The RA president Robert Kocharyan violated the new Constitution with his first order of this year. We mean the order of Robert Kocharyan as of January 4, 2006 concerning founding a new commission to carry out the management of the human rights protection institution in Armenia. And now the ombudsman of Armenia Larisa Alaverdyan has to apply to the Constitutional Court to protect her own rights.
It is stated in the law on the human rights protection institution that in 30 days after the adoption of the Constitutional amendments, the working period of the existing ombudsman is to be terminated. The working period of Larisa Alaverdyan was over on January 5. But one thing is clear: the order of Robert Kocharyan contradicts the fifth Article of “The law on human rights protection institution”, according to which ombudsmen are not to obey any local or state bodies and they are only to carry out their activities according to the Constitution. This abuses the right for freedom too, as well as the rights of citizens to apply to the ombudsman to protect their rights. A group consisting of three people has been founded to carry out the management of this institution until the new ombudsman is elected. On the base of the president’s order these members have taken the stamp and all relative documents from Larisa Alaverdyan. “If this is a demonstration of their power, I don’t think this is a good idea. This shows their weakness”, says Larisa Alaverdyan. According to her only the ombudsman can carry out the management of the human rights protection institution in Armenia. “The only body that can make decisions regarding the future activities of this institution is the National Assembly”, says Larisa Alaverdyan. Mrs. Alaverdyan thinks the only way out of this situation is to apply to the Constitutional court. Even more, last year she applied to the Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan and asked to suggest to the NA to make changes in the law on human rights protection institution, but no one has answered to this letter let. Yesterday Mrs. Alaverdyan announced that everything was not over yet. She says that either Robert Kocharyan can correct this situation or the members of the NA can bring up this issue in the NA. “I think we shouldn’t get into conflicts. The best way out of this situation is to work together and find a good solution out of this situation. The problem is not so difficult and there are simple solutions for it”, says larisa Alaverdyan.
Currently, the human rights protection office is in very bad conditions. When Mrs. Alaverdyan was appointed to this position in 2004, a lot of people thought that she would serve the authorities, because she is originally from Karabakh. But she disappointed the authorities by criticizing them in her annual report, and her activities to protect the interests of the families that were forced out of their apartments to build new buildings there made the president get disappointed about her and take some actions. According to Mrs. Alaverdyan the reason that Robert Kocharyan wants to replace her is the fact that she was protecting the interests of the families that had been forced out of their apartments on Buzand street.
In spite of all these developments Larisa Alaverdyan still continues to carry out her responsibilities. “What’s the matter? The only problem is that my room is closed and I have no car. When I was appointed I worked without any car and financial support for three months. And those expenses that I made have not been reimbursed yet”, says Mrs. Alaverdyan. As for their financial management, Mrs. Alaverdyan said that their officers would not be able to get their holiday payments: “Who can sign any official organizational or any relative documents? And now our colleagues that were on vacation are not able to get their money, which is a serious violation of human rights”, said Mrs. Alaverdyan.
P.S. The NA “Justice” alliance group is going to nominate the candidacy of Larisa Alaverdyan for the ombudsman’s position. As for “National Unity” party, which is oppositional too, they are going to nominate the candidacy of lawyer Rouben Torosyan. In regard to this, a journalist asked a question, to which Mrs. Alaverdyan answered: “I think this is good, because my activities in this position prove that this institution is already a serious power in Armenia and I think it is good that there is strong competition for this position”. Later Mrs. Alaverdyan said that it was a pity that citizens didn’t have a chance to nominate their own candidacy for this position.