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NKR OMBUDSMAN ON DISINFORMATION SPREAD BY AZERBAIJANI OMBUDSMAN INSTITUTE: EOI SECRETARY GENERAL'S HARSH REACTION AT PROVOCATION
14:28 11/10/2013 " INTERVIEWS
Exclusive interview of Panorama.am with the Ombudsman of NKR Yuri
Hayrapetyan.
- Mr. Hayrapetyan, please tell us about your participation at a
conference in Austria, devoted to the 25th anniversary of the European
Ombudsman Institute.
- In 19-22, September as a member of the European Ombudsman Institute,
I attended the event dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the
Institute and the regular general meeting of the EOI. One of the main
events was the conference of the ombudsmen titled "Independence of the
Ombudsman in Europe", which took place on September 20. Deputy European
Commissioner for Human Rights Lowry Sivonen, the representative of the
European Ombudsman Gerhard Grill, scientists from Italy and Japan,
representative of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
Jorg Gebhard and others read reports at the conference.
I also made a report at the conference. I raised the issue of necessity
of paying the official European bodies' precise attention, involved
in the protection of human rights, at the national institute of the
ombudsman of the de facto independent states. Informing about the
history and formation of the Human Rights Defender Institute of the
NKR, I noted that we regard it as an important part of democratic
processes taking place in our country.
I emphasized that our institution is deprived of the assistance which
was provided by the European structures to the official national
ombudsman institutions of post-Soviet states, and thus is forced to
evolve, using the international experience that can be found in the
Internet and other resources. In this regard, the general meeting of
members and other events organized by EOI are, perhaps, the only means
to communicate with my colleagues and learn from their experience. I
also noted that I am informed about the EU Commissioner for Human
Rights N. Muzhnieks' monitoring conducted in the area of situation
of the human rights in various countries, and that I regretted for
his absence at the conference and asked his Deputy - Lauri Sivonen
to pass him my request on discussing the possibility of his visit to
NKR for the same purpose.
- Azerbaijani media spread disinformation about you allegedly being
"removed from the conference" at the request of the Azerbaijani side.
Please, tell us what happened there in reality?
- After my speech the representative of Azerbaijani ombudsman Z.
Aliyev asked a word. He made a traditional anti-Armenian statement
stating that my participation in the conference is a violation of
international law. In response to this statement the rather rigid
comment of the Secretary General EOI Zh. Zigele followed. He rightly
drew attention of the speaker to the inadmissibility of political
statements made by him from the conference tribune as well as
the legitimacy of my participation. Mr. L. Sivonen, thanked me
for my offer and noted that it was right, the administration of EU
Commissioner was not engaged in providing technical assistance to the
Institute of Ombudsman of the de facto independent states, and kindly
agreed to convey to Mr. N. Muzhnieks my invitation to visit Nagorno
Karabakh in order to monitor the human rights situation there. The
next day, on 21 September, a general meeting of members of the EOI
was held. The reports of the President and other senior officials of
EOI were presented. It was followed by the election of the president,
members of the board and auditors of the organization in which I also
participated as a full member of the EOI.
A detailed report about my stay in Innsbruck can be found on the
website of the Ombudsman of the NKR (ombudsnkr.am) and the Facebook
page (Ombudsman Office of the NKR). As for the information posted on
the website of the Ombudsman of Azerbaijan ombudsman.gov.az stating
that at the request of Z. Aliyev, the employee of the Azerbaijani
Ombudsman Office, I was allegedly "removed" from the international
conference, it is a blatant lie. Perhaps, this disinformation has been
prepared for internal use only and was not intended to deliver it out
of the Azerbaijani borders, in order not to be caught in lie. However,
the Ombudsman is available at just the Azerbaijani language (without
translation into English). However, some Azerbaijani agencies caught
this "canard" and quickly spread it in Russian.
In addition, he also made a mistake, the European Institute of
the Ombudsman marked not the 15th (as stated in its information),
but the 25th anniversary of its establishment. The representative of
Azerbaijan misinforms also the government, saying that "in his speech,
he has presented in detail the activities of the Ombudsman Office of
Azerbaijan." In fact, he addressed to Mr. L. Sivonen with a strange
question concerning the possibility of the European Commissioner for
Human Rights to influence on Strasburg court. This caused bewilderment
among the present. In response an Ombudsman from one of the regions
taught a little lesson to Z. Aliyev on the judicial independence topic,
and Mr. L. Sivonen developed this topic bringing the example of the
European Court of Human Rights.
- What are you planning to do next?
I turned to the community of the ombudsmen to Europe with a call
to condemn the behavior of the representative of Azerbaijan. In
the current situation, I, as a member of the European community
of ombudsmen, am more concerned with the future of the Institute
of ombudsman in general, which by such behavior of some members
endangers itself of becoming a political body, and thus to step away
from the famous Parisian principles. Regarding the political, not just
incorrect, but also false, and sometimes bellicose statements of the
Azerbaijani Ombudsman, this institution has already undergone such
transformation in the neighboring state. Therefore, I considered it
my duty to bring this to the attention of all EOI members. I would
like to hope that it will help them be more critical towards the
Azerbaijani Ombudsman's anti-Armenian statements which have already
become traditional.
Source: Panorama.am
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
14:28 11/10/2013 " INTERVIEWS
Exclusive interview of Panorama.am with the Ombudsman of NKR Yuri
Hayrapetyan.
- Mr. Hayrapetyan, please tell us about your participation at a
conference in Austria, devoted to the 25th anniversary of the European
Ombudsman Institute.
- In 19-22, September as a member of the European Ombudsman Institute,
I attended the event dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the
Institute and the regular general meeting of the EOI. One of the main
events was the conference of the ombudsmen titled "Independence of the
Ombudsman in Europe", which took place on September 20. Deputy European
Commissioner for Human Rights Lowry Sivonen, the representative of the
European Ombudsman Gerhard Grill, scientists from Italy and Japan,
representative of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights
Jorg Gebhard and others read reports at the conference.
I also made a report at the conference. I raised the issue of necessity
of paying the official European bodies' precise attention, involved
in the protection of human rights, at the national institute of the
ombudsman of the de facto independent states. Informing about the
history and formation of the Human Rights Defender Institute of the
NKR, I noted that we regard it as an important part of democratic
processes taking place in our country.
I emphasized that our institution is deprived of the assistance which
was provided by the European structures to the official national
ombudsman institutions of post-Soviet states, and thus is forced to
evolve, using the international experience that can be found in the
Internet and other resources. In this regard, the general meeting of
members and other events organized by EOI are, perhaps, the only means
to communicate with my colleagues and learn from their experience. I
also noted that I am informed about the EU Commissioner for Human
Rights N. Muzhnieks' monitoring conducted in the area of situation
of the human rights in various countries, and that I regretted for
his absence at the conference and asked his Deputy - Lauri Sivonen
to pass him my request on discussing the possibility of his visit to
NKR for the same purpose.
- Azerbaijani media spread disinformation about you allegedly being
"removed from the conference" at the request of the Azerbaijani side.
Please, tell us what happened there in reality?
- After my speech the representative of Azerbaijani ombudsman Z.
Aliyev asked a word. He made a traditional anti-Armenian statement
stating that my participation in the conference is a violation of
international law. In response to this statement the rather rigid
comment of the Secretary General EOI Zh. Zigele followed. He rightly
drew attention of the speaker to the inadmissibility of political
statements made by him from the conference tribune as well as
the legitimacy of my participation. Mr. L. Sivonen, thanked me
for my offer and noted that it was right, the administration of EU
Commissioner was not engaged in providing technical assistance to the
Institute of Ombudsman of the de facto independent states, and kindly
agreed to convey to Mr. N. Muzhnieks my invitation to visit Nagorno
Karabakh in order to monitor the human rights situation there. The
next day, on 21 September, a general meeting of members of the EOI
was held. The reports of the President and other senior officials of
EOI were presented. It was followed by the election of the president,
members of the board and auditors of the organization in which I also
participated as a full member of the EOI.
A detailed report about my stay in Innsbruck can be found on the
website of the Ombudsman of the NKR (ombudsnkr.am) and the Facebook
page (Ombudsman Office of the NKR). As for the information posted on
the website of the Ombudsman of Azerbaijan ombudsman.gov.az stating
that at the request of Z. Aliyev, the employee of the Azerbaijani
Ombudsman Office, I was allegedly "removed" from the international
conference, it is a blatant lie. Perhaps, this disinformation has been
prepared for internal use only and was not intended to deliver it out
of the Azerbaijani borders, in order not to be caught in lie. However,
the Ombudsman is available at just the Azerbaijani language (without
translation into English). However, some Azerbaijani agencies caught
this "canard" and quickly spread it in Russian.
In addition, he also made a mistake, the European Institute of
the Ombudsman marked not the 15th (as stated in its information),
but the 25th anniversary of its establishment. The representative of
Azerbaijan misinforms also the government, saying that "in his speech,
he has presented in detail the activities of the Ombudsman Office of
Azerbaijan." In fact, he addressed to Mr. L. Sivonen with a strange
question concerning the possibility of the European Commissioner for
Human Rights to influence on Strasburg court. This caused bewilderment
among the present. In response an Ombudsman from one of the regions
taught a little lesson to Z. Aliyev on the judicial independence topic,
and Mr. L. Sivonen developed this topic bringing the example of the
European Court of Human Rights.
- What are you planning to do next?
I turned to the community of the ombudsmen to Europe with a call
to condemn the behavior of the representative of Azerbaijan. In
the current situation, I, as a member of the European community
of ombudsmen, am more concerned with the future of the Institute
of ombudsman in general, which by such behavior of some members
endangers itself of becoming a political body, and thus to step away
from the famous Parisian principles. Regarding the political, not just
incorrect, but also false, and sometimes bellicose statements of the
Azerbaijani Ombudsman, this institution has already undergone such
transformation in the neighboring state. Therefore, I considered it
my duty to bring this to the attention of all EOI members. I would
like to hope that it will help them be more critical towards the
Azerbaijani Ombudsman's anti-Armenian statements which have already
become traditional.
Source: Panorama.am
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress