EurasiaNet, NY
March 11 2009
OMBUDSMAN SLAMS ARMENIA’S HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD
3/11/09
Armenian Ombudsman Armen Harutyunian has called for changes in
Armenia’s system of government, which he described as "oligarchic,"
"repressive," and a holdover from the Soviet Union.
Presenting a scathing report on Armenia’s human rights record,
Harutyunian said at a March 10 news conference that his office
received up to 5,800 complaints in 2008, but that officials had acted
on only 429 of them, the PanArmenian Network and Regnum news services
reported.
Harutyunian said that public trust in the courts has eroded during the
last three years. "It is essential to strictly separate business and
authorities," Harutyunian was quoted by Regnum as saying. Calling on
both the governing Republican Party of Armenia and the opposition "to
establish an atmosphere of tolerance," he advocated the abolition of
what he termed a "repressive system of governance" that rests on the
General Prosecutor’s Office and the Special Investigation Service.