The discussion of such a proposal is not even appropriate, the Ombudsman of Armenia commented on the written appeal of the Prosecutor General to Karen Andreasyan, Chairman of the Constitutional Reforms Council of Armenia, Justice Minister of Armenia, proposing to discuss the constitutional and legal regulations allowing to apply the death penalty in cases of high crimes against state security and vital activity of the state, treason, within the constitutional reforms.

The statement reads, in part:

"Responding to various inquiries, we inform that the Armenian Human Rights Defender also considers the existence of crimes against state security, recorded during the 44-day war and after it, their number and, of course, the ways of the alleged criminal acts to be alarming. At the same time, the Ombudsman believes that it is necessary to carry out more effective preventive work in order to exclude such cases.

In other words, solutions to further improve the effectiveness of law enforcement agencies, including those engaged in operational-search and counterintelligence activities, should not be sought in the reduction of human rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution and constitutional values.

In addition, it is also an undeniable truth that the effectiveness of the general preventive function of criminal policy is determined not only and not so much by the severity of punishment for a criminal act, as by ensuring the inevitability of punishment for a criminal act. Consequently, according to the Ombudsman, the state criminal policy, especially towards the crimes against state security, including treason, should aim at increasing the effectiveness of actions aimed at preventing or suppressing possible criminal acts and ensuring the inevitability of punishment for the crimes committed.

The Ombudsman of Armenia, also as a member of the Constitutional Reform Council, does not consider the discussion of such a proposal even appropriate, as it casts a shadow on the constitutional and democratic values of the right to life and the protection of human rights in general".