LARISSA ALAVERDYAN PRESENTED THE WHOLE WRETCHEDNESS OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Lragir.am
26 April 06

The 2005 report on the activity of the first ombudsman of Armenia
Larissa Alaverdyan was finally presented on April 26 at the Yerevan
Hotel. Larissa Alaverdyan presented the wretchedness of human rights in
Armenia in all its splendor. This was the first show for the benefit
of the first ombudsman, which acquired the form of a 280-page report
on paper.

Listening to Larissa Alaverdyan’s speech, one could have thought that
a revolutionary tribune rather than an ombudsman was speaking.

Larissa Alaverdyan said the violation of human rights is systemic in
Armenia, which is the reason for the lengthiness of the report. The
former ombudsman says even the numerous examples cited in the report
cannot express the upsurge of protest of citizens against violation
of their rights.

“These two years of work showed that all the Armenian officials
refer to human rights as the highest value but their actions show
the opposite. It allows concluding that human rights in Armenia have
a mere declamatory character,” says Larissa Alaverdyan.

“The leadership abuses the government resource, though it claims that
it uses democratic methods,” announced Larissa Alaverdyan.

According to her, the restriction of civil freedoms, violation of the
freedom of speech, electoral fraud, the indifference of the government
towards the most vulnerable groups of the population show that the
leadership is not strong but it abuses power.

“As long as we have such a judiciary system, and as long as we cover
with gold the buildings where the unfair judges sit, we cannot have a
democratic country,” states the former ombudsman Larissa Alaverdyan
after two years of office. She draws a conclusion from her two-year
activity and 280-page-long report that the leadership in Armenia
lacks political will with regard to human rights. However, Larissa
Alaverdyan does not give up, and she advises the same to the society:
do not expect good will from the leadership, use the potential of
the society Armenia is rich in, says the former ombudsman.