Human Rights Defender of Armenia Anahit Manasyan has responded to a message by Ruben Vardanyan, who is currently held in captivity in Azerbaijan, which was conveyed through his family.
Within the framework of that message, the Defender addressed a number of observations regarding the mandate and powers of the Human Rights Defender’s Office.
“First, we consider it important to emphasize that the Human Rights Defender’s Office of the Republic of Armenia operates on the basis of the principle of independence, is not part of the government, functions independently from it, and has been accredited with A status by the Sub-Committee on Accreditation of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions of the United Nations, confirming its independence.
The aforementioned status of the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia implies that the Defender cannot and does not conduct negotiations on behalf of the state, does not implement the state’s foreign policy, but operates exclusively within the mandate assigned to the Human Rights Defender by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia and international standards.
Accordingly, the powers of the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia extend exclusively to processes of recording alleged human rights violations by state and local self-government bodies of the Republic of Armenia, regardless of the citizenship of the rights holder.
Moreover, the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia is authorized to carry out monitoring visits to places of deprivation of liberty and to 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 may have a key role, strictly adhering to international standards and ethical principles governing their activities, and exercising this role based on the principles of independence, impartiality, neutrality, multilateralism and cooperation.
The Human Rights Defender’s Office of the Republic of Armenia, being an independent body accredited by the United Nations, considers it extremely important not only in the current situation but has always applied all humanitarian and legal mechanisms in post-conflict and peace processes, including with regard to ensuring the rights of Armenians deprived of liberty in Azerbaijan. Relevant public information on this matter 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 based on the principles of confidentiality and ‘do no harm,’ which are and will continue to be observed by the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia in all processes.
We are puzzled by the following statement in the message: ‘During our conversation, the Ombudsman of Azerbaijan noted that she had already discussed with you the possibility of visiting Baku, and that the Azerbaijani side had expressed readiness to facilitate this.’
We consider it necessary to emphasize that the Human Rights Defender’s Office of the Republic of Armenia has not received any official proposal regarding 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 noted that any issue concerning the protection of rights within the territory of a particular state falls within the mandate of that state’s ombudsman or national human rights institution and cannot in any way be conditioned by communication with the ombudsman institution of another state.
The Human Rights Defender’s Office of the Republic of Armenia has always been and remains open to any cooperation and communication with partner ombudsman institutions, provided that it is carried out in strict adherence to the aforementioned standards—independence, impartiality, neutrality, and observance of ethical principles.
We also note that modern systems of human rights protection require the existence of an internationally recognized independent monitoring mechanism, based on the principle of independence, to ensure the protection of the rights of persons deprived of liberty, which is also a fundamental priority in this context.
Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan reaffirms her repeatedly stated public position that all Armenians deprived of liberty in Azerbaijan must be released immediately. This is of key importance both from the perspective of the peace process and in terms of guaranteeing human rights values in the modern civilized world,” the statement reads.
