Today, the Human Rights Defender of Armenia, Ms. Anahit Manasyan, received the Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, H.E. Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin.
At the beginning of the meeting, Ambassador H.E. Ms. Andrea Wiktorin congratulated Ms. Manasyan for assuming the responsible mission of the Human Rights Defender and reaffirmed the European Union's readiness to continue close cooperation with the Defender's institution.
The Human Rights Defender, in her turn, highly appreciated the role of the EU office in Armenia in the field of human rights protection as well as the long-term experience of stable and effective interaction with the Human Rights Defender's institution.
In her speech, Ms. Manasyan referred to the results of the working visit to Syunik province on April 14, raised the security issues of the residents, and the violations of the rights to private property, physical and mental integrity, and children's education as a result of the Azerbaijani acts. The Defender also presented the details of her visit to the Azerbaijani servicemen detained in Armenia.
The Ambassador highlighted the activities of the Defender's institution in this direction, including the fact-finding activities, and the ad hoc reports which are developed based on those activities, which serve as a reliable and trustworthy source for the international community.
The interlocutors also discussed the main challenges in the field of human rights protection in Armenia, referring to the process of developing a new Action Plan arising from the National Strategy for Human Rights Protection, ensuring the rule of law, protection and promotion women's rights, combating domestic violence, and the importance of developing and implementing a comprehensive policy against hate speech.
At the end of the meeting, the interlocutors reaffirmed their readiness to continue close cooperation and outlined a number of areas of possible cooperation in the field of human rights protection.
