High-ranking officials do not have the right to call
the issues raised by the Human Rights Defender of Armenia one-sided for the
purpose of deviating the attention of people from those issues and to consider
the matters closed
This vicious phenomenon
should come to an end in our country.
On Saturday January 22,
2022, I published an ad-hoc report titled “The Guaranteeing of the Rights of Persons
with Mental Health Issues in Psychiatric Institutions”. The former Minister of
Health of Armenia AND THE Chief of Staff of the Office of the Prime Minister of
Armenia, who is currently a member of the ruling faction of the National
Assembly of Armenia, publicly responded to this report. Moreover, to give a
political undertone to human rights issues in this sphere as well, that
statement was also disseminated by the “Civil Contract” party.
The high-ranking official
gave a sarcastic assessment to the ad-hoc report published on the basis of the
Law on the Human Rights Defender of Armenia, calling it biased.
It is clearly evident
from the statement of the mentioned official that he is not familiar with the
content of the 150-page report; he is not even familiar with the title of the
report. It is also evident that he is not familiar with the 2020 and other
annual reports of the Human Rights Defender, nor with the dynamics of increase
or decrease of the issues discussed in the reports.
Firstly, if he was at
least superficially familiar with the report, he would have seen that the
terminology used in the title and the text, including the term “psychiatric
institution” (hogebuzhagan kazmakerputyun), is derived from laws, such as the
Law on Psychiatric Assistance and Service; this law defines a psychiatric
institution as a state or community institution that provide inpatient or
outpatient care, including psychiatric assistance and service.
The word mental hospital
(հոգեբուժարան- hogebuzharan) is not used in the entire text.
It is a very concerning
phenomenon, that the high-ranking official who has previously occupied the role
of Minister of Health, the Chief of Staff of the Office of the Prime Minister,
and who is now a high-ranking official in the National Assembly, give public
assessment on the professional reports of the Human Rights Defender, which are
based on concrete and specific facts, without familiarizing himself with the
content of those important reports.
Moreover, we kindly
inform the high-ranking official speaking about combatting against stigma and
discrimination, that for that purpose, it is to enough to change the names of
organizations, and making that into a banner of success; to combat against stigma
and discrimination, one should also deal with the protection of the human
rights of persons with mental health issues, and their care and treatment.
How will the former
Minister of Health explain the cases of unlawful detention of people in
psychiatric institutions during his tenure? How will he explain that people
undergo various medical interventions, including treatment with psychotropic
drugs, without their consent, and with blatant violations of law? How can it be
explained that people are treated by their fake signatures, but obviously
without their consent? How can the medical intervention that violate the rights
of the patient be explained? How can the lack of community based services and
alternative treatment methods, or their ineffective (in case they exist) be
explained? How can the unacceptable social guarantees of medical workers be
explained?
The ad-hoc report of the
Human Rights Defender is the product of the work of a highly professional team
(a sociologist, lawyer, psychologist, doctor, including a psychiatrist) headed
by the Human Rights Defender. All of the members of the team have undergone
specific training, a majority of them are experts of international organization
(at the highest international level), are directed by internationally
guaranteed guidelines developed by the Human Rights Defender of Armenia, and
some of them are engaged in real scientific work both in Armenia and abroad.
The positive developments
are also registered in the report with concrete and specific examples, but they
are either episodic and refer to a specific institution, or were implemented
during the term of the current Minister of Health. The issues related to
departmental bodies, from the viewpoint of violations of the orders of the
Minister of health, are also registered.
Therefore, we demand from
the former Minister of Health of Armenia and the Chief of Staff of the Office
of the Prime Minister of Armenia, who is currently a member of the ruling
faction of the National Assembly of Armenia not to attempt to politicize the
human rights sphere, and not to attempt to hide the human rights violations and
the inactivity of his tenure in the post of Minister of Health behind a
political veil.
Mr. Arman Tatoyan
The Human Rights Defender
Հայերեն
