RA FIRST OMBUDSMAN: IN 2005 THE RIGHT OF THE RA CITIZENS OF EFFECTIVE DEFENSE WERE VIOLATED MOST

YEREVAN, MARCH 16. ARMINFO. During the year 2005 the right of the RA
citizens of effective defense was violated most. The violations refer
not only the legal protection in the court. The RA First Ombudsman
announced during today’s seminar “Gains and losses of the RA citizens
in 2005” organized by the non-governmental organization “National
Civic Initiative”.

Larissa Alaverdyan has read out her “Extraordinary Report on Human
Rights in Armenia in 2005” for about 40 minutes during the seminar. She
was not allowed to make it public in the Parliament at the beginning of
the year. According to her, the very domestic political governmental
system with its by-laws is directed towards the violation of human
rights.

Alaverdyan thinks quite surprising that the authorities confess the
imperfection of the court system but do nothing to improve it. We
should speak not about the low level of independence of the courts,
but about the unfairness of the decisions they make. The fact that
the judges are appointed by the President is not that important, the
Ombudsman mentioned. She brought the example of such a democratic
country as Sweden where the judges are considered royal, and until
recently they were appointed by the King. Alaverdyan added that the
function of the Ombudsman is to point at the unfairness of a court
decision, which is successfully practiced in Sweden.

Nevertheless, all her attempts to change the situation, including
a private meeting with the RA Prime Minister and the letter to the
RA President, were fruitless. On the contrary, she was warned that
her actions are a violation of the 5th article of the newly adopted
Constitution, Alaverdyan informed.

The RA First Ombudsman devoted a significant part of her extraordinary
report to the problems of the residents of the Buzand street. According
to her, there are many cases in different countries of the world when
the authorities have to resettle the citizens, but they have to give
grounded reasons for their actions and provide the citizens with
financial compensation. In the case of the residents of the Buzand
street, they were forced into an unprofitable deal on the sale of
their own houses. The court decisions about these cases are a violation
of not only property rights, but also of all the rights mentioned in
the European Convention on the Protection of Fundamental Human Rights
and Freedoms, the RA First Ombudsman Larissa Alaverdyan announced.