On
March 19, Sargis Aleksanyan, a founding member of the "Civil
Contract" political party, used swearwords addressed to RA Human Rights
Defender Arman Tatoyan on his Facebook page. The reason was the Human Rights
Defender's condemnatory statement regarding the use of violence against the journalist
Paylak Fahradyan by RA Minister of High-Tech Industry.
Some
authority representatives, including Nikolay Baghdasaryan, deputy of "My
Step" fraction of RA National Assembly, supported the use of swearwords by
the politician. Other similar posts were spread, the authors of which tried to
protect Hakob Arshakyan and at the same time showed an insulting, disrespectful
attitude towards the Human Rights Defender, in fact, for carrying out his
official duties consistently.
We,
the undersigned organizations, express our indignation over these very indecent
acts and condemn what happened. This fact is a consequence of the recent
atmosphere of hatred and intolerance in the country, when even proper criticism
of a public figure is perceived as a "hostile act" and becomes an
occasion for an aggressive reaction.
It
is essential that especially the inadmissible behavior of the politicians and
their supporters should receive public reprimand. Moreover, the guilty ones should
be punished with the full force of the law. We remind that according to Article
332.2 of the RA Criminal Code, “threatening or insulting or openly showing
disrespectful attitude towards the Human Rights Defender in connection with the
exercise of his/her powers is punishable by a fine of two hundred to five
hundred times the minimum wage, or by a detention for a period of two to three
months".
The
recent underestimation of the large-scale work of the Human Rights Defender,
giving it a political context is due to such attitude of the representatives of
the ruling political force. Even more concerning is the Government's proposal regarding
the funding of the Human Rights Defender’s office, which can negatively affect the
independence guarantees of that institution.
In
our opinion, in the post-war period, when many new threats to human rights
protection have emerged in Armenia, the role of the Human Rights Defender’s institution
has risen sharply, and the volume of the work has increased, such attitude is
unacceptable. By the way, the authoritative human rights organization Freedom
House also referred to this issue, noting that such approaches can deepen the
current crisis in Armenia, and the authorities must ensure the unhindered
activity of human rights institutions.
Taking
into account the above-mentioned, we demand;
·
from the "Civil Contract" political party
and "My Step" fraction of RA National Assembly, to publicly strongly
condemn the swearing at the Human Rights Defender, apologize to Arman Tatoyan, hold
the guilty accountable and give guarantees for the exclusion of such behavior
in the future,
·
from the leadership of RA National Assembly, to
form an ad hoc ethics committee to discuss the issue and officially publish the
adopted conclusion,
·
from the ruling political force, to review the
non-objective assessments of the work of the Human Rights Defender and exclude
any change in the financing methods of the office, which will reduce its
independence and efficiency.
Committee to Protect Freedom
of Expression
Yerevan Press Club
Media Initiatives Center
“Asparez” Journalists' Club
Freedom of Information Center
Multilateral information
institute - Armenia
Public Journalism Club
"Journalists for the
future" NGO
"Journalists for human
rights" NGO
Goris Press Club
"Femida" NGO
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