A delegation of 10 representatives of the Ministry of Defence and a representative of the Human Rights Defender’s office of Armenia visited London, UK on 17-18 September 2019 to get acquainted with the experience of the human rights protection mechanisms in the UK Defence, as well as the human rights education and awareness-raising among British military servicepersons.

The programme of the visit was tailored to the needs of the delegation that included representatives of external and internal oversight over the human rights situation in the armed forces, as well as professors delivering courses on human rights in the military educational institutions. Thus, when developing the agenda of the visit, a particular attention was paid to the modalities of the organisation of effective investigation of human rights violations, existing rapid response mechanisms and the organisation of human rights education within the UK military.

During the first day of the visit the participants met the representatives of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the UK Ministry of Defence and learnt about the UK strategic approach to human rights issues in overseas operations, the UK support of the programmes on gender equality, as well as the selection of priority countries for the implementation of these programmes.

The third session of the day was dedicated to the system of internal oversight of the UK armed forces during which Mr David Howarth from the UK Ministry of Defence delivered a speech on the importance of tackling inappropriate behaviour in Defence and the mechanisms of encouragement of reporting of the instances of bullying, discrimination and harassment. A separate meeting was dedicated to the activity of the Service Complaints Ombudsman for the Armed Forces and the role of this institution in the independent and impartial follow up on the complaints of the members of the UK armed forces.

During their visit to the Imperial War Museum, the participants learnt the facts about women during the First World War and the Second World War illustrating the impact of the war on women’s lives, both professional and personal.

On the second working day the delegation visited the Royal Courts of Justice, a Victorian Gothic building in London, which houses the High Court and Court of Appeal of England and Wales, as well as the office of the Judge Advocate General, the most senior Judge Advocate and the Judicial head of the Service Courts. His Honour Judge Jeff Blackett welcomed the delegation in his office. During the meeting he presented the specificities of the special system of service courts that provide an avenue to enforce standards that are distinctive to the armed forces without compromising the fair trial standards elaborated by the European Court of Human Rights. A special attention was dedicated to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights which drastically influenced the reform of the UK court martial system.

In the afternoon Lieutenant Colonel Rachel Grimes, the leading officer on the integration of Women, Peace and Security in UK Defence, briefed the participants on the vital importance of participation of women in the security sector and the implementation of the human security policy on ground. Colonel Rosemary Stone, Course Director of the Defence Human Security Course, presented the concept of human security and relevant educational modules. The possible engagement of foreign students in the courses offered was discussed as well.

The visit was concluded by a feedback session during which the participants had an opportunity to leave their feedback and outline how the acquired knowledge was relevant for their further work.

The study visit was organised in the framework of the Project “Human rights and women in the armed forces in Armenia”. This project is implemented by the Council of Europe within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Armenia 2019-2022 and funded by the United Kingdom.

Action Plan level funding is provided by Germany, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Sweden.