YEREVAN, APRIL 27, NOYAN TAPAN. The first Armenian ombudsperson Larisa Alaverdian on April 26 presented the 2005 Annual Report on the Activities of Ombudsman and Violations of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in the Country to the public. To recap, the new ombudsman Armen Harutyunian presented the 2005 report in the National Assembly, while the former ombudsperson was invited to participate in the report's discussion "with the right to make a speech". "Taking into account that the public has the right to know what avtivities were carried out by the Ombudsperson in 2005, how she contributed to the protection of human rights and freedoms, how much a person is protected from arbitrariness of public bodies and officials and from abuse of official position, to what extent the state policy in the field of human rights corresponds to the RA Constitution and the principles and norms of international law, the 2005 Annual Report on the Activities of the First RA Ombudsman and Violations of Human Rights and Freedoms in the Country is presented to the public," the preface of L. Alaverdian's report reads. The report was a message of the first RA Ombudsperson to large sections of the society, which are committed to the idea of establishing a democratic, social and legal state and which do everything possible so as to reach, through a dialog and cooperation with the authorities, a civil consensus on the fundamental principles and goals, the most important of which is protection of human rights. The report was based on the analysis of written and oral complaints, visits to marzes and settlements, studies conducted on the Ombudsman's own initiative and by various NGOs, mass media publications, as well as the reports, which were submitted by Armenia to the appropriate bodies of the UN and international organizations on human rights and the responses to these reports. According to Larisa Alaverdian, "for the highest bodies of power, both human rights as an absolute value and the notion of "ombudsman" still remain equally not comprehended, and the solution of this problem is still on the agenda."

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