On
March 12-13, the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia, Ms. Anahit
Manasyan, who is on a working visit to Strasbourg, participated in the
High-level Conference organized by the Council of Europe for NHRIs and Ombuds
institutions. During the conference, she delivered a keynote speech on the
challenges related to freedom of expression and the prevention of hate speech.
The
session was moderated by Ms. Diana Kovatcheva, judge of the European Court of
Human Rights. The panel discussion also included Ms. Oddný Mjöll Arnardóttir,
judge of the European Court of Human Rights and Mr. Rick Lawson, President of
the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights.
Opening
speeches were delivered by Mr. Mattias Guyomar, President of the European Court
of Human Rights, Mr. Michael O’Flaherty, Commissioner for Human Rights of the
Council of Europe, Ms. Louise Holck, ENNHRI Chair, Director of the Danish
Institute of Human Rights and Ms. Marialena Tsirli, Registrar of the European
Court of Human Rights.
As
part of the delegation led by Ms. Anahit Manasyan, Mr. Tigran Manukyan,
representing the Public Council on the Protection of Children's Rights and
Youth adjunct to the Human Rights Defender, also participated in the conference
as a young representative of the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia.
“It
is a great honor for me to participate in this high-level conference and to
deliver speech on the challenges related to freedom of expression. This is a
field of particular importance from the perspective of strengthening the rule
of law and democracy. At the same time, it is a field in the context of which
there are numerous challenges in the modern world," noted Ms. Anahit
Manasyan.
In
her speech, the Defender emphasized the importance of freedom of expression and
guarantees for the safety of journalists and referred to the existing
challenges in the field of freedom of expression, including the unprecedented
volume of hate and discriminatory speech, which is particularly intensified in
the context of the rapid development of information technologies and various
political processes.
Ms.
Anahit Manasyan specifically highlighted the role of the Council of Europe
bodies and the ECHR in setting standards in the field of freedom of expression,
stressing the importance of these positions for the Human Rights Defender’s
Office of the Republic of Armenia.
“In
our country, as in a number of other countries, the dissemination of
discriminatory speech has reached extremely serious levels. Moreover, such
speech can often be encountered on the grounds of national or ethnic identity,
disability, religious beliefs, gender equality issues and several other
grounds. This entire field is frequently instrumentalized by political actors,
including through extensive disinformation campaigns related to the area,” emphasized
Ms. Anahit Manasyan.
The
Defender also presented specific examples related to the dissemination of
discriminatory speech and disinformation targeting women and children’s
protection mechanisms, persons with disabilities, national minorities and other
groups by various actors. Ms. Anahit Manasyan also emphasized the dangerous
scale of targeting Human Rights Defenders and human rights activists working in
this field in the modern world.
The
Defender stressed the importance of the proper application of disciplinary
accountability mechanisms for public officials and representatives of
professional and academic communities in order to prevent such types of speech,
while emphasizing that criminal liability mechanisms for hate speech and other
types of prohibited speech should not be misused.
In
her concluding speech, Ms. Anahit Manasyan emphasized that overcoming these
challenges requires conceptual reforms, highlighting the importance of
comprehensive changes in the worldview and mindset of all actors, as well as in
human rights education and legal practice.
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