On
July 6, Defender Ms. Manasyan received Mr. Miroslav Papa, Director of Political
Affairs and External Relations in the Council of Europe Secretariat, and Mr.
Christos Giakoumopoulos, Director General of Human Rights and Rule of Law (DGI)
of the Council of Europe.
Mr.
Maxime Longangué, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Yerevan, Mr.
Arman Khachatryan, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Armenia to the
Council of Europe, and Ms. Varduhi Melikyan, Head of the Council of Europe
Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have also participated in the
meeting.
Welcoming
the guests, the Defender presented the state of protection of the rights of the
border residents, the humanitarian consequences caused by the blocking of the
Lachin Corridor, as well as the activities being done to address the mentioned
issues. A special reference was made to the cases of targeting civilian
infrastructures and the civilian population during the latest Azerbaijani
provocation in the direction of the Yeraskh community.
In
this context, the Defender emphasized that any political and territorial
circumstances cannot prevail over the protection and guarantee of human rights.
During
the meeting, reference was also made to the activities carried out within the
framework of the fight against hate speech, an atmosphere of intolerance, and
discrimination. The Defender noted that the dissemination of hate speech in the
academic community, by political and public figures, as well as in the media,
is particularly concerning.
Issues
related to the protection of the rights of national minorities were also
discussed. Ms. Anahit Manasyan informed that activities are being carried out
in the direction of forming a public council on the rights of national
minorities adjunct to the Human Rights Defender, which will be aimed at
promoting the rights of national minorities.
At
the end of the meeting, the participants highly appreciated the long-term and
effective cooperation between the Defender's Office and the Council of Europe
in the field of human rights protection and outlined directions for further
collaboration.
Հայերեն
