The Public
Television Company of Armenia has publically applied to the Human Rights
Defender in relation to the, as mentioned by it, “attempts of exerting
political pressure on H1”. According to the public complaint to the Human
Rights Defender, the Public television expects from the Human Rights Defender “immediate
response” and “calls on the Public Television Company of Armenia to uphold its
commitment to impartiality and non-discrimination”, taking into consideration
the statements of “various political forces” about the fact that the Public
Television Company of Armenia is exhibiting discriminatory approaches in
showing pre-election videos. According to the complaint, this refers to the broadcasting
of potentially illegal videos provided by various political forces.
In other words, the organization established
by the Government of Armenia, the Public Television Company of Armenia, is
expecting protection from the Human Rights Defender, from the acts of political
parties, which are non-state organizations.
On the other hand, the official representative
of the “I Have Honor” alliance which is participating in the pre-election
campaign, has applied to the Human Rights Defender with an individual complaint
and has mentioned that the Public Television Company of Armenia is guided by
discriminatory approaches, has rejected the broadcasting of their pre-election
campaign video without substantive justifications, only noting that their video
contains insults and slander. According to the application, the acts of the Public
Television Company of Armenia have political motives, is done under the orders
of the Government, and are illegal, since the Public Television Company of
Armenia does not have the competence to decide what is slander or insults; this
has violated their political rights, has carried out censorship, while
previously the Public Television Company of Armenia had broadcasted the
campaign videos of other political forces which contained blatant insults and
slender, including about the Television.
In
relation to the mentioned issues, the Human Rights Defender of Armenia informs
the Public Television Company of Armenia:
The Constitutional Law “On the Human Rights Defender” does not prescribe
to the Defender a mandate over a private organization, such as a political
organization.
Therefore,
the Public Television Company of Armenia cannot receive the assistance of the
Human Rights Defender in relation to this specific case, because it is not the
mandate of the Defender to protect state organizations in such specific cases.
In this case, the complaint of the representative of the “I have Honor”
alliance is against the organization created by the Government, which according
to the alliance, has acted under the orders of the Government.
In
relation to the above mentioned specific complaint of the alliance, the Human
Rights Defender will send written inquires to the Public Television Company of
Armenia and the Commission on TV and Radio of Armenia, only after which it will
be possible to discuss about the act of the Public Television Company of
Armenia
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