Today, Human Rights Defender of Armenia Christine Grigoryan received the delegation led by the Head of the Yerevan Office of the Council of Europe Martina Schmidt. Welcoming the members of the delegation, Christine Grigoryan stressed that the first official meeting with the ombudsman office mission since taking office is another confirmation of the high level of cooperation established over the years.
Martina Schmidt, in her turn, thanked for the reception, noting that the ombudsman office is a key partner in the framework of programs implemented by the Council of Europe in the field of human rights.
During the meeting, the members of the delegation discussed sectoral programs implemented by the CoE Office, which are related to the prevention of domestic violence, protection of the rights of women servicemen in the Armed Forces, adoption of criminal and procedural codes, the monitoring in legal practice, bioethics, rules of ethics of medical workers and a number of other issues.
Possibilities for future programs were also discussed, including those aimed at eliminating the humanitarian consequences of the war. In her speech, the Human Rights Defender stressed the need for internationally accepted approaches to the protection of human rights in security issues, the need to pursue other priorities, such as the fight against hate speech and disinformation, the prevention of torture and ill-treatment, and the need for comprehensive action to combat discrimination.
Grigoryan also mentioned in the list of priorities of the structure the goal of continuous development of the institutional capacity of the Defender's institution, which, according to her, is a guarantee of ensuring a better state of human rights protection in the country.
Summing up the meeting, the parties expressed readiness to deepen the existing cooperation in the mentioned spheres and to cooperate in new directions.
