OHCHR: Armenia must drop intimidating criminal charges against minority rights activists

Armenia must stop intimidating human rights defender Sashik Sultanyan, founder of the Yezidi Center for Human Rights, who faces criminal charges for speaking out in support of minority rights, reads a statement published on the website of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Report informs.

The human rights defender is being targeted for raising minority issues in Armenia and advocating for the human rights of Yezidis, an ethnic group in the country whose ancestors settled there in the 19^th century.

“We call on Armenia to drop these criminal charges, which appear designed simply to intimidate Mr. Sultanyan and others who stand up for minority rights. They may also have a chilling effect on other human rights defenders, especially young people,” the document noted.

“It is not incitement to hatred or violence to raise human rights concerns about the treatment of minorities,” the UN human rights experts said. “On the contrary, it is protected speech under the right to freedom of expression.

“Nor are minorities such as the Yezidis a threat to national security,” they added.

Sultanyan is a prominent youth activist and a former minority fellow at the OHCHR.

Armenia’s National Security Service began a criminal investigation against him last November, but he was only informed in May this year. At issue is an interview he gave to the website Yezidinews.am about the problems of Yezidis in Armenia. The case has come to court on August 4, and if convicted, he could face three to six years in prison.