian parliament.
The parliament’s two opposition factions criticized the U.S. ambassador to Armenia, Lynne Tracy, last month after she seemed to hail the outcome of last year’s parliamentary elections won by Pashinian’s party.
One of their leaders, Ishkhan Saghatelian, accused the United States and other Western powers of turning a blind eye to government pressure on the judiciary, the existence of “dozens of political prisoners” and other human rights abuses. He also said Armenians did not give Pashinian a mandate to “cede” Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan.
Saghatelian is the main speaker at the ongoing street protests which were sparked by Pashinian’s conciliatory policy towards Azerbaijan and Turkey praised by Washington.
Reacting to the protests earlier in May, the State Department urged the Armenian opposition to “refrain from violence and respect the rule of law and Armenia’s democracy.”
