17 July 2007
"Aravot" Daily
The Right Protectors as Opponents
“Since 2002, when Armenia joined the European Council, the state of the protection of human rights becomes worse though the number of right protective structures, I mean the instate of Ombudsman, and now the Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs of the National Assembly,” Arthur Sakunts, head of Helsinki Citizens Committee Vanadzor Office, announced at the seminar “The Role of Right Protective Organizations in the Protection of Human Rights.” Mr. Sakunts made this announcement after the speech of Ms. Arevik Petrosyan, Charwoman of the Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs of the NA, who expressed willingness to cooperate with the right protective NGOs. “I wonder that such a commission has been formed in a National Assembly, which was elected in result of disreputable infringements,” Arthur Sakunts said. He also wondered that in a publication of the NA established official periodical “all those organizations, which stand for the rights of Radio Station ‘Freedom’, were announced grant-eaters, 5th echelon, or betrayers of the national interests. That is the state, through its media, which is financially supported by the state, allows forming such opinion referring to those right protective organizations, which try to realize their mission in compliance with the Constitution and the Law.” This was also considered as an evidence of the reality that the powers “through the whole arsenal of mass media, which obey to it, forms favorable conditions to introduce the right protective activities as an opponent. This is peculiar only to totalitarian or authoritarian countries, where the right protection is boosted up to the level of dissidence.”
Anna Israelyan
