Ombudsman: collaboration with society necessary in violence prevention

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian Ombudsman’s office has received 50 applications in the recent 6 months.

“Applications refer to offences in the armed forces,” Karen Andresyan stated at the European Commission report on “Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and RA Ombudsman’s Activity as a National Mechanism of Prevention.”

According to him 26 application out of 50 have been successfully settled, which is a good index. “It means collaboration between our office and Armenia’s Defense Ministry has good results,” he said. In 2005 only 2 out of 62 applications on the same issue found solution, in 2006 2 out of 26, in 2007 4 out of 10, in 2008 8 out of 37, in 2009 15 out of 51 and in 2010 9 out of 31. “The last 6 months have seen a considerable downfall in the number of applications too, which testifies that trust in our structure has grown,” Andreasyan said adding that the key to prevent violence in the army is society-Ombudsman’ office-Defense Ministry collaboration. Andreasyan believes that previously people did not turn to Ombudsman’s office because of fear that their security will not be provided in the future.

Andreasyan also criticized state bodies for the latter having their part in the current situation.