© 2019. ILLUSTRATION BY PEACE DIALOGUE NGO
The second working meeting of the Monitoring Group, developed as part of the “Proactive Civil Society Participation in the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights in the Armenian Military Forces” program, took place on 10 July. (You can find more information about the first meeting here.)
The aforementioned initiative of Peace Dialogue NGO aims at monitoring actions outlined in the National Human Rights Action Plan for 2017-2019, measuring their efficiency, and developing necessary mechanisms to establish civilian control over law enforcement practices.
During the meeting, members held a discussion on the main directions planned activities should take during the next phase of monitoring and also on the group’s further plans. Group members, together with project experts Diana Ter-Stepanyan and Arthur Sukiasyan, improved the monitoring methodology and toolkit by taking into consideration experience gained and lessons learned from the previous monitoring phase.
At the meeting, the head of Peace Dialogue NGO, Edgar Khachatryan, presented assessments and feedback on the interim report given by agencies involved, interested state bodies, and also local and international organizations.
“Based on the report, we had meetings and discussions with the Republic of Armenia’s National Assembly’s Standing Committees on Defense and Security and Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs, as well as with the staff of the Republic of Armenia’s Security Council,” said Edgar Khachatryan.
The parliamentarians expressed their willingness to review the commentaries and concerns mentioned in the group’s interim report and raise them during meetings with relevant officials.
It should also be noted that, based on the Monitoring Group’s recommendations, Peace Dialogue has elaborated and submitted recommendations to the Justice Ministry. Those recommendations are meant to be included in the Action Plan that will result from the National Human Rights Strategy for 2019-2021.
The Monitoring Group’s final report is expected to be published in the third quarter of 2019.
About the Monitoring Group
The Monitoring Group consists of seven persons – representatives of Human Rights and Media NGOs.
The members of the Group are (by alphabetical order):
- Ani Sargsyan – “Asparez” journalists’ club NGO branch, Kapan Youth Civic Center,
- Azniv Siradeghyan – Journalists for Human Rights NGO,
- Anush Hakobyan – Transparency International ArmeniaAnticorruption Center,
- Edgar Khachatryan – Peace Dialogue NGO,
- Eduard Danielyan – Socioscope NGO,
- Mane Grigoryan – Peace Dialogue NGO,
- Maria Galstyan – Peace Dialogue NGO,
- Shahane Khachatryan – Independent Journalists Network NGO,
- Zhanna Aleksanyan – Journalists for Human Rights NGO.
The experts of the Group:
- Artur Sukiasyan – lawyer,
- Diana Ter-Stepanyan – Transparency International ArmeniaAnticorruption Center
Project Coordinator: Marianna Khazhakyan, Peace Dialogue NGO.
For additional information please contact us at [email protected].
Author: Shahane Khachatryan
The project is supported by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Armenia with means from the German Federal Foreign Office.
