Ombudsman: Armenian government must publish draft document on border demarcation

Panorama, Armenia
May 20 2021

The government must publish the draft document on the demarcation of Armenia’s borders, which was partially published on the internet on Wednesday and which was confirmed at a cabinet meeting on Thursday, Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Arman Tatoyan said in a statement.

Caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan today confirmed that Armenia is negotiating a new document with Azerbaijan and Russia after the paper was partially published by Armenia's former Ambassador to the Holy See Mikayel Minasyan. The latter claimed Pashinyan is going to sign the new agreement damaging the interests of Armenia.

“At a minimum, all provisions of the document which give understanding of what it is it all really about must be published,” he said.

“The demarcation with Azerbaijan directly concerns vital rights of all of us, every person living in Armenia, the entire Armenian people – life and existence, national and personal dignity, peace of mind and physical security, being informed of these and many other rights.

“Border demarcation itself is a guarantee of human rights, the wrong implementation of which can lead to new human rights violations and tension.

“The publication of the document is in the interests of the state. By publishing, the state will prevent the outflow of information of such exclusive importance from unofficial sources, and will not allow for an irreversible loss of public trust in state bodies.

“Otherwise, the information vacuum created by the state will again be filled with information from unofficial sources, confusing even honest people, and some officials will again make irresponsible posts, often flooded with insulting words start, accusing people in imaginary "media terror,” reads the ombudsman’s statement.