© 2020. ILLUSTRATION BY PEACE DIALOGUE NGO
In June 2020, Peace Dialogue NGO (PD) launched a project entitled Development of Civil Society Potential for the Effective Monitoring of Activities of the RA Ministry of Defense in the scope of the Action Plan deriving from the National Strategy on Human Rights Protection. With this initiative, the organization seeks to enhance the role and importance of civil society in the development and implementation of state policy in the field of human rights protection in the armed forces.
The project consists of three main components:
- Involvement of various civil society groups in the protection of human rights;
- Improvement of the monitoring tools for the activities of the RA Ministry of Defense in the scope of the Action Plan 2020-2022 deriving from the National Strategy on Human Rights Protection; as well as mapping of the defense sector-related needs;
- Provision of public awareness on human rights issues in the defense sector.
Based on the priorities of the new RA National Strategy on Human Rights Protection conditioned by the imperative of performing the international obligations undertaken by the Republic of Armenia in the field of human rights protection, with this initiative PD, among its other activities, will strive to determine the compliance of the defense sector-related activities in 2020 in the scope of the National Strategy on Human Rights Protection and their implementation with the requirements of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights against the Republic of Armenia in which the Court recognized the facts of violation of the Applicants’ right of refraining from torture as well as the right to an effective trial, or determine to what extent those activities promote the solution of the problems mentioned in the RA-related reports (published in different years) of European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the UN Committee Against Torture.
In addition, within the frames of this project, it is planned to prepare and disseminate informative videos on issues related to the right to life and the right to freedom from torture, through which the organization aims to raise the awareness of young people of conscription age about these rights.
It is also worth mentioning that the project is closely linked to another project, Civil Society Support for Democratic Oversight Processes of Human Rights Conditions in the Armenian Army, implemented by Peace Dialogue NGO since May, which is also aimed at promoting democratic control in the field of human rights protection in the Armed Forces.
The total budget for this project is 30,000 USD.
Development of Civil Society Potential for the Effective Monitoring of Activities of the RA Ministry of Defense in the scope of the Action Plan deriving from the National Strategy on Human Rights Protection project is supported by Open Society Foundations – Armenia.
