Seryozha Ohanjanyan
Seryozha Ohanjanyan is a human rights defender working and defending the rights of people with disabilities. Seryozha is the president of the “Ekho” Disability Rights NGO a local non-governmental organisation defending and promoting the political, social and civil rights of people with disabilities in Armenia. Seryozha works on on supporting the development of inclusiveness in Armenia. The human rights defender is the president of the DPO, where he represents persons with disabilities and protects their rights through a number of human rights councils, such as in his capacity as a public adviser to the Office of the Human Rights Defender, Republic of Armenia, and the Human Rights Defender in the Monitoring Group of Care Homes in Armenia.
Defamation campaigns carried out by the state media and public officials are often used to stigmatise HRDs and discredit their work in Armenia. These campaigns tend to portray HRDs as foreign agents and spies and can result in increased threats, judicial harassment and onerous tax inspections of their organisations. A major cause for concern is the treatment of LGBTI rights defenders, who are often faced with physical attacks and verbal abuse, both from state officials and the general public. Women’s rights defenders are regularly threatened and are frequently criticised for their work by the media, public opinion in general, and their family members. Additionally, some HRDs working in remote areas face judicial harassment and threats from local law enforcement agencies.
