Strengthening the Application of European Human Rights Standards in the Armed Forces in Armenia

Start date: October, 2016
Duration: 28 months
Budget: EUR 1,000,000

Donor: UK Government’s Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) and Council of Europe
Partners: Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Armenia, Human Rights Defender’s Office, Military prosecutors, Investigative Committee, Special Investigation Service and civil society organizations.

The main objective of the Project was to contribute to a better protection of human rights in the armed forces in Armenia. The specific objectives were to improve the national capacity to apply European human rights standards in the armed forces and to improve the prevention, identification, referral and handling of human rights violations in the armed forces, with a particular focus on ill-treatment.

As a result of the Project:

• The relevant military legislation was reviewed and advanced to make it compliant with international and European human rights standards;
• The capacity of the Human Rights and Integrity Building Centre of the MoD to ensure human rights compliance and promote them within the armed forces and the MoD was enhanced;
• Human rights awareness was raised among members of the armed forces, and their access to relevant information on European human rights standards increased;
• The regulatory framework and institutional mechanisms to prevent and address human rights violations in the armed forces was reviewed and strengthened;
• Prevention of human rights violations and external monitoring of the situation with their observance in the armed forces improved;
• Effectiveness of investigation and other procedures concerning ill-treatment, non-combat deaths and other serious human rights violations in the armed forces improved.