ArmInfo.US Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills has published a statement on the occasion of International Human Rights Da.
"Armenians can be proud of the active civil society, especially in the area of protection of human rights, that exists in Armenia and that is sadly absent from many of Armenia's neighbors. I particularly welcome the increasing collaboration we have seen between the Armenian government and civil society", the Ambassador mentioned.
For instance, the Ministry of Defense's newly-established Center for Human Rights and Building Integrity has engaged with civil society as it pursues its mandate to promote human rights, ethics, integrity, and anti-corruption within the military. The Investigative Committee is collaborating with NGOs on how best to address domestic violence issues and has completed a serious internal study that provides much-needed data about domestic violence cases and how they are handled by law enforcement. A third example is the sterling work of the Intra-Agency Trafficking in Persons Working Group, which has successfully joined elements of civil society, government, and law enforcement to reduce trafficking. These efforts have directly led to Armenia's Tier 1 ranking on the Department of State's Trafficking in Persons assessment for four years in a row, which is a remarkable achievement.
At the same time the Ambassador urged the Government to redouble its efforts in the areas of human rights that remain of deep concern to the Armenians, to human rights organizations, and to the U.S. Government, and which are covered in detail in US annual Human Rights Report for Armenia. Of these, he specifically mentioned the concerns over the use of pretrial detention in the Armenian legal system and the continuing fight against domestic violence. "Pretrial detention should not be used as a punitive tool to keep citizens from exercising their rights of free speech and assembly. Each pretrial detention decision needs to be fully transparent and all decisions based on a strong legal rationale, in line with international standards, and this is particularly important in sensitive political cases or when a detention decision will keep political opponents of the government and citizen activists in prison for lengthy periods. In all cases of detention, the government is responsible for protecting the human rights of those individuals remanded to their care''.
The Ambassador also noted that spousal abuse and violence against women continues to be underreported, due to fear of further harm, social stigma, "victim blaming," and at times, lack of training or reluctance to act within the police. "Government agencies, law enforcement, and civil society should collaborate to combat stereotypes and continue to make progress towards legislation that fully protects all Armenian men, women, and children", the Ambassador summarized.