Siranush Sahakyan: I think that authoritarian regimes or politically sensitivized governments rely on silence. They want human rights violations to be forgotten, and they rewrite history to neglect all the crimes that were committed under their guidance, under their knowledge, and so on. To work strategically, we should sleep the issues vital and attract international attention to exert more political and moral pressure on governments who disregard international order. Right now, it is very difficult to talk about morality, because power, geopolitical factors, trade prevail over human rights, and they shrink the space for law, and we, the lawyers, are very skeptical about the law — what space is left for legal resolution, for human rights considerations. But with this crisis, we should rely on political pressure, moral pressure, to have a chance of changing the conduct of state actors.
Raising the matter in any format is important, and we can resort to public diplomacy, as well. To brief about the issue to international actors, diplomatic representatives, societies, to create an environment for proper action for their government — every tool, which is important from a public diplomacy perspective, should be taken. Of course, we can provide psychological support to the families, stand by them, and show by our own actions that they are not alone in the path of struggle. Ruben’s case is not about individual responsibility. This is a collective punishment of Armenian identity, through the face of Ruben Vardanyan, who was a successful, prominent Armenian devoted to his Armenian roots and its values. This is a collective punishment against us, and we should take any possible action to struggle for justice and his release.
