The
Human Rights Defender made a decision about the existence of violation of the
rights of a group of residents of Lvovyan street, to which the press secretary
of the mayor of Yerevan responded on social networks, expressing assessments
about the scope of the Defender's mandate.
We
consider it necessary to emphasize that the Human Rights Defender of Armenia
has a broad constitutional mandate to assess the circumstances of any violation
of rights or its absence thereof, if it concerns possible violations of rights
by state and local self-government bodies and their officials. Moreover, the
mandate and principles of operation of the Defender’s Office, the criteria for
respecting the latter's independence and mandate by state and local
self-government bodies are defined in a number of international documents. You
can learn about some of them in the text of the statement published by the
European Network of National Human Rights Institutions in support of the Human
Rights Defender's Office of Armenia (https://ombuds.am/am/site/ViewNews/3031).
Moreover, these principles have such an important role in a democratic state
that the Criminal Code of Armenia establishes responsibility for obstructing
the exercise of the Human Rights Defender's powers in any way, including
interfering with her activities in any manner.
Therefore,
any attempt to assess the scope of competence of the Human Rights Defender in a
manner contrary to the above-mentioned standards, to interfere with her
activities and to limit her independence should be excluded. Otherwise,
violations of international standards should be made a subject of discussion.
It is
of utmost importance to highlight that in accordance with the law, the state or
local self-government body, its official or organization, which received the
decision of the Defender on the violation of human rights or freedoms, are
obliged to inform the Defender in writing form about the measures taken as soon
as possible, but not later than thirty days after receiving it.
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