Immediately
after the voting day of the Parliamentary elections, on June 21, 2021, new
dangerous manifestations of grouping people, and developing insults, hatred and
intolerance were brought to the public domain.
This
is in reference to the artificial divisions that deepen the polarization of the
society: “villagers and city dwellers”, “literates and illiterates”, “conservatives
and enlightened” which is being associated with the results of the voting. At
the basis of this vicious discourse are the condemnable theses of insulting
people with terms such as “former and new”, “black and white”, “filth”,
“zombie”, “sold out”, “traitor” and etc.
More
specifically, certain circles of the opposition and their supporters state that
city dwellers, intellectuals and educated people voted for them.
Certain
Government officials and their supporters are countering the opposition and
their supporters with insulting remarks, then the opposite happens.
As a
result, the whole society finds itself in a closed chain of tension due to
insults, swearing, and rebuttals.
The
situation is exacerbated by the fake attacks of fake pages supported,
coordinated, or directed by certain circles supporting the Government and the
opposition, which not only have not ceased their operations, but have become
more aggressive on certain issues.
The
call to end the swearing and the enmity by the Prime Minister during the
campaign of June 21was welcoming and important, especially because the call was
also addressed to his political followers and supporters.
It is expected that this call should have been
followed first and foremost by the representatives of the Government and,
especially, by those who have held or hold high-ranking positions, have more
public recognition, and are perceived as high-ranking Government officials in
society. Unfortunately, a certain number of them demonstrate the opposite with
their condemnable behavior.
Such
behavior is demonstrated by the former Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister of
Armenia Mr. Eduard Aghajanyan, who is officially represented as a member of the
ruling faction in the newly formed National Assembly as a result of the snap
parliamentary elections.
This conduct
is an example of how a high-ranking representative of the Government should not
behave.
In
particular, by ignoring the call of the Prime Minister of Armenia, he made a
post with openly insulting remarks addressed to the society or at least a part
of it, using condemnable vocabulary as "intellectual idiots",
"has brought the Armenian people to its knees", "will always
bring to its knees".
This
apparently provocative post has sparked new "discussions" containing
insults and swearing both in its and the comments section of other
publications. It has been widely disseminated on the Internet and has also
become the subject of media analysis, thus further contributing to the rise of
intolerance.
Moreover, the post and comments of this person
testify to his ironic approach to society; or at least for a part of it. It
also testifies to the self-given irresponsible permission to boast his own perceived
advantages and to deepen the divisions of the society.
The
Human Rights Defender calls on all political forces, public figures, and clergy
to refrain from actions that exacerbate and increase the tensions in society,
and refrain from the use words that contain or promote insults or hatred. Even
the figurative meanings of words or phrases and its possible perceptions in
society must be taken into consideration. Attacks by all kinds of fake armies
must be excluded.
The role of journalists and media is
important; they should pay more attention the headlines the nature of the
information they spread and.
And
persons with state status or position are obliged to keep in mind that,
regardless of working days or hours, whether they are on leave or not, they do
not cease to be officials; they are restricted by their legal status,
deviations from which are violations of the law.
No
one should be discriminated against because of their political views.
Any process must be based on the rule of law, while
any initiative must be based on human rights.
Mr.
Arman Tatoyan
The Human
Rights Defender of Armenia
Հայերեն
