On 21 January, the Department for the Execution of Judgments participated in a workshop dedicated to the 2023 annual report of the Human Rights Defender’s office of the Republic of Armenia as an advocacy tool for the promotion of human rights.
Opening remarks were delivered by the Human Rights Defender, Anahit Manasyan; the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Yerevan, Maxime Longangué; Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, Srbuhi Galyan; and Pavlo Pushkar, Head of Division in the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (via online participation). The workshop was attended by the President of the Court of Cassation of Armenia, the Deputy Chairman of the Investigative Committee, the UN Resident Coordinator in Armenia, as well as representatives of other state bodies, embassies, and international organisations.
The Department presented the procedure for the supervision of the execution of the European Court’s judgments, and in particular the role of national human rights institutions, such as human rights defenders and ombudspersons, in that process. It was highlighted that in the Reykjavík Declaration, Heads of States and Governments recognised this role, and called for a review and further reinforcement of the Council of Europe outreach to, and meaningful engagement with the national human rights defenders.
It was further welcomed that the Office of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia is actively participating in the supervision process and has submitted communications in a number of cases pending under the supervision of the Committee of Ministers. The annual reports prepared by the Human Rights Defender are regularly relied on by the Department in its assessment of the status of execution of the relevant cases.
This event was organised by the Council of Europe’s Division of Co-operation Programmes under the project “Strengthening human rights safeguards for the displaced population in Armenia”.
News item of the event on the website of the Human Rights Defender