On August 23, a discussion initiated by the Chair of the RA NA Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs Taguhi Tovmasyan was held, key issues of which were the features and the priorities of protection of human rights in Armenia. The first Human Rights Defender (HRD) of the Republic of Armenia Larisa Alaverdyan, the NA former deputy, the Chair of the namesake Committee Aram Safaryan and the NA former deputy Ani Samsonyan took part in the discussion.
Taguhi Tovmasyan noted that the Committee stood out with an active cooperation with the HRD office during its activity and highlighted its continuity.
Referring to the decision of the court on detaining the deputy of the Armenia Faction Armen Charchyan, the Chair of the Committee has stated that the RA Prosecutor General should get consent from the parliament in order to detain the deputy. Emphasizing that the parliament should make this condemnable working style a subject of discussion, Tovmasyan has informed that they would visit their colleagues Mkhitar Zakaryan and Artur Sargsyan this week.
The former Human Rights Defender of Armenia Larisa Alaverdyan, assessing the purpose and the necessity of the meeting, singled out the issue of the captives. She has underlined that consistent parliamentary and diplomatic work should be carried out with the international structures for organizing the repatriation of the captives. Larisa Alaverdyan spoke about the status of the missing persons’ families and the need for the legislative regulation of the issues related to them.
The former Chair of the NA Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs Aram Safaryan proposed to form an Expert Council adjunct to the Committee to discuss the sectoral issues more effectively and give them solutions.
The former representative of the NA Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs Ani Samsonyan singled out the issues of prisoners of war, providing psychological support to the participants of the war, the beneficiaries of the penitentiary institutions and the protection of minors’ rights who returned to the families when the boarding schools were closed.
Taguhi Tovmasyan, thanking the participants of the meeting for readiness to work together, mentioned that discussions would be organized regarding the raised issues at the Committee.