YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)–A Wednesday news conference at the Center for the Defense of Constitutional Rights of Armenia (CDCR) was focused on the act of vandalism which had been committed at the Human Rights Library in Vanadzor.
The Chairman of the Helsinki Assembly of Armenia Mikael Danielian said at the news conference that on July 29 ten members of the Vanadzor "Yerkrapah" volunteer group dressed in uniforms under the command of Artem Khachatrian and in the presence of the Military Police Chief Kamo Hovhanisian broke the glass of the library door and broke in the building.
Then using force–they took out books–furniture and tore the maps on the walls in pieces.
The incident was reported to local–regional and central authorities as well as law enforcement agencies. However–Danielian said no steps aimed at punishing those responsible and providing compensation for the caused damage had been launched so far.
The statement issued by the aforementioned center says that the Vanadzor Human Rights Library was the first to be set up in Armenia.
The library is a scientific basis of the training process in the field of human rights held in the Lori region annually.
The center says the similar fact is an encroachment on the ideals of democracy and human rights. The activities of the joint human rights network of the Center for the Defense of Constitutional Rights and the Helsinki Assembly within the framework of which free consultations are provided has been disrupted by the violence.
The center applied to mass media and human rights organizations to speak for the restoration and defense of legality and justice. The center is continuing to demand that the authorities should return the territory of the library.