Armenian human rights defender calls on political parties to rule out insult and hatred during election campaign

YEREVAN, May 13. /ARKA/. With more than a month still to go before the early parliamentary elections, scheduled for June 20, Armenia's human rights defender Arman Tatoyan called on all political parties and alliances, which are going to contest the polls, to rule out demonstration of insults and hatred.
In a statement issued today the human rights defender says that all election-related processes and developments will be in the focus of his Office that will carefully examine all complaints and statements.
"We call on all political forces and public figures to refrain from actions that polarize society and increase tension, from offensive vocabulary and manifestations of hatred. Public figures more than others are obliged - by their actions and speeches - to serve as an example in this matter," Tatoyan said.
Tatoyan says that any process in the country should be based on the rule of law, and any initiative should be based on the principle of human rights. 'All government agencies and their officials should keep in mind that it is their direct responsibility - in their words and behavior, to exclude any phenomena that cause tension,' he says.
According to the statement, a monitoring conducted by the office shows that fake pages and profiles serving different parties have already become active in social networks, placing posts with insults, aggression, encouragement or justification of violence.
The human rights defender believes that it is key for law enforcement agencies to quickly respond to such challenges. The human rights defender's office will also focus on the observance of the rights of journalists and observers.
"An emergency working group will be set up in the Office for independent monitoring during the pre-election and post-election stages, as well as on election day," the statement says.
On election day, the central and regional divisions of the human rights defender's Office will work 24 hours a day from early morning. Representatives of the working group will be seconded to those areas or communities where there are no corresponding units. -0-