Anna Vardapetyan, the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia, is in Strasburg, French Republic, with the members of inter-agency commission coordinating the works of implementation of international obligations assumed by the European Convention "On the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms".   

 

On May 11, in the scope of the visit, the members of the Commission met with Christos Giakoumopoulos, Director General of Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, Síofra O'Leary, and President of the European Court of Human Rights. Together with the members of the Commission Anna Vardapetyan participated in the round table discussion under the following title “Strengthening of the institutional level of implementation of the judgments”.

 

During the round table-discussion Anna Vardapetyan mentioned that, “ECHR judgments are diagnostic tools for highlighting systemic issues. The RA Prosecutor’s Office pays due attention to the proper realization of standards enshrined in the ECHR case law in the domestic legislation and law enforcement practice”. In that context the Prosecutor General addressed several decisions of the Board of the Prosecutor’s Office, orders and assignments of the RA Prosecutor General directed at the increase of efficiency of the examination of criminal cases initiated on the basis of torture or other cases of ill-treatment, application of detention as a measure of restraint and realization of the right of counterclaim and ensuring the effective examination of death cases in the institutions that are under the supervision of the state (penitentiary institutions, armed forces). During the conversation with Marija Burić, Secretary-General of the Council of Europe Anna Vardapetyan highlighted that the Prosecutor General’s Office is directly cooperating with the Council of Europe, emphasizing in this context the international conference in Yerevan organized with the Council of Europe, which concerns the independence of the prosecutor in the process of ensuring the rule of law.

 

During the meeting the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia highlighted that the role of the Prosecutor’s Office in the process of implementation of ECHR judgments in the context of solving systemic problems as well as reopening the cases and conducting new examination depending on the nature of recorded violation. In this respect Vardapetyan emphasized the work of the working group (formed under the decision of the RA Prime-Minister of August 3, 2020) examining criminal cases initiated on the bases of the deaths of soldiers, who died in non-combat conditions and their advisory opinions were submitted to the body conducting the proceedings, and became assignments under specific cases.

 

The issues related to the implementation of the judgments of the European Court, increase of the efficiency of introduction of European standards of human rights, creation and operation of inter-agency commission of implementation of HUDOC decisions were discussed during the meetings. The efficiency of measures taken by the Republic of Armenia, directed at the implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights were highlighted and in this respect the importance of creation of inter-agency commission was emphasized.

 

The violations of human rights in the situation during and after 44-day war in 2020 were also addressed.

 

The provocative and aggressive actions carried out by the armed forces of Azerbaijan against the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia dated May 11, 2023 were also represented during the meetings.