Still in ancient Rome, there was an idea of “proscription”. The Latin meaning of the word is “proclamation in written form”. Initially, the “proscription list” included real criminals who were under investigation. But very quickly, in the period of Sulla (BCE 82-79 years), it became a way for settling political and personal accounts. So it remained. Such lists are nowadays used also internationally.
Americans and Europeans, for example, are regularly including the Russian officials in the “black list” who, in their opinion, are not sufficiently democratic. I share the opinion of the Americans about these officials, but it’s worth of asking whether they are alone in this broad world. What would you say, for example, about Sudan authorities, who executed a pregnant woman for the latter had refused Islam and accepted Christianity? As far as I know, a Sudanese official is not prohibited to visit Europe or the U.S. Or, what would you say about Saudi sheikhs? Are they all Democrats?
This trick is often used in domestic life, too. For instances, during the summer of 1994, at the rally, Ashot Manucharyan released the names of the journalists (including, my name), which, in his opinion, are wrongly covering the domestic political events. He was giving the so-called “stir up” to the revolutionary masses against the journalists.
In later years, numerous lists of national traitors and enemies of humanity were published in Armenia by known and unknown figures. Russian Ambassador to Armenia Ivan Volinkin, for instances, has a black list of NGOs driving a wedge into the Armenian-Russian relations because he has access to only true standards of “driving” or “non-driving”.
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But the most important proscription lists in Armenia are associates with officials of non-traditional orientation. From time to time, various figures are threatening to publish this top-secret list. They both demonstrate their “national spirit”, and find an inoffensive topic to keep the public busy. It would be more “patriotic”, of course, to publish the list of corrupt officials, but that would not be quite inoffensive.
Related topic is Conchita. If you do not curse him, then you’re advocating this lifestyle. It is possible to make the list of non-cursing people. It is an important national objective.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
