Armen Harutyunyan
| Armen Harutyunyan | |
|---|---|
| File:Armen-Harutyunyan.jpg | |
| Regional Representative of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Central Asia | |
| Assumed office 2011 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1964 Yerevan, Armenia |
| Nationality | Armenian |
| Alma mater | Yerevan State University |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| [1] | |
Armen Harutyunyan (Armenian: Արմեն Հարությունյան; born 1964) is the former ombudsman of Armenia and the current Regional Representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Central Asia. He took office in February 2011.
Harutyunyan was born in 1964 in Yerevan. He holds law degrees from Yerevan State University, the Institute of State and Law of the Academy of USSR and the Academy of Public Administration of the Russian Federation. In 1989-2002 he lectured in law at Yerevan State University; from 1997 he was legal advisor at the Constitutional Court, and in the constitutional reform of 2005 he was a representative of former President Robert Kocharian.[2] In 2002-06 he was rector of the Public Administration Academy.
Ombudsman
On 17 February 2006, Harutyunyan was elected for a six-year term as the Human Rights Defender (ombudsman) of Armenia, with more than 3/5 of the votes of deputies in the National Assembly. He was the first elected holder of the post in accordance with 83.1 article of Constitution, succeeding Larisa Alaverdyan who had been appointed to the office by presidential decree in 2004.
In an extensive report in April 2008, Harutyunyan cast doubt on the credibility of the official (government) theory on the use of lethal force against thousands of supporters of opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian who barricaded themselves outside the Yerevan mayor’s office hours after the break-up of their 10-day sit-in in the city’s Liberty Square on March 1.[2]
On July 7, 2008, Harutyunyan asked the National Security Service (NSS) to assign armed bodyguards to him and members of his family.[2] He was succeeded as ombudsman by Karen Andreasyan, who was elected by the National Assembly in March 2011.
References
- ↑ RA Human Rights Defender
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Armenian Ombudsman Asks For Armed Protection", Armenia Liberty (RFE/RL), July 7, 2008.
