Arman Tatoyan highly appreciated the new unique experience of the  transparent work of his Russian colleague during the elections to the  State Duma of Russia

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.