Today,
on September 5, we present the following report regarding the publication
submitted by Suren Sahakyan, a user of the Facebook social network, regarding
the activities of the Human Rights Defender’s office.
On
August 16, 2023, at around 11:30 p.m., citizen Suren Sahakyan called the
hotline of the Human Rights Defender and informed that he wanted to set up a
tent in the Mashtots Park in Yerevan to hold a discussion and gathering with up
to 100 participants, but the police officers of the Ministry of Internal
Affairs forbid to set up the tent. In connection with the raised question, the
representative of the Defender was given a clarification from the Police that
the tent is not allowed to be placed in the mentioned place due to security
reasons. Later, the Human Rights Defender's office received additional
information that three citizens were subjected to administrative arrest from
Mashtots Park, including S. Sahakyan.
A
rapid response visit was made to the Yerevan Police Department on the
instructions of the Defender. During the visit, the representatives of the
Defender had private conversations with the persons deprived of their liberty,
the grounds for bringing them into custody and the state of ensuring their
rights were studied, the issues were discussed with the police representatives.
The results of the visit were summarized and a corresponding letter was sent to
the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Armenia with the request to
provide the necessary clarifications regarding the legality of prohibiting the
installation of tents and subjecting the participants to administrative arrest.
Regarding
the issue, the written response of the state body has not yet been received
(according to the law, a 30-day period for providing a response to the
Defender's letter is established for state bodies).
The
Human Rights Defender issued a corresponding publication, regarding the rapid
response visit, which is available at the following link: https://www.ombuds.am/am/site/ViewNews/2654
Article 25 of the Constitutional Law "On the Human Rights Defender"
defines, that when examining or discussing the complaint, as well as when
conducting a discussion on her own initiative, the Defender is obliged to give
the opportunity to the state or local self-government body, organization or
their official or representative, whose decision or action (inaction) is being
appealed, to provide clarifications about the complaint, as well as to justify
his or her position. Therefore, in the absence of clarifications from the
Ministry of Internal Affairs regarding the installation of tents and their
administrative arrest by the participants of the gathering, the Defender is not
authorized to make any of the decisions defined by the same constitutional law.
We consider it necessary to emphasize that the procedure for discussing this
issue in the Human Rights Defender's office continues, a comprehensive study is
being carried out regarding the issue, and the position of the Defender will be
presented in accordance with the law.
In
the post of Suren Sahakyan's Facebook page, it was also mentioned that the
latter called the hotline of the Defender’s office, but the phone was on
airplane mode. We consider it necessary to emphasize that the telephone numbers
of the hotline of the Human Rights Defender’s office (toll-free 116 during
working hours and 096 116 100 during non-working hours) operate 24/7. The
hotline phone number regularly receives calls on various issues, including at
night. The night of September 4-5, 2023 was no exception either, during which
the hotline received calls regarding various issues. The study of phone calls
made to the hotline number during that period proves that the hotline phone
number 096 116 100 was available, as other calls were registered during that
time. Therefore, the groundless judgments presented by the user Suren Sahakyan
regarding the Human Rights Defender’s office do not correspond to reality and
try to overshadow the authority of the institution. The Human Rights Defender’s
office ensures the comprehensive and effective implementation of the powers of
the Defender under the Constitution and the constitutional law "On the
Defender of Human Rights". Furthermore, enhancement of the capabilities of
the staff is continuous, and the reforms with this regard are ongoing also at
this stage.
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