Armenia's Human Rights Defender responded to Ruben Vardanyan's message
Human Rights Defender of Armenia Anahit Manasyan has responded to a message from former State Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh Ruben Vardanyan, who is wrongfully convicted and imprisoned in Azerbaijan.
Vardanyan’s office had circulated his message, in which a number of questions were addressed to Armenia’s Human Rights Defender, Anahit Manasyan.
Below is the response released by Manasyan’s office.
“The message from Mr. Ruben Vardanyan, addressed to the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia, Ms. Anahit Manasyan, has been disseminated through social and mass media platforms.
The message contains a number of observations concerning the mandate and powers of the Human Rights Defender’s institution, which we consider it necessary to address below.
Firstly, we consider it important to emphasize that the institution of the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia operates on the principle of independence; it is not part of the Government, functions independently thereof, and has been accredited by the Sub-Committee on Accreditation of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions of the United Nations with the “A status”, attesting the independence of the institution.
The aforementioned status of the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia implies that the latter neither can nor does conduct negotiations on behalf of the state, nor does it carry out the state’s foreign policy; rather, it operates exclusively within the mandate assigned to the Human Rights Defender under the legislation of the Republic of Armenia and in accordance with international standards.
Accordingly, the powers of the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia extend exclusively to the processes of recording alleged human rights violations committed by state bodies and local self-government authorities of the Republic of Armenia, irrespective of the citizenship of the rights holder. Moreover, the RA Human Rights Defender is authorized to conduct monitoring visits to places of deprivation of liberty and to freely use all available tools during such visits exclusively within the Republic of Armenia.
At the same time, we consider it necessary to emphasize that, within the framework of peace processes, National Human Rights Institutions can play a key role, while strictly adhering to the international standards and ethical principles established for their activities and carrying out this role on the basis of independence, impartiality, neutrality, pluralism, and cooperation.
The Office of the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia, being an institution accredited by the United Nations as an independent body, has been consistently using its tools in post-conflict and peace processes, including with the view of ensuring the rights of Armenians deprived of liberty in Azerbaijan rather than considering the immediate activation of all humanitarian and legal mechanisms to be of critical importance only in the current situation.
In this regard, information subject to publication is available on the official platforms of the Human Rights Defender. At the same time, it should be taken into account that the activities of National Human Rights Institutions are also guided by the principles of confidentiality and “do no harm,” which are upheld by the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia and will continue to be maintained in all processes going forward.
We express our perplexity regarding the following statement contained in the message: “In the course of our conversation /with the Azerbaijani Ombudsperson/, it was also mentioned that the possibility of your visit to Baku had already been discussed, and that the Azerbaijani side had expressed readiness to facilitate such a visit”. We deem it necessary to underscore that the Office of the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia has not received any official proposal concerning cooperation on the matter under discussion, nor has it received any confirmation that the Azerbaijani side has expressed readiness to facilitate such cooperation.
At the same time, it should be taken into consideration that any issue concerning the protection of rights within the territory of a given state falls within the mandate of that state’s Ombudsman / National Human Rights Institution, constitutes a function of that state’s Ombudsperson, and cannot in any way be conditioned upon communication with the Human Rights Institution of another state.
The Office of the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia has consistently been, and continues to be, open to cooperation and communication with counterpart human rights institutions, provided that such engagement is carried out in strict compliance with the aforementioned principles - namely, independence, impartiality, neutrality, and adherence to ethical standards.
We further emphasize that modern human rights protection systems require the existence of an internationally recognized independent monitoring mechanism, operating on the basis of the principle of independence, for the purpose of ensuring the protection of the rights of persons deprived of liberty, which constitutes a fundamental priority in the present context as well.
The Human Rights Defender, Ms. Anahit Manasyan, reiterates her position, expressed repeatedly and publicly, that all Armenians deprived of liberty in Azerbaijan must be released without delay. This holds fundamental significance both for the peace process and from the perspective of guaranteeing the human rights values upheld in the modern civilized world.”