MEASURES TAKEN AT GENERAL STAFF OF RA ARMED FORCES TO EXLUDE PREVENTION OF RA OMBUDSMAN’S ACTIVITIES

Noyan Tapan
Dec 17 2007

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 17, NOYAN TAPAN. The fact of forbidding the visit
of a group of the RA ombudsman’s representatives to the republican
assemby point of the RA defence ministry was examined in detail
at the General Staff of the RA Armed Forces and measures have been
taken to exlude the possibility of such cases in future. According to
information of the RA Ombudsman Office, the head of the General Staff
of the RA Armed Forces Colonel General Seyran Ohanian sent a letter
about it to the RA ombudsman. He also informed the ombudsman that
instructions were given to the heads of the respective departments,
to the military commissar of the RA and the commanders of military
units to fulfil the requirements of Article 8 of the Law on Ombudsman
of the Republic of Armenia.

The RA ombudsman had applied to the RA minister of defence
Mikael Harutyunian, informing him that on December 3 a group of
representatives of the RA ombudsman went to the republican assemly
point of the defence ministry to familiarize themselves with
daily activities of the republican assembly point and the process
of recruitment. However, the deputy head of the General Staff’s
organizational and mobilization department Colonel A. Manukian did
allow the members of the group to enter the assembly point. He said
that a letter had been sent on behalf of the head of this department
to the RA ombudsman informing him that visits of this kind have to
be agreed on beforehand with the General Staff’s organizational and
mobilization department.

The ombudsman had asked to call to account the guilty officials and
take steps in order to ensure fulfilment of the requirements of the
Law on Ombudsman of the RA and to exclude violations preventing the
activities of the RA ombudsman in the future.