NA ruling faction candidate elected new Human Rights Defendern of  Armenia

ArmInfo.On January 24, the National Assembly of Armenia elected former First Deputy Minister of Justice Kristine Grigoryan to the post of Human Rights Defender by  secret ballot.

Of the 107 MPs of the National Assembly of Armenia, 68 took part in  the voting. All of them voted "for" the candidate of the ruling  faction.

On December 17, the Commission for the Protection of Human Rights and  Public Affairs approved the nomination of Deputy Minister of Justice  Kristine Grigoryan for the post of Human Rights Defender. The ruling  faction put forward the candidacy, due to the fact that the term of  office of the current Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan expires on  February 23, 2022, and the authorities have repeatedly stated that  they do not intend to re-elect him.

As Vladimir Vardanyan, MP from the ruling "Civil Contract" faction,  stated presenting her candidacy, Grigoryan was born in 1981 in the  city of Sevan. In 2016-2017 she worked as a national human rights  expert for the Council of Europe. She has two higher educations - in  the field of jurisprudence and oriental studies. She has almost 12  years of professional work experience, mainly in state bodies. On  July 3, 2019, she was appointed Deputy Minister of Justice of the  Republic of Armenia, on April 6, 2021 - First Deputy Minister of  Justice. "As Deputy Minister of Justice, she mainly dealt with issues  related to international cooperation, in particular, the coordination  of the international legal field, which concerns, in particular, the  fulfillment of Armenia's obligations in the field of human rights.  And in general, Kristine Grigoryan's biography indicates that that  she was and remains a defender of human rights," Vardanyan said. On  January 20, Kristine Grigoryan was relieved of her post by First  Deputy Minister of Justice of Armenia.

Arman Tatoyan was appointed to the post of Human Rights Defender  of  Armenia in 2016. The Armenian authorities have repeatedly accused him  of political bias, especially in connection with his statements on  the post-war situation in the border settlements, the need to  establish a security zone and the withdrawal of Azerbaijani military  personnel from Armenian villages and roads, because "without this it  is impossible to restore the rights and natural life of the  inhabitants of the border ". At the same time, as Tatoyan argued, the  withdrawal should not be carried out at the expense of the Armenian  territories. The Ombudsman stated that the delimitation and  demarcation of borders cannot be legitimate if it does not protect  the rights of citizens, does not comply with the principle of the  priority of international law and does not ensure the normal life of  people.