Your trusted source

Armenia's Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) Arman Tatoyan on Saturday urged an end to insults and ridicule of people expressing their stance on the June 20 snap parliamentary elections.

“One of the vicious and extremely worrying phenomena of the election campaign is that supporters of various political forces prepare and share photos and videos of citizens who are supporters of their opponents or express opinions in their favor, using insults, foul language and degrading statements,” he wrote on Facebook.

The monitoring of the ombudsman's office has revealed that these photos and videos are going viral on social media, becoming the subject of ridicule and being accompanied by swear words and hate speech.

“Afterwards, the supporters of the other political forces denounce the authors of these posts, using the same expressions (“rabble", "zombie", "corrupt", "jackal", etc.).

“The situation is being further aggravated by the posts on fake pages and accounts, which are more aggressive and even stand out with calls for illegal actions, including violence.

“This absolutely vicious phenomenon, first of all, grossly violates the rights of people whose photos and videos are spread on the internet with insults and swear words.

“It should be taken into account that the rights to freedom of expression, respect for private and family life, honor and dignity are guaranteed by the Constitution of Armenia and must be respected.

“Moreover, this vicious phenomenon is a matter of grave concern as it indicates an unacceptably high level of intolerance and polarization in society.

“Therefore, I call for an end to this vicious phenomenon. All participants in the election campaign should take measures, including calling on their supporters to refrain from insults and foul language, as well as hateful rhetoric and degrading comments.

“One of the key objectives of these elections is to restore solidarity in the country and ensure the establishment of the rule of law, rather than deepen polarization and intolerance,” Tatoyan said.