ArmInfo. At the invitation of the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation Tatyana Moskalkova Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia Arman Tatoyan took part in observing the elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation on September 17-19 as an international expert.
As reported by the office of the RA Ombudsman, within the framework of the visit, a round table discussion was held on the exchange of the best practices of the Ombudsmen in ensuring the electoral rights of citizens. Arman Tatoyan made a separate speech, emphasizing the irreplaceable role of national human rights institutions in the electoral processes and the protection of the electoral rights of citizens. "It is important for the Ombudsman to observe the development of events both during the pre-election campaign and on election day and after the elections in order to give accurate and reliable assessments. From the point of view of the reliability of assessments, the highest status "A" assigned to national human rights institutions, which both we and the Ombudsman in Russia possess, is important, "said the Human Rights Defender of Armenia, stressing that insults and tensions should be excluded in such processes, as well as the use of the political system for the purposes of power disputes; they diminish the importance of human rights, overshadow the real problems of people.
Arman Tatoyan highly appreciated the unique new practice introduced by the Ombudsman for Human Rights in the Russian Federation during the elections to the State Duma, which allows monitoring the electoral process in real time, having direct access to video surveillance at any electoral precinct. Moreover, this applies to video surveillance during all 3 days of voting.
This allowed the Ombudsman to make reasonable assessments of various issues related to electoral rights, to ensure the necessary transparency of work. During the monitoring, which was conducted directly from the House of Human Rights, issues were recorded that were resolved as a result of cooperation between the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation and the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation.
Arman Tatoyan noted that the result of the enormous personal efforts of his Russian colleague Tatyana Nikolaevna Moskalkova is the well-coordinated and effective joint work of human rights ombudsmen in the regions of Russia with the Ombudsman at the federal level.
During the discussion in the Central Election Commission, as well as in the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, the Human Rights Defender of Armenia emphasized the high level of interaction with the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation. He also presented the positive experience of cooperation between the Ombudsman and the CEC of Armenia to ensure the electoral rights of citizens. During the visit, Arman Tatoyan noted that Human Rights Ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova is conducting an effective dialogue on electoral rights with non-governmental organizations. During the observation of the elections, the RA Human Rights Defender and the heads of the national human rights institutions of other countries visited pre-trial detention centers in order to get acquainted with the organization of the electoral process.