– Why did the authorities lose their trust in you?
– It’s not so much trust as it is manipulation. They were certain that they could control me. At least, that was what one side of the authorities thought when appointing me. Trust is a virtue and manipulation is a totally different thing. They were wrong in thinking that they could manipulate me after I got appointed to a higher position. I can even tell you why they thought like that. I have mainly been a patriot during the whole term. The authorities have appreciated the work I have done with the “Against illegal acts” organization and that may serve as a basis for forming a wrong opinion about me. Don’t think that it is the ombudsman’s job to go against the authorities. On the contrary, the ombudsman must cooperate with the authorities; he or she must do everything to keep the reputation of the authorities high and correct them when they are wrong. There is no other way. The ombudsman doesn’t have the right to make his or her own decisions. So, I just don’t pay attention to other people’s comments, claiming that the ombudsman should go against the authorities. The ombudsman doesn’t start a fight with the authorities, but rather fights for the stability of the state. If the ombudsman works with authorities that actually care about learning from their mistakes, then both sides will work great together. But, on the other hand, if the ombudsman cooperates with careless authorities or any political parties that just care about their interests, then in that case the ombudsman may face some problems. In this case, the ombudsman doesn’t go against the authorities, but rather the authorities go against stabilizing the country. Perhaps people blame me for saying that I am on the president’s side-so what? I have said that and I will always say it. I am not on the president’s side because the president is Kocharyan, but rather I am on the side of the president who, according to the Constitution, must protect the interests of the nation.
– Are you saying that the authorities were against stabilizing the country?
– Yes. They simply didn’t accept the fact that the ombudsman is not appointed to keep quiet about human rights violations, but is certain that the country can overcome all the obstacles with its high potential. The ombudsman is the one who works with the authorities to correct errors, learn from them and move on. If that doesn’t work, then the ombudsman speaks to the public not as an attempt to go against the authorities, but rather to feel ashamed and move forward based on moral ethics.
– Why didn’t you speak to the public?
– How could I when I didn’t even have the time for that? I was only speaking to the public when I found out that the authorities do not agree on fighting against human rights violations. Unfortunately, the people are also of the opinion that I have not spoken to them. Let’s remember the public meetings in 2004. Which political party, or person for that matter, has done what the ombudsman did, such as moving the crowd? We were on the telephone day and night. We did everything. I asked the authorities to lend me a helping hand and we protected people’s rights. True, we didn’t get to punish the ones responsible for the damage caused. But it is clear that we worked on that. We told the president, the general prosecutor about the arrests and that problem was solved. I only asked the people for help when I felt that the authorities couldn’t do anything. I was not alone.
– What are the authorities afraid of?
– The authorities are more sensitive towards international organizations. During my term, we agreed on some issues and that kept the ombudsman’s image alive. The opposition simply helped me at the right time by giving me the information that I needed. The lack of people’s trust hurt me the most. What hurts me the most is that Armenians still judge a person by where he or she comes from. It took me a long time to gain the people’s trust based on the fact that I am from Karabagh. But I have never reacted to that and have always thought that actions speak louder than words. Although the people never really trusted me, however, I consider my term as ombudsman as successful. Somewhere along the way, public television served as a means for the authorities to start putting my reputation down. They started this in October-November 2004. I fought for the property rights of the residents living on Buzand and Northern Avenue, and after doing everything I could with the authorities, I suddenly became their target on television. That was when I had to ask the people for help. Nothing like that had happened until then. After asking the president for help, I was convinced that I had lost all my opportunities. The last time I met with the president was back in November 2004, after which the authorities started putting my reputation down on public television and spreading the wrong propaganda. I have not only brought up facts about human rights violations from certain people, but also, I have brought up facts pinpointed by the government. All political party leaders claimed that I had protected the interests of certain groups of people rather than the needy and that the damage caused to those groups was more. I didn’t really care about which groups. I just wanted to find out the government’s orientation.
– Were you able to find out?
– Yes. The government helps the small groups that have certain interests and nobody wants to help the needy even a little and compensate. I have always said that and I will take part in the Constitutional Court sessions.
– The newly appointed ombudsman has promised to solve that issue. Do you think that he will be successful?
– I am not good in making predictions, but what I can say is that following up on the issue doesn’t mean that the issue will be solved. Only time will show.
– Armen Harutyunyan said that he will decide whether to show your report to the National Assembly or not after he gets acquainted with it.
– What is there to get acquainted with? I think he will do that with the people. I mean, he’s obviously not going to do it all on his own. I have prepared that report for the people. But what’s interesting is what will happen with the report and what the newly appointed ombudsman will do?
– You blamed Artashes Geghamyan for not nominating you for ombudsman, but don’t you think the “Justice” alliance is also to blame? After all, they knew what the authorities were planning on doing and said that they would announce their candidate after hearing your speech.
– I have never blamed anyone for anything. I have always analyzed the situation and have made it clear for myself just what kind of authorities and society I am dealing with. I believe that this was all just an act. The Armenian society is ready for some reforms in democracy, more than the authorities. Do we really want to stabilize a country full of criminals? If that is what they want, then why don’t we conduct another referendum? We shouldn’t declare something and then dispute about something else. The people have revealed many things about the country they are living in and everyone should simply go along with it.
– Can you state the methods that the authorities and the opposition have to use in order to work together?
– I can’t say anything about the opposition. I don’t think that the opposition serves as a guide for the people. Society is trying to avoid politicizing everything and, as we see, a person is suspected of being a “spy” even before entering the political party. Society and opposition are not experienced in working together, there are no mechanisms and no intentions. Both look at each other differently. One of the MPs said (referring to Alvart Petrosyan-L.S.) that he was also worried about the residents of Buzand street, but he was ashamed to stand next to the people that were defending those residents’ rights. Excuse me, but did we actually have to stand there and wait to see who is going to die first and then decide whether to go or not? People get offended by each other. What kind of president gets offended by the ombudsman and doesn’t schedule a meeting for one year? Society and opposition don’t know how to cooperate, just like other countries do. Nobody really cared about the opposition’s meetings. No oppositionist talked about human rights, which could have helped them a lot. We didn’t apply serious methods. They should send letters. Nobody can say that their actions will destabilize the country and stop the country from developing, besides of course their announcements. Boycott is a method, but is that really the only one? Shouldn’t the opposition be involved in something while boycotting something else? Shouldn’t the oppositionist help the people whose rights have been violated? We, as a people, still haven’t done anything towards this.