Epress.am News from Armenia
On Jun. 4, during a Civil Society Forum in the Armenian town of Tsaghkadzor, PINK Armenia NGO (Public Information and Need of Knowledge) and the RA Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work together in protecting the rights of LGBT people in Armenia.
This historic and unprecedented memorandum incorporates acceptable terms in Armenian to refer to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
The Memorandum of Understanding notes that, during the collaboration, there will be discussion of proposals put forth by and research conducted by NGOs working in the sector, and if necessary, the RA Human Rights Defender will make legislative suggestions on these issues to the Government of Armenia and in the National Assembly.
The memorandum also notes that NGOs working in the area of defending LGBT rights will redirect to the Ombudsman complaints and appeals they have received.
The memorandum is in effect till Feb. 1, 2017.
About the Civil Society Forum
The two-day Civil Society Forum was organized by the OSCE Office in Yerevan, Ombudsman’s Office, European Commission, World Vision, and Child Health Now. According to the event notice posted on the OSCE website, around 100 civil society representatives will gather to introduce their activities and discuss the possibilities of closer co-operation with the Ombudsman’s Office.
During the forum, RA Human Rights Defender Karen Andreasyan mentioned that their office will work in 11 areas of human rights protection. According to tweets sent by PINK Armenia during the Forum, these are:
1. rights of those serving in the armed forces
2. judicial rights, “including right to a fair trial and justice”
3. women’s rights: “women’s involvement in politics, women’s role in social advertisements”
4. freedom of speech: “including involvement of NGOs in this work”
5. rights of people with disabilities (those with fewer opportunities)
6. rights of people subject to violence and torture: “specifically, mainly while in police custody”
7. rights of people in prison
8. rights of children: “among other problems, violence was mentioned and especially sexual abuse against children”
9. rights of national, religious, and sexual minorities
10. rights of refugees
11. environment