Human Rights Developments

Defending Human Rights

The Role of the International Community

United Nations

The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child said in January that there were significant gaps in the preparation of Armenia's initial report to the committee. The committee noted that cooperation with nongovernmental organizations in preparation of the report had been limited and recommended that civil society be included in all stages of implementation of the Convention of the Rights of the Child. The committee also expressed concern over a broad range of issues, including children living and working on the streets and about allegations that young children had been conscripted into the armed forces. The committee reiterated concerns previously expressed by the U.N. Human Rights Committee and the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women that the government has failed to acknowledge and address the issue of domestic violence.

The committee also expressed serious concern regarding the absence of a system of juvenile justice in Armenia, and in particular the length and conditions of pretrial detention, limited access to visitors for children detained prior to trial, the often disproportionate length of sentences in relation to the seriousness of offences, the frequent detentions of juveniles with adults, and the absence of facilities for the physical and psychological rehabilitation and social reintegration of juvenile offenders.

In May, the U.N. Committee against Torture had been set to examine Armenia's second periodic report about implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, but one month prior to the meeting, the Armenian government canceled its appearance.

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)

In July, the OSCE chairperson-in-office, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, traveled to Yerevan officially to open an OSCE office. The office had actually begun activities in February. Ferrero-Waldner stated that economic development in Armenia could only be enhanced if there was significant progress toward a political settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Negotiations to resolve the conflict had been ongoing, with no tangible results, for the past several years under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group.

The new OSCE office engaged in a number of projects, including review of legislation and administration of the electoral framework in line with recommendations made by OSCE election observers, training of prison staff, public awareness of human rights, and a round table on tolerance for ethnic and religious groups.

Council of Europe

On June 28, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe voted favorably on Armenia's accession to the organization, but full membership as of this writing still required a favorable Committee of Ministers decision. Although the Parliamentary Assembly maintained that progress had been made, the long list of conditions that Armenia would be required to meet after accession served only to highlight just how far the country was from establishing the legal framework necessary to guarantee the rule of law and respect for human rights.

The Parliamentary Assembly's conditions included adoption of a number of new laws, including on the media, on political parties, on nongovernmental organizations, on the establishment of an ombudsman office, on the civil service, and on alternative military service. The assembly required that amendments to the current law on local authorities be made to give them greater independence. With regard to the court system, it required that independence of the judiciary be fully guaranteed, that the Judicial Council be reformed to ensure its independence, and that access to the Constitutional Court be granted to individuals in certain instances. It also stipulated as a condition the transfer of certain detention facilities from the responsibility of the Ministries of Internal Affairs and National Security to the Ministry of Justice.

European Union

The Second Annual E.U.-Armenia Cooperation brought E.U. praise for human rights improvements and promises of continued E.U. assistance aimed at facilitating resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and further improvement in democratization and human rights.

United States

In May a U.S.-Armenia Task Force on Economic Reform held its first meeting. At its initial meeting, the task force said that it would concentrate its efforts on private sector development, combating corruption, and Armenia's energy needs. The administration requested renewed foreign assistance, stated that the U.S. supported assistance to help transform Armenia into a democracy based on the rule of law with an active civil society and free markets, at peace with its neighbors and integrated in the world economy. Officials argued that Armenia would thus be less likely to engage in armed conflict with Azerbaijan or to disrupt the export of hydrocarbons from the Caspian Basin. Secure routes for oil and gas transit from the region, and through Turkey, were a key U.S. policy concern in the region.

International Financial Institutions

In September, the World Bank approved the equivalent of U.S. $11.4 million for judicial reform in Armenia. The project, with the aim of assisting in the development of an independent, accessible, and efficient judiciary, was a welcome attempt at improving legal institutions that were woefully incapable of addressing the country's abysmal human rights practices. It included assistance in the area of court administration, infrastructure rehabilitation, training of judges and court personnel, improved enforcement of court decisions, and increased access to legal information.