Demand for Public Condemnation of Insults Directed at Ombudsman from QP and My Step

A number of journalistic organizations have released a statement demanding that the "Civil Contract" party and the My Step faction in the National Assembly publicly and rigorously condemn the insults directed at the RA Human Rights Defender, Arman Tatoyan, apologize to him, and hold those responsible accountable.

The statement says that on March 19, Sangis Aleksanyan, a founding member of the "Civil Contract" party, directed insults towards the Human Rights Defender, Arman Tatoyan, on his Facebook page. This was a reaction to the condemning statement made by the Minister of High-Tech Industry, Hakob Arshakyan, regarding the violence against journalist Paylak Fahradyan. Some representatives of the ruling power, including My Step faction MP Nikolay Baghdasaryan, approved the politician's insults. Similar offensive comments have circulated, with authors displaying disrespect towards the Human Rights Defender while defending Hakob Arshakyan, effectively undermining the defender's diligent execution of his official duties.

We, the undersigned organizations, express our indignation at such highly indecorous acts and condemn the incidents. This fact is a consequence of the atmosphere of hatred and intolerance that has recently developed in the country, where even proper criticism directed at any public figure is perceived as a "hostile action" and becomes a pretext for aggressive responses.

It is critically important that especially the unacceptable behavior of politicians and their supporters deserves public condemnation, and moreover, the perpetrators should be punished to the full extent of the law. We remind that according to Article 332.2 of the RA Criminal Code, "Threatening or insulting the Human Rights Defender in connection with the exercise of his powers, or demonstrating explicit disrespect towards him is punishable by a fine of two hundred to five hundred times the minimum wage or imprisonment for a term of two to three months."

Perhaps the recent underestimation of the Human Rights Defender's extensive activities by representatives of the ruling political force is accompanied by a political undertone. It is even more concerning the proposal regarding the financing of the Human Rights Defender's office by the Government, which could adversely affect the guarantees of independence of this institution. We believe that in the post-war period, when there are many new threats to the protection of human rights in Armenia, the role of the Human Rights Defender's institution has significantly increased, and the volume of work has expanded; such attitudes are unacceptable.

By the way, this issue has also been addressed by the respected human rights organization Freedom House, noting that such approaches can exacerbate the existing crisis in Armenia, and the authorities must ensure the uninterrupted operation of human rights institutions.

Considering the above, we demand:

• That the "Civil Contract" party and the My Step faction in the National Assembly publicly condemn the insults directed at the Human Rights Defender, apologize to Arman Tatoyan, hold those responsible accountable, and provide guarantees that such behavior will be excluded in the future.
• From the leadership of the National Assembly, to form a temporary ethics commission to discuss the issue and officially publish the conclusions reached.
• From the ruling political force, to review the non-objective evaluations of the Human Rights Defender's work and to exclude any changes regarding the financing of the office that may reduce its independence and effectiveness.

Coalition of Journalistic Organizations for the Protection of Freedom of Speech: Asparents, Free Information Center, Journalists for the Future NGO, Journalists for Human Rights NGO, Gorisi Journalistic Organization, Femida NGO.