ARMENIA'S NEXT HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER?

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 002166 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN, DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/14/2015 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM AM SUBJECT: ARMENIA'S NEXT HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER? REF: A) YEREVAN 2125 B) YEREVAN 1083 Classified By: DCM A.F. Godfrey for reasons 1.4 (b,d). -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) The term of office for Armenian Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Larisa Alaverdyan will expire on January 5, paving the way for Parliament (under provisions of the country's recently amended constitution) to appoint a successor or re-appoint Alaverdyan. Alaverdyan has frequently downplayed her chances and says she plans to publish a scathing (2005) Annual Human Rights Report before her successor takes office. While politicians and NGOs continue to speculate about possible candidates, prominent human rights NGOs tell us they would prefer Alaverdyan remain in office. End Summary. -------------- ALAVERDYAN: DETERMINED TO HOLD ON -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The term of office for Armenian Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Larisa Alaverdyan expires on January 5, though Alaverdyan said she believes Armenian law allows her to stay in office until Parliament confirms her successor. Local NGOs, including "Democracy NGO" Head and constitutional amendments co-author Vardan Poghosyan, disagree with Alaveryan's interpretation and predict Armenian President Robert Kocharian will require her departure on January 5. Alaverdyan told us she intends to hold on for "as long as possible" and has already notified National Assembly Deputy Speaker Tigran Torosyan that she will seek re-appointment to the Ombudsman's post, though she downplayed her chances of being re-appointed. -------------- -------------- THREATENING STRONG CRITICISM OF GOAM HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD -------------- -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Alaverdyan told us she intends to make her 2005 Annual Human Rights Report, which she plans to publish as one of her final acts before her successor's confirmation, more critical than in past years. Alaverdyan said she does not believe, however, that she can complete the report earlier than mid-January and has instructed her staff to work aggressively while she lobbies to remain in office beyond January 5. Ombudsman office staff attorney Arsen Manukyan also told us that this year's human rights report will address serious cases that the Kocharian Administration had not publicly acknowledged. -------------- 
POSSIBLE ALAVERDYAN SUCCESSORS? -------------- ¶4. (C) Political parties have not yet announced their official candidates, but Human Rights Defender's office staff attorney Arsen Manukyan told us privately that Alaverdyan, and many "prominent human rights advocates" believe the following officials are considering bids to replace her. (Note: Many of these possible candidates have also been listed in press reports in recent weeks. End Note.) --Tigran Torosyan (Republican Party Parliamentarian and National Assembly Deputy Speaker); --Alvard Petrosyan (Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnak Parliamentarian, Petrosyan is one of seven female members of parliament and a former director of the Fund for Armenian Relief); --Shavarsh Kocharyan (Justice Bloc Parliamentarian and former Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) member, reportedly removed from his post for his refusal to participate in an opposition-organized campaign against Armenia's recent referendum on constitutional amendments); --Avetik Ishkhanyan (Helsinki Committee Head, prominent human rights activist, and a former front-runner for the Ombudsman post before Alaverdyan's appointment in 2004); --Pushkin Serobyan (pro-government Human Rights NGO figure, and former local government official, Serobyan spent most of the 1980s in prison following a conviction on charges of corruption and abuse of power); --Armen Harutyunyan (Presidential advisor on constitutional issues and School of Public Administration rector, Harutyunyan was one of the main authors of the recently ratified constitutional amendments); --Paruyr Hayrikyan (former Armenian Human Rights Commission head during Kocharian's first presidential term, leader of the small Self-Determination Union Party, and candidate for president in every election since 1992). ¶5. (SBU) Human Rights NGO representatives, including representatives from the Civil Society Institute (CSI), Helsinki Citizen's Assembly, Helsinki Committee, and Democracy NGO have told us they would prefer to see Alaverdyan, a surprisingly outspoken human rights advocate, continue as Ombudsman. CSI head Artak Kirakosyan said he believes that despite Alaverdyan's "tactical mistakes" early in her term, human rights advocates see her as the best alternative and are ready to lobby on her behalf. Kirakosyan opined, however, that Alaverdyan had little chance of returning to office given her outspoken criticism of the GOAM. -------------- -------------- COMMENT: A TOUGH JOB BUT SOMEBODY'S GOT TO DO IT -------------- -------------- ¶6. (C) Alaverdyan's past criticism of the government's human rights record has surprised many of her detractors and, as she regularly concedes, likely ruled out a second term for her as the Armenian Human Rights Defender. Recent amendments to the constitution have, at least on paper, established a stronger, more independent ombudsman's office with National Assembly will re-appoint Alaverdyan to this enhanced office, opting instead to install a figure less apt to use the office to embarrass the government. With the writing on the wall, Alaverdyan's threats to reveal long-ignored human rights abuses are a disappointment (if the cases are legitimate, she should have disclosed them in previous reports),but not a surprise (she has a decided penchant for public grand-standing). In any event, the National Assembly's next pick for Human Rights Defender will be a telling gauge for the governing coalition's commitment to defending human rights. EVANS