On January 26, Mher Yeghiazaryan, responsible for the Haynews.am news website, vice-chairman of the Armenian Eagles: United Armenia political party died in the Nubarashen prison.
According to known information, on December 5, 2018, Yeghiazaryan started his hunger strike to protest the accusation of fraud against him, which subsequently caused his sudden death in the prison. Despite the fact that in this case there is a clear imprint of the violation of human rights that caused death, the international human rights institutions are in no hurry to speak out on this issue and accuse Yerevan of violating several conventions at once.
Eurasia Diary shares a statement made on this occasion by the International Eurasia Press Fund (IEPF).
"The International Eurasia Press Fund (IEPF), which enjoys General Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), calls on the world community - international human rights organizations, world media, relevant UN agencies, Council of Europe, European Union, European Parliament, OSCE and human rights activists take seriously what happened in the Yerevan prison and demand from the Armenian government to conduct a fair investigation.
The surprisingly quiet reaction of the international community to the incident that took place in the Yerevan prison once again became an example of the Western policy of double standards towards some countries. More recently, the case of imprisoned blogger Mehman Huseynov was widely discussed in many world media outlets, including the Washington Post. The European Parliament, OSCE, Council of Europe, Human Rights Watch, Freedom House have made unfounded accusations against Azerbaijan.
At the same time, those responsible for human rights in the same international structures for some reason prefer to keep silent about what happened in the Yerevan prison. A person was put in prison without a detailed investigation of the case and at the same time, no any reaction was paid when he started a hunger strike to protest. All requests of Mher Yeghiazaryan’s son, Vazgen, including his appeal to the Prime Minister of Armenia with a letter in which he reproached Pashinyan with a bias towards his father’s case, were supposedly unnoticed.
The main fact is that this is happening in a country that is headed by a journalist by profession.
It's just a shame!
In the end, the information about the death of a prisoner is reflected only in the Washington Post, while the Armenian government is in no way condemned.
Such examples of double standards policy occur not for the first time. It is worth remembering the shooting in the Armenian parliament in 1999, when 8 people were killed, protests and killings after the 2008 presidential elections in Armenia, as well as the victims of the so-called “velvet revolution” that occurred recently and changed the power in Armenia. All these events did not find widespread condemnation from the world community and Western institutions. There was no proper pressure on the Armenian government.
Perhaps such a policy of double standards is one of the reasons for the prosperity of corruption, bribery, and crime in Armenia. While Azerbaijan is speaking loudly about Armenia’s violation of all principles of international law by continuing the occupation of Azerbaijani lands for almost 30 years, in confirmation of which 4 resolutions of the UN Security Council were adopted, some institutions prefer to keep silent. They prefer to keep silent about the deprivations and In turn, some representatives of European structures make visits to the occupied Azerbaijani lands; meet with separatists, as for example, in the case of a visit of 4 European Parliament deputies last year. At the same time, they refer to the protection of human rights and the development of democracy.
Such an attitude only delays the process of conflict resolution, harms the dynamic cooperation between the European Union and Azerbaijan and shows a direct example of the policy of double standards. Western structures must determine for themselves, whether they do not interfere in the internal affairs of other states in general, or form a fair approach to each case.
In this regard, the International Eurasia Press Fund (IEPF) calls on international human rights institutions to take seriously the case of the death of Mher Yeghiazaryan in Yerevan prison."
