YEREVAN.- Armenian News-NEWS.am interviewed William Hanlon, Deputy Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan. The OSCE official told about election assistance projects as well as assistance to the Ombudsman’s office.  

The OSCE Office in Yerevan, with the EU financial assistance, is implementing a project to support elections in Armenia. Could we say that the first part of the project related to the support to the Parliamentary elections was completed? What has been done so far and how does the Office evaluate its results?

In 2012 the Office has embarked on implementing a large and comprehensive election assistance project, which was funded by the EU. This 1.7 mln Euro project is planned for 18 months to cover the parliamentary and presidential elections and is very wide scope. To name its most essential components in 2012, I would firstly mention our assistance to the Central Electoral Commission in re-equipping its electronic network for the transfer of election results from constituencies and in training some 14,000 precinct election officials. Likewise, the technical capacities of the voter registration authorities – the passport and visa departments, were strengthened within the scope of this project. While closely working with the public institutions, we also focus on facilitating civic monitoring and reporting on electoral processes by supporting short-term observation of the polling procedures and a comprehensive media campaign monitoring.

In addition, the project included enhancement of the Ombudsman’s activities to the provinces through setting of its regional offices and special rapid reaction groups. It also dealt with training of journalists on election-related reporting and promoting youth NGOs in election observation.

As an overall assessment, I believe, the first phase of the project was very successful and many of its achievements were reported by international and domestic observers of parliamentary elections. I would like to thank all of our partners for excellent co-operation in implementing various components of this project and, in particular, I would like to mention the Central Electoral Commission, the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES), headquarters of the Passport and Visa Department, the Counterpart International Office in Yerevan, and all the civil society actors involved in the project.

We believe that this project with its core aim of leading towards greater participation of various stakeholders in electoral processes, has a potential of ultimately contributing to the further democratic development of the country. At the same time, I would like to stress that all of these efforts, as any other international assistance, can be and are good only as a supportive tool for facilitating policies and reforms of domestic authorities and the eventual impact of these activities depends upon the overall political course of the country.

Has the second part of the project to support Presidential elections kicked off? What does your Office plan to do within the scope of this part of the project?

Yes, right now our Office begins to plan and launch activities that are aimed at assisting the preparations of the presidential elections. The importance of this election cannot be underestimated and we very much hope that with the international support, these elections will be held in full compliance with the OSCE election-related commitments and broader international standards.

In the run-up to presidential elections, the project will provide assistance similar to that provided in the 2012 parliamentary elections and will include another round of training workshops for election commissioners, voter education and awareness components, support to domestic observation and media monitoring. Additionally, trainings will be organized for first time voters to inform young voters of their rights and polling procedures. Further engagement with the judiciary in a form of training and court monitoring is also considered as another new direction within the project.

Do you continue your assistance to the Ombudsman’s Office? What exactly has been done in the framework of assistance to the Office of the Human Rights Defender?

The support provided to the Ombudsman institution is one of the main components of the EU funded election assistance project and it seeks to enhance and promote human rights protection in Armenia during the election period by strengthening the capacity of the Human Rights Defender’s Office (HRDO). 

We have first supported the development of the regional capacity of the HRDO so it can better monitor and react to alleged election violations throughout the country.  So far six regional HRD offices were established in the cities of Yeghegnadzor, Kapan, Gavar, Ijevan, Gyumri and Vanadzor and each office is staffed by a team of 3 which includes an office manager and two lawyers. The newly recruited staff received trainings and the offices were fully equipped with the necessary IT equipment and provided with a car.  The regional offices have been operational for almost five months now and the results of their work have been encouraging.  

We also support a 24/7 hotline for the HRDO that receives and registers cases of alleged human rights violations, including election related infringements, and provides prompt legal advice and support.  The number of the hotline is 116 and it will remain operational throughout the Presidential election period.

In addition, mobile Rapid Reaction Groups (RRGs) are supported during the elections in Yerevan and the regions, consisting of legal and human rights experts to allow for immediate and direct follow–up to hotline calls. The RRG basically provides extra support to the HRDO and the regional HRD offices during the election period. 

This outreach and response system worked well on all levels during the recent parliamentary elections and we were encouraged by the results. The hotline received 310 calls and the Rapid Reaction Groups provided assistance in 119 cases with support being provided by the regional HDR Offices.  Our staff members also visited one of the HRD regional offices on the Election Day and conducted complaint check up visits together with the HRD staff.

To summarize - this project works to strengthen the interaction between the HRDO, local authorities and civil society in order to contribute to the protection of electoral rights, better governance and overall human rights protection in the country.  We hope that the positive impact of our activities will provide an impetus for the Government to provide financial support to ensure the sustainability of the regional offices, re-emphasising the commitments of the OSCE participating States to strengthen the national human rights institutions and reinforcing respect for human rights at the national level.