“This kind of reports by the US State Department, eastern and western and even many European structures are politically orders. They are usually doe by political and propaganda purposes to put pressure on given country. I cannot say why the US State Department has done something like this, maybe associated with the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. But I am not going to believe that the problems identified in their report are based on facts,” such an opinion was expressed by RPA lawmaker Lernik Alexanyan referring to the State Department report. According to the report, in 2015, the most serious problems in Armenia on human rights were the use of the state resources by state officials for the preservation of the superiority of the ruling Republican Party, the use of economic and political power to enrich the supporters and wreck law enforcement and judicial systems as well as the limited independence of judiciary.
According to the report, also during the constitutional referendum held on December 6, a number of local and international observers, civil society members and journalists reported numerous election violations, including the use of administrative resources, multiple-election, stuffing as well as pressure on the members of the electoral commission and observers by state officials. On December 18, the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia instituted 34 criminal cases related to the referendum. “The same observers are leaving the country without complaining, the same observers have monitored and expressed their positive opinion, I believe in what I say that these type of reports cannot be authentic only for the fact that the authors are writing the report based on the information expressed by others. The authors of the report are not the witnesses nor participants in these elections about which they write and disseminate,” said Lernik Alexanyan.
Referring to the growing cases of deaths in the army during the peace time that are reflected in the report, the lawmaker continued, “Those are legal issues and to express opinion about them you need to examine the legal framework. I do not exclude that specifically in the army there have been cases but it does not have the sonority that they are trying to interpret and give resonance. I cannot also say that there are no such cases but they are legal problems that receive solutions. I do not think it is right to connect these cases with the authorities, the army has become opener and more visible for the parents.”
To our question of who are to be blamed for the deaths in the army, he replied, “The authorities or even the defense minister are not connected with the deaths in the army. Another question that today mechanisms should be elaborated to exclude these incidents. The army is the mirror of our society.” As to the concern raised in the report that the authorities have not bright anyone to responsibility for the “March 1” victims, Mr. Alexanyan said, “There are many dark places in the March 1 events that can be thoroughly examined and presented to the public. People were brought to responsibility and legal assessment was given, it is also bringing to responsibility.”
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Arpine SIMONYAN
