Epress.am News from Armenia
On Mar. 10, at the 16th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Margaret Sekaggya presented a report in which she focuses on the situation of women human rights defenders and those working on women’s rights or gender issues, the risks and violations that they face and the perpetrators involved.
The Special Rapporteur conducted a country visit to Armenia from June 12–18, 2010, during which she met with senior government officials as well as a broad range of human rights defenders. The purpose of the visit was to assess the situation of human rights defenders in Armenia in light of the principles set forth in the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. For this, she prepared a separate report.
In the report, the Special Rapporteur highlights that the events of March 2008 have contributed to a very politicized environment, preventing constructive cooperation between the authorities, the Ombudsperson and human rights defenders. Other challenges include restrictions on freedom of association, impediments to the freedom of assembly, restrictions on the freedom of expression and impunity for abuses against human rights defenders.
Participating in the presentation of Sekaggya’s report were members of the South Caucasus Network of Human Rights Defenders. The members from Armenia include Artak Zeynalyan from Jurists Against Torture, Melissa Brown of Shakhatun NGO and Mikael Danielyan, Chair of the Helsinki Assocation of Human Rights (the coordinating organization of the Network in Armenia).