Incidents Involving MPs Near the National Assembly Entrance Are Unacceptable Phenomena: Human Rights Defender

Any manifestation of violence is condemnable and unlawful, regardless of who commits it or against whom it is directed or the beliefs or convictions involved. This statement was issued by the staff of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia.

The statement also reads: “The Human Rights Defender has been continuously warning for a considerable time that insulting each other, labeling, and calling for violence has become a real threat, moving from social networks into real life. Particularly on social networks, insults, hate speech, and calls for violence have become widespread and reached dangerous proportions, both from real and fake users.

There is an obvious impression that both on social networks and in real life, different parties are doing this deliberately to provoke each other and achieve their ‘desired outcome’. This is a path that undermines the human rights system in our country, and it must be ended immediately. It is necessary to make exceptional efforts to maintain solidarity and peaceful approaches to eliminate any violence or even the possibility of violence.

The state bodies play a fundamental role in excluding violence or any other kind of tension, as they are obliged to ensure the rule of law both in our country and in their own actions, each within their jurisdiction. In general, the rule of law and the guarantee of human rights must be the foundation of all initiatives.

Regarding the incidents involving MPs near one of the entrances of the National Assembly today, these are unacceptable phenomena; no one should insult anyone’s dignity, let alone resort to violence. This should be kept in mind by all parties, without exception.

Considering the inquiries directed to the Human Rights Defender’s staff regarding these incidents, we inform that inquiries will be prepared to the law enforcement bodies regarding all of them, at the instruction of the Defender, in order to obtain information about their actions and to take other necessary steps related to the competence of the Human Rights Defender.

With respect to specific emphasized inquiries, we clarify once again the following formula: if someone, who does not hold an office or is not endowed with state authority, uses violence against another specific person with or without office, this means we are dealing with a manifestly unlawful act of violence involving two or more individuals. In such a case, holding the specific person who used violence criminally or otherwise accountable is beyond the competence of the Human Rights Defender. Similarly, it is not within the Human Rights Defender’s competence to individually assess the actions of the persons involved in mutual violence or brawls in a specific situation and to determine who is guilty and who is innocent regarding those specific actions. For this purpose, relevant state bodies operate in our country, which have that specific authority, and the Human Rights Defender will exercise oversight over them regarding issues related to his competence.