In Armenia, politicians and experts give differing estimates to US DoS' human rights report

The authorities of Armenia find the Armenian part of the annual report on situation with human rights in the world presented on February 26 by the Department of State (DoS) of the USA unduly sharp and politically motivated.

Tigran Baloyan, press secretary of the MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) of Armenia, has treated the report as one-sided document, which lacks comparative dynamics and disregards the positive trends underway in the country.

MP Artsvik Minasyan, member of the Party ANF (Armenian National Front) "Dashnaktsutyun", member of the ruling coalition, said in his comment on the DoS' report: "Estimates are very tough. I don't find their conclusions to be completely objective, as the situation is too dramatized."

Armen Kharazyan, an expert on international matters, believes that the report is completely mirroring the concerns repeatedly expressed by the Armenian opposition. "As to the international community, it's the fairest estimate of the situation with human rights and political freedoms in Armenia, including the elections," he said.
Richard Giragosyan, Director of the Armenian Centre for Strategic and National Researches, finds the report to be very important, since it highlights not only the problems that appeared after the presidential election, but also the systemic problems that dominate the media sphere and corruption.

Vladimir Karapetyan, who is in charge of foreign policy contacts at the central office of the Armenian National Congress, has noted: "Actually, the DoS' report is a verdict passed to the authorities of Armenia."