Public awareness on the Whistleblowing System is weak, an active awareness campaign should be carried out about its existence and importance. Hovsep Khurshudyan said in a conversation with Iravaban.net .
He mentioned that the motivation of the citizens related to the whistleblowing should be based on awareness.
“It was mentioned that we lost the war also because of corruption, which also crept into the army and all other state systems. Isn’t it clear that if they buy a rocket and that rocket doesn’t fly, it’s because the rocket was useless, but they bought it cheaper and showed it to the state at a high price, and embezzled the extra money. In the same Ministry of Defense, the approvals, testing, inspections of the purchase of that missile went through a whole chain. In fact, no one considered it their duty to announce that there is a risk, a corruption risk; there is a violation, that the missile will not fire, will not fly. They said, “Well, it’s our acquaintance, our superior is using it there, he supports a family, we’re not “snitchers”… As a result of those “not snitchers” we had 4-5 thousand victims and the loss of large territories, because we are not “snitchers” and when we see such things, it is not appropriate to voice it so that the prosecutor’s office does not deal with it, let them rob our state, sacrifice our youth, that is not the important thing, the important thing is that we are not “snitchers”, Khurshudyan noted.
According to him, this psychology is a stereotype and rooted in all state systems. “Also, they have found a name, “snitcher”, let’s tell them that according to all criminal laws they belong to the lowest class under their shoulder straps, if they are going to live by those laws, then they have to accept that they are the representatives of the lowest class,” Hovsep Khurshudyan said
He noted that if the officer preserves integrity norms, protects the motherland, then he is a respectable person for the people, has an honorable role, and he should be guided by the laws, which are also dictated by his superiors, and not lead such an “ideology”. Hovsep Khurshudyan noted that some accept this in order to benefit themselves. “That is how they ‘ate’, spoiled the army. Also the rhetoric… they everywhere announced that our army is the most powerful army in the region, never mind that we are looting, we have the most powerful army. We saw the most powerful army, but the bravery and blood of the soldiers were not enough for us to compensate your loot in some way and not lose the war.”
The importance of whistleblowing issues from people’s awareness. When citizens understand what follows and after what, they will report. In order to change those stereotypes, the level of people’s awareness should be raised and it should be done through the press as well, and everything should start from schools.
“A survey was conducted in 2017-2018, where people were asked about the manifestations of corruption, and if someone reports it, how do they treat it, and 56 percent said positively. If a crime is committed, they see an episode of corruption; they announce that they should be held accountable, because it destroys the state. But when asked if they were ready to report themselves, only 5 percent said ‘yes’. This is unacceptable, we will not build a state like this,” Hovsp Khurshudyan said.
Speaking about the experience of other countries, Khurshudyan mentioned that the national mentality should be changed, because stealing from the state is the same as stealing from the neighbor. “And we are told that stealing from a neighbor is theft, and stealing from the state is “nimbling”, “maintaining a family”, Hovsep Khurshudyan said.
Whistleblowing can be done through the azdararir.am platform operated by the Prosecutor General’s Office of the RA, both by submitting personal data and anonymously.
We should also add that a new website, Haytnir.am, has already been launched, through which citizens can report the corruption or other cases by submitting personal data and anonymously.
The overall objective of Haytnir.am online whistleblowing platform is to promote the fight against corruption in Armenia, to get public support in the fight against corruption, to support the improvement of the whistleblowing system, to contribute to the change of the legal thinking and culture formed among the public in Armenia regarding whistleblowers, striving to create a positive and demanding image of the whistleblower as a citizen of Armenia.
This publication was prepared within the framework of the program “Multifaceted Whistle-Blowing Promotion in Armenia”, implemented by the “Armenian Lawyers Association” (ALA) NGO with the support of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), funded by the European Union (EU) within the framework of the “EU for Good, Eastern Partnership” project.
The project also plans to create an alternative whistleblowing platform run by civil society, and has already established a multi-stakeholder whistleblowing platform that will serve as a platform for promoting reform and dialogue for the civil society organizations and related state bodies.
This publication expresses the position of the author, the ALA, which does not necessarily coincide with the position of the OGP and the EU.
