Ombudsman Functions in Spite of Present Authorities – 1st Ombudsman

OMBUDSMAN FUNCTIONS TO SPITE OF PRESENT AUTHORITIES, RA FIRST
OMBUDSPERSON FINDS

YEREVAN, APRIL 16, NOYAN TAPAN. The Ombudsperson in separate cases
manages to re-establish violated human rights, but in general, it is
too difficult to liquidate negative deep phenomena. First RA
Ombudswoman Larisa Alaverdian expressed such an opionion in the
interview to the Noyan Tapan correspondent. In her words, those
phenomena were not liquidated both during the years of her officiating
and during the years of the present Ombudsman’s officiating. "It is a
pity, protection of the human rights does not make a part of the
policy carried on by the present authorities, what means that the
Ombudsman functions against those authorities," L. Alaverdian
mentioned.

In her words, though it is fixed by the RA Constitution that a person,
his rights and fundmental freedoms are a supreme value but Serge
Sargsian, the Council Chairman of the RPA, the recently officiating
party, the newly appointed Prime Minister stated that the economic
growth is more supreme for Armenia than the human rights. In
L. Alaverdian’s words, it means that the authorities are ready to
secure economic growth, ignoring or violating the human rights.

In L. Alaverdian’s words, power shift is necessary to change the
created situation. It will give possibility to implement system
reforms. She emphasized that in those countries where no power shift
has taken place for a long time, a stagnation process starts. As the
former Ombudswoman emphasized, "how small the hope of holding fair and
free elections in Armenia is, the ruling system must be changed only
with the help of fair elections."