Written declaration No. 503 | Doc. 12847 | 25 January 2012

Condemnation of the man-made ecological disaster project of Teghut

Author(s): several Assembly members

Signatories: Ms Zaruhi POSTANJYAN, Armenia, EPP/CD ; Mr Miloš ALIGRUDIĆ, Serbia, EPP/CD ; Ms Olena BONDARENKO, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Márton BRAUN, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Ms Lolita ČIGĀNE, Latvia, EPP/CD ; Mr Agustín CONDE, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Michael CONNARTY, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Karl DONABAUER, Austria, EPP/CD ; Mr József ÉKES, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Mr Paul FLYNN, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Erich Georg FRITZ, Germany, EPP/CD ; Mr György FRUNDA, Romania, EPP/CD ; Mr Jean-Charles GARDETTO, Monaco, EPP/CD ; Mr Attila GRUBER, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Ms Ana GUŢU, Republic of Moldova, ALDE ; Ms Olha HERASYM'YUK, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Péter HOPPÁL, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Mr Ferenc KALMÁR, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Mr Jan KAŹMIERCZAK, Poland, EPP/CD ; Mr Václav KUBATA, Czech Republic, EPP/CD ; Mr Pavol KUBOVIČ, Slovak Republic, EPP/CD ; Ms Inese LĪBIŅA-EGNERE, Latvia, EPP/CD ; Ms Christine MARIN, France, EPP/CD ; Mr Frano MATUŠIĆ, Croatia, EPP/CD ; Mr Edgar MAYER, Austria, EPP/CD ; Mr Pasquale NESSA, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Fritz NEUGEBAUER, Austria, EPP/CD ; Ms Mirosława NYKIEL, Poland, EPP/CD ; Mr Pieter OMTZIGT, Netherlands, EPP/CD ; Mr Joseph O'REILLY, Ireland, EPP/CD ; Ms Lajla PERNASKA, Albania, EPP/CD ; Mr Gerhard PFISTER, Switzerland, EPP/CD ; Mr Johannes PFLUG, Germany, SOC ; Mr Jakob PRESEČNIK, Slovenia, EPP/CD ; Mr Gabino PUCHE, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Armen RUSTAMYAN, Armenia, SOC ; Mr Giacomo SANTINI, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr André SCHNEIDER, France, EPP/CD ; Mr Serhiy SOBOLEV, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Latchezar TOSHEV, Bulgaria, EPP/CD ; Mr Egidijus VAREIKIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD ; Mr Miltiadis VARVITSIOTIS, Greece, EPP/CD ; Mr Stefaan VERCAMER, Belgium, EPP/CD ; Mr Łukasz ZBONIKOWSKI, Poland, NR

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

The Armenian Government, violating its international obligations, such as Article 1 of the Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights, the Aarhus Convention, as well as Armenian legislation, by considering the agricultural lands of community and private ownership as being under the public supreme interest, against the will of their owners and the general public, forcefully takes those lands from their owners, changes their purpose and turns thousands of hectares over to mining, including the Teghut mine.

According to independent experts, the damage caused to nature by the exploitation of the Teghut mine will be immeasurable, as not only thousands of hectares of forest and rich biodiversity included in the “Red Book” will be lost, but also about 500 million tons of poisoned waste full of heavy metals and about 600 million tons of other kinds of waste will be produced.

According to a decision of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ACCC/C/2009/43), the decisions of the Government of Armenia regarding the exploitation of the mine in Teghut and its adjacent territory does not comply with the Aarhus Convention.

We strongly condemn the continuing violations of the international obligations of the Armenian government and we demand that all decisions regarding the Teghut mining exploitation be considered invalid.