"Authorities must not show resistance when people stand up" (video)
Civil disobedience cannot be ordered by the authorities; it is a revolution. Yeranuhi Tumanyants, Head of the Torture Prevention Department of the Armenian Ombudsman's Office today participated in a discussion devoted to civil disobedience which focused on jailed activist Shant Harutyunyan and his friends. Human rights activist Arthur Sakunts says the protest led by Harutyunyan was an example of civil disobedience movement: Shant did not want to seize power, he protested against the country’s political course. “Shant was against Armenia’s joining the Customs Union.” Arthur Sakunts says civil disobedience can lead to a power change; there have been such cases in the world, including the Solidarity movement in Poland led by a Polish worker, e Nationalist Movement in India, etc. Journalist Gayane Arustamyan has made a film about the Harutyunyan-led movement which started from Liberty Square. The journalist cited the preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which says if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law.” Gayane Arustamyan says all civil movements in Armenia started peacefully. “The regimes and authorities themselves stirred up disobedience and used force against these movements,” she said. Her advice to the authorities is not to show resistance when people stand up.
