As stated in UN Armenia report concerning Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and Armenian\s participation in it, the UPR is a unique process which involves a periodic review of the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States. Since its first meeting held in April 2008, all 193 UN member States have been reviewed during the first UPR cycle and 112 during the second cycle. The second review of States highlighted human rights developments in the country since its first review and provided an opportunity for States under review to present the steps taken to implement recommendations posed during their first reviews.
Armenia was one of the 14 States reviewed by the UPR Working Group during its second session that took place from 19 to 30 January2015. Armenia first undergo UPR review in May 2010[1].
Armenian civil society has also participated actively in the second UPR cycle of Armenia. Particularly, under the umbrella of Open Society Foundations – Armenia, a broad coalition of independent non-governmental organizations Society Without Violence NGO among them developed a shadow report for the 21st Session of the UPR. Another shadow report on women’s and LGBT rights specifically was prepared by Pink Armenia, Society Without Violence, Women's Resource Center and Women's Support Center in cooperation with the Human Rights House Yerevan[2].
It should be mentioned that the steps taken towards the implementation of the recommendations of Armenia’s first UPR by the state under review were insufficient as there were high number of recommendations repeated during the second review. The main reason of this recurrence is that Armenia either failed to take actions to fulfill the accepted recommendations, or the taken actions had merely formal nature[3].
Even though Human Rights Defender’s Institution of Armenia recorded positive steps taken by Armenia but highlighted the serious challenges that still need to be addressed in the fields of the prevention and prosecution of torture, detention conditions, children and domestic violence[4].
During consideration of Armenia’s UPR, States praised for having ratified several international covenants, for the adoption of a national strategy and plan of action for the protection of human rights and for improvements to its legal framework on human rights. However, many challenges persist within the country, including excessive use of force by the police, corruption and a lack of judicial independence. Improper policing of assemblies is also a serious issue in Armenia, with the State being urged to guarantee the right to peaceful assembly, including the right to spontaneous protest[5].
Armenia got very important recommendations from the State parties on women's rights, gender based discrimination and violence, domestic violence and women's participation in decision making. The absolute majority of the recommendations did include parts on women's issues, which makes these issues a priority. Many of the State expressed concerns about the fact that the draft law on domestic violence was rejected and recommended to have a stand-alone law on DV. The issue of human rights defenders' security was also mentioned. Australia made reference to the recent attacks against women NGOs and condemned the hate attacks toward them. There were important recommendations such as to include in Armenia's legislation an explicit and comprehensive definition of discrimination against women, and improve legal provisions prohibiting discrimination against women.
As stated in the report Armenia had implemented comprehensive legal reforms to bring the national legislation fully in line with international best practices on the prevention of torture and violence. It has adopted the Strategic Programmed against Gender Violence that defined the core directions of the State’s policy for reducing gender violence. The members of Armenian delegation told that Armenia is discussing the possibility of signing the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combatting violence against women and domestic violence[6].
Armenia received 189 recommendations and fully supported 155 of them. Further the government of Armenia stated that the majority of the recommendations were useful for the continuation of efforts to consolidate the human rights agenda, including on judicial reform, strengthening the rights of vulnerable groups, and combatting violence against women. It also stated that the issue of adoption of the standalone Law on Domestic Violence is under consideration.
Armenia was accused of deliberately rejecting all recommendations by Azerbaijan regardless of the content due to current political tensions between the two countries[7].
Concluding, we should state that during the UPR’s Twenty Nine session, great importance was attached to the implementation of the judicial reforms and the principle of non-discrimination.
Reports prepared by civil society organizations played crucial role in evaluating state performance on the issues mentioned above and their contribution in UPR are highly appreciated. “Society Without Violence” is proud for being part in this crucial process and shaping the positive changes towards gender equality prevalence in the country.
Marine Adamyan
Society Without Violence NGO