Armenian government increases funding for Office of Ombudsman

YEREVAN, November 4. /ARKA/. Armenia’s Office of Human Rights Defender will have its 2022 budget increased by 10.2 million drams, Minister of Finance Tigran Khachatryan said Wednesday to a parliament discussion on next year’s draft budget of the government.

He said the overall budget of the Office earmarked for 2022 is 542.7 million drams, almost a 2% rise from 2021 budget.

Earlier this year the Armenian government withdrew a bill, which if approved by the parliament, would have allowed the government to cut state funding for the Office of the Human Rights Defender.

The bill was harshly criticized by ombudsman Arman Tatoyan, who said it ran counter to international standards and would effectively end his office’s independence from the government and the pro-government majority in the National Assembly.

Aram Vardevanyan, a lawmaker from the opposition Hayastan alliance suggested Wednesday amending the law on the human rights defender and provide for increase in its budget.

In this context, Arman Tatoyan noted that, according to the Constitution, the Office of the Human Rights Defender is the only institution exempt from any year-on-year reduction in the amount of budgetary funds allocated to it. ($1 - 476.85 drams) -0-