Category: 2021

“Armenia and Artsakh are in a situation where the interests of global powers are continuously clashing in the region,” the head of opposition “Armenia” faction Seyran Ohanyan said at a discussion on Friday about challenges Armenia and Artsakh face. 

Ohanyan remarked that as a result of Turkish-Azerbaijani provocation, some new players appeared in the region of South Caucasus, putting the Armenian states in a difficult situation. Ohanyan stressed the true assessment of the past year and the current situation has not been given.

“The failure to analyze and assess the current situation generates uncertainty for Armenia and Artsakh’s future, and we are here to identify these challenges and adopt decisions based on them,” said Ohanyan. 

In the words of the speaker, the causes and consequences of the war are clear for the opposition. He admitted with regret that losses and the series of failures continue for the two Armenian states this time on the borders of Armenia.  

“Apparently, some hidden processes are underway, and our joint work should be aimed at preventing them,” said Ohanyan, adding one idea that can be at the centre of all actions of the opposition is the formation of the national resistance. In his words, the opposition will act under the slogan “No to Turkification of Armenia and no to stripping Artsakh of Armenians.”

“The third quarter of 2021 brought serious challenges for the media which had to operate in extremely difficult conditions, especially due to number of restrictions adopted by the legislative body,” Ashot Melikyan, the Chairman of the Committee to Protect Freedom of _expression_ (CPFE), told at a press conference, presenting the findings of the Quarterly report of CPFE on “Situation with Freedom of _expression_ and Violations of Rights of Journalists and Media in Armenia.”  

In Melikyan’s words, most of the restrictions were adopted through legislative initiatives and adoption of various normative acts which obstructed the free operation of the media. 

“We consider those restrictions and legislative initiatives regressive and concerning, which further worsen the situations,” stressed Melikyan. The CPFE Chairman specifically referred to the decision of the National Assembly leadership on the freedom of movement of accredited journalists inside the parliament building. 

“That was an unprecedented decision in the history of that representative body. We record that the decision significantly limits the opportunity of reporters to take interviews and comments from NA deputies and cover the work of the NA Standing Committees. Another concerning issue was the reporters and cameramen accredited to the pArliament were not notified about expected changes and they were informed about it on the same they when the decision was published,” said Melikyan. 

Another notorious incident, per Melikyan, was the arbitrary decision of the Speaker of the Parliament to cease the live broadcast of the parliament session when a brawl started among lawmakers during the  sitting in August. Following the Speaker’s instruction to stop the broadcast, the security officers ordered reporters to leave their designated area, obstructing their activity. 

Melikyan also condemned the physical violence and other pressures against reporters by security officers during the incident. 

Melikyan commented on the legislative changes tripling the maximum penalties for online insult and defamation to 3 and 6 million Armenian drams (approximately $5,700 and $11,400), respectively. In his words, the bill was adopted without taking into account the views the civil society and media organizations that expressed serious concerns about it. 

“In the past 9 months, 13 cases of physical violence against reporters, 83 cases of various pressures against media outlets or individual reporters and 67 violations of the right to receive and disseminate information have been recorded in Armenia. Meanwhile, 48 lawsuits have been filed against media outlets and reporters since the beginning of year most of which submitted former and acting officials which is a high and concerning figure,” Melikyan summed up. 

Armenia’s Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Arman Tatoyan has released evidence of increased Azerbaijani activity in Gegharkunik Province in response to the denial of the Defense Ministry.

In a statement on Monday, the ombudsman stated the Azerbaijani troops, that have invaded Gegharkunik, are actively strengthening their positions, conducting other engineering works. Tatoyan stated that they have built large shelters, stocked up on firewood and concreted the roads leading to their positions. In addition, they continue to build new roads, and the number of troops and weapons at their positions has increased, he said.

In response, the Defense Ministry said there were a number of inaccuracies in the statement of the human rights defender, as well as allegations that did not correspond to reality. In particular, it called the claims about the construction of shelters, firewood stockpiles and new roads “clearly exaggerated”.

In a statement late on Thursday, Tatoyan said that after his public post a campaign to discredit the human rights defender launched, adding the secretary of the Security Council also joined it.

He explained that the reason for the ombudsman’s October 18 statement was that the actions of Azerbaijani forces grossly violate the rights of Armenian civilians. The ombudsman’s office continues to receive complaints from border residents. Moreover, he stated, such violations are usually followed by criminal actions of the Azerbaijani servicemen, including those of a terrorist nature, which target civilians and the Armenian military.

“Both this and any other statement of the ombudsman are based on reliable data collected during fact-finding activities,” Tatoyan said, adding the mentioned statement is based on the facts that the ombudsman’s office has consistently collected as a result of the daily monitoring and report studies of recent months.

He stressed that if the ombudsman makes a public statement, he has enough evidence and reliable sources, and not just one, but several.

“We urge the officials of the ministry not to make such ill-advised formulations i when responding to the statements of the human rights defender,” Tatoyan wrote.

He underlined that by denying his statements, the Ministry Defense officials are generating an international Azerbaijani campaign questioning the credibility of the work carried out by the ombudsman.

Tatoyan stated that various Azerbaijani sources have already taken the statement of the Armenian Defense Ministry as a basis and applied to various instances, questioning the reports and statements of the human rights defender.

“Therefore, it should be borne in mind that the ombudsman submits reports and makes statements, even if they may cause political discontent, but at the same time they become a valuable source in protecting the rights of Armenian citizens, which is used in international instances, such as the UN International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights,” Tatoyan noted.

He stressed that throughout the post-war period, the Defense Ministry could somehow support the ombudsman’s call to create a demilitarized zone around Armenia’s borders. He noted that this was dictated by the need to protect the lives of civilians and Armenian soldiers from the criminal actions of Azerbaijan.

“The human rights defender has always supported the Armenian armed forces through his public and non-public activities and will continue to act on this principle in the future,” Tatoyan said.

He also urged the newly appointed Gegharkunik governor to carefully study the principles of the ombudsman’s activities, the results of his work and the situation on the ground not to question the accuracy of the defender’s statements or reports in the future.