Lack of ‘human rights culture’ and weakness of institutional protection of human rights in the South Caucasus

The main focus of this paper is the analysis of reported level of (dis)trust towards the Ombudsmen in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, based on the findings of CRRC’s Caucasus Barometer survey. During the period from 2008 to 2013, trust towards the respective country’s Ombudsman declined in all three countries. Both bivariate and regression analysis suggest that the nature of (dis)trust towards the Ombudsmen is different in each country, but in all cases it is positively correlated with reported trust towards major governing bodies. Although the respective Laws are clear that this is an independent institution, our finding suggests that, in public perception, Public Defenders represent the government – and this perception may hinder efficiency of this institution to serve as promoters of “human rights culture” in their countries.