The Human Rights Defender Karen Andreasyan’s speech
Human Rights EXPO 2011
«With the aim of celebrating the International human rights day, we have initiated this exhibition, which differs from other EXPOs also due to the fact that we are exhibiting not our success and achievements, but stressing the difficulties, failures, pains and acute problems of our society.
Now I’m not going to speak about child beggars, people in extreme poverty, abused women, a prisoner or a military serviceman who is inhumanly treated, a member of a minority group who has been subjected to discriminatory treatment, a homeless and vulnerable refugee, the unauthorized home detention of a disabled citizen. About all of these individuals and circumstances, our booths which will be opening in several minutes, as well as the wallpaper, films and publications presented in those booths, will provide you with much more thorough and impressive information.
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Summing up the year 2011 we would like to present some positive and negative developments from the point of view of the Human Rights Defender proficiency.
Many of you are aware of my public initiative of requesting the initiation of disciplinary proceedings for 3 judges. Yesterday the Justice Minister expressed his solidarity to respective highest judicial body and I received final rejections with regard to all the three cases. This is my biggest disappointment in 2011.
Since the independence of Armenia, up to and including this year, the sharpest and most challenging structural obstacle to human rights protection has been the lack of a fair trial. Human rights protection in any democratic country is ultimately the responsibility of the judiciary. Consuming all my legislative authorities to influence judicial reform and current possibilities arising from them, I invoke my compatriots to highlight especially the right of a fair trial in upcoming political processes. As the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia I’m asking all political forces not only to present the current situation of judicial authorities (everyone is aware of this and everyone talks about this) in public debates of upcoming election period, but to present to voters practical, realistic, short-term and long-term projects of having a fair court.
Continuing to sum up the developments for 2011 I would like to inform that that most part of the grounded complaints addressed to our institution refer to the wrong calculation of a pension and deprivation from the right of getting a family pension.
The highest number of positive solutions to the complaints addressed to us were given from the RA Ministry of Defense.
Our legislative proposals were mostly accepted by the RA Ministry of Health and the RA Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
The most improper and unacceptable response to our public criticism we received from the RA Ministry of Education and Science. However, we positively evaluate the fact that the Ministry, even after such a response, undertook regulation of the formation of textbooks’ evaluation thematic committees»: