Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia

The Human Rights Defender is an official, who, acting pursuant to the Constitution and the Law of the Republic of Armenia, as well as principles and norms of International Law, on behalf of the State protects the human rights and fundamental freedoms violated by central and local government agencies or their officials.

The word "Ombudsman" has Swedish roots and the literal translation means “grievance person”. This word in its modern meaning was first used by the Swedish parliament in the 19th century when establishing the office of justitieombudsman. This office was responsible for defending the citizens when they had issues with the government. In 1697 the Swedish King, Charles XII, dedicated his first 17 years of his governance to wars, hence was mainly out of the country. During this period he established an office called the King’s Highest Ombudsman. The main job of the office was to confirm and consistently check that all the governmental workers were acting according to the king’s rules, while he was away from Sweden. However this office was closed when the king returned.

Human rights defenders operate all over the world. Independent of whether the state is stable or not due to internal conflicts, non-democratic one or has a strong democratic practice, economically developing or not, the defenders role in a country is always crucial. They seek to promote and protect human rights in the context of a variety of challenges, including HIV/AIDS, development, migration, structural adjustment policies and political transition.

The office of Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia was founded in the beginning of 2004 by the law of the Republic of Armenia on the Human Rights defender signed by the president of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan.

To be considered as a candidate for the position of the human rights defender of Armenia one must meet the following criteria:

The National Assembly shall appoint the Defender by a vote of more than 3/5 of the general number of deputies from candidates nominated by the President of the Republic, 1/5 of the National Assembly deputies. He/she shall be appointed to office for a term of 6 years, with not more than two consecutive terms.

The Defender should take the following oath upon his/her appointment:

"Having accepted the commitments of human rights defender I hereby swear to be faithful to RA Constitution and laws, the principles of justice and civil society as to defend the human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals. I swear to act in impartial, honest and diligent manner"

From the foundation of Human Rights Defender’s office, Armenia had only 3 human rights defenders:

The Defender is independent in executing his/her powers and is guided only by the Constitution and the laws of the Republic of Armenia, as well as norms and principles of International Laws. The Defender is not subordinated to any central or local self-governing agency or official. The Defender is not required to give explanations, including as a witness, about the essence of complaint or documents in their possession or provide them for familiarization, except in cases prescribed by law and order. The decisions of the Defender are not administrative acts and cannot be appealed. The Defender has the right to be present at the sittings of the Government of the Republic of Armenia and other state agencies, and make a speech if there are discussed issues regarding the human rights and the fundamental freedoms of people, as well as provide questions concerning the violation of the human rights or the fundamental freedoms by the agency where the sitting is taking place or the subordinate agencies or officials of that agency. The Defender or his/her representative has the right to be present at the sittings of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, make a speech ordered by the law of the Republic of Armenia “The Regulation of National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia” when there are discussed issues regarding the human rights and the fundamental freedoms of people. The Defender or his/her representative has the right to unrestrictedly visit, by their own initiative, military units, police detention centers, pre-trial or serving their sentence in penitentiaries, as well as other places of corrective detention in order to receive complaints from the applicants which are kept in those places. The conversations of the Defender or their representative with the people mentioned above are not subject for interference or being wiretapped. After making the decision regarding the adoption of the complaint the Defender is eligible to apply to appropriate state agencies or their officials to promote the investigation of the circumstances, which are subject of revelation. The investigation of the issues mentioned in the complaint cannot be done by the central or local self-governing agency or their officials which decisions or acts (idleness) are being appealed. The Defender is eligible to:

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Wikipedia