Taking into consideration that the
acting Prime Minister of Armenia continues to maintain the legal status of the
head of executive power of Armenia, as well as the fact that state bodies and
officials fall within the competence of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia,
this statement is related to some problematic issues from a human rights
viewpoint that were recorded in the election campaign in the Syunik province:
1. The constant displaying of a
hammer and making of descriptive comparisons are inadmissible, which can make
people think about solving problems with a hammer. Moreover, the monitoring
shows that hammer-related vocabulary is more associated with the violence (for
example “this is the hammer of the people and this hammer will descend on your
empty heads on June 20)
It is inadmissible to threaten other
political forces participating in the pre-election campaign with law
enforcement agencies (wants to fall under the batons of the police, etc.).
Taking into consideration the direct subordination of the Police to the Prime
Minister of Armenia, such vocabulary can be misperceived by police officers.
The context in which the “steel
mandate” is constantly used is worrying, and is associated with human rights
violations.
After such rhetorical speeches by
the acting Prime Minister, other high-ranking officials follow the same
principle and start to make announcements with the hate and violent vocabulary,
threatening with the intervention of the police (“you will be under the heels of
law enforcement bodies… you will fall under our feet” and etc.).
2. The status of the Prime Minister
of Armenia does not include threatening local self-governing bodies,
particularly community leaders.
In this specific case, when
reference is made about initiating criminal proceedings and penitentiary
institutions, the Prime Minister has no competence to initiate criminal cases,
nor deprive people of their freedom in penitentiary institutions.
The issue is that community leaders
are officials who had been elected by primary mandate through secret voting of
the Armenian citizens and such assessment by the Prime Minister is first of all
problematic from the point of view of citizens’ political rights, and
specifically, guaranteeing the right to vote.
3. The speech of the
acting Prime Minister about the mass dismissals is connected with the mass
violations of labor rights, arbitrariness, and arbitrary interventions by the
executive power.
The need to address the
mentioned issues is conditioned by the fact that the acting Prime Minister of
Armenia is perceived as the Prime Minister, not as an acting one during the
pre-election campaign rallies. The organizers of the meeting, the speakers
themselves are presenting the acting Prime Minister as a current Prime Minister
of Armenia.
Հայերեն
