We’re not an open society
"The state of human rights is in a crisis in Armenia," said today Ombudsman Armen Harutyunyan during a conference on "Human rights in Armenia". Harutyunyan went on to say that Armenia has made the transition from totalitarianism, yet totalitarianism remains among Armenians.
Harutyunyan brought up the example of the residents of Northern Avenue who have not won a single case during the past seven years, but those same residents have appealed to the Strasbourg court and won.
"We must find the solution to this issue amongst us. After all, we must not forget that the issue of human rights is an issue of culture. We are not an open society and having an open society starts with each one of us," said Harutyunyan.
Harutyunyan also touched upon the opinion that Armenians are not very aware of their rights. Harutyunyan tends to differ. According to him, Armenians will start to read and be aware of their rights as soon as they realize that awareness is important in order to win a case in court.
Harutyunyan said that the institute of human rights should really talk about issues openly and start a dialogue with the corresponding forces. However, as Harutyunyan underlined, there are levers that are very often guided by the principle that there are no issues and the important thing is to not talk about them.
Among participants of the conference was U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Marie Yovanovich who touched upon freedom of press and speech and underscored that the government can fight against corruption with the help of investigative journalists. Yovanovich noted that the U.S. supports the government's policy aimed at the functioning of a free and pro-active media. Mrs. Yovanovich said that there is a lack of pluralism in Armenia, especially in television broadcasts.
"The people don't hear different opinions about the issues that concern them. We believe that new licenses must be given to local broadcasters to provide pluralism," said Yovanovich.
