Conference Human Rights and the Army 

26 March 2019, Yerevan

Dear Minister Zeynalyan, Dear Deputy Minister Balayan,

Dear Human Rights Defender Mr Tatoyan, Dear Government Agent before the European Court of Human Rights, Mr Kirakosyan,

Your Excellency Ambassador Farnworth,

Dear participants, ladies and gentlemen,

It is my great pleasure to welcome you on behalf of the Council of Europe today at this event that the Council has been preparing with the Armenian partners for several months.

This event is particularly important in the context of the longstanding cooperation between the Republic of Armenia and the Council of Europe, as it marks the completion of a period of two and a half years that we have spent working together, working hard to improve the protection of human rights of those whose duty is to protect Armenia and its people – the rights of the members of the Armenian armed forces.

This Conference today is taking place under the auspices of the project that was the first of its kind in the cooperation between Armenia and the Council of Europe. I hope that it will be followed by another one very soon, and perhaps by similar projects in other Council of Europe member States. The new Council of Europe Action Plan for Armenia for 2019-2022 again gives a prominent place to the protection of the rights of military servicepersons.

I should recall that it was the Armenian Government and the Ministry of Defence who requested Council of Europe expertise in addressing this important issue. Local ownership, which is key, was an important element throughout the entire Project’s implementation and I would like to thank the Armenian authorities for their commitment.

Ever since Armenia joined the Council of Europe in 2001, it has been moving steadfast towards implementing the commitments it took on as a member of our Organisation, namely to strengthen democracy, the rule of law and human rights. There has been exemplary cooperation between your country and the Council of Europe; and this project was another proof of your strong commitment to our common values.

This project has also been an opportunity to gain new and invaluable experience by looking into issues that have not been the focus of our cooperation before. I think we have managed to anchor the European human rights standards in the most sensitive and closed sector of the state, the army.

I do not think it is necessary to explain why it is important “to bring human rights home”; even more so in the armed forces where the very nature of the relationship between the servicepersons and the state gives the latter even more power, and the former – fewer means to defend their rights, compared to civilians.

I would like to note with great satisfaction that this project also had a great importance for the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. Indeed, it has contributed to progress in executing the judgments of the Court in the cases of Muradyan (ill-treatment and ensuing death of a conscript), Zalyan and Others (ill-treatment of the conscript) and Matevosyan (failure to conduct an effective investigation into the applicant’s, military conscript’s, allegation of ill-treatment). The project provided an important platform for discussing key issues related to the execution of these judgments through the organisation a high level colloquy in March 2018, specialised workshops, study visits and a conference on the execution in February 2019.

To ensure sustainability of the results achieved so far, the Council of Europe intends to continue its co-operation with the Ministry of Defence and other stakeholders with a view to further embedding European human rights standards in the national legislation and practice, and by improving the prevention of human rights violations in the armed forces.

Hereby, I mean not only the national capacity to monitor the human rights situation in the army, or the capacity to investigate violations and provide redress to victims. I also mean ensuring comprehensive human rights education and awareness raising for members of the armed forces – to empower them to stand up for their rights. 

This Conference will focus on the three main areas where we have been working together with you during these last two and a half years:

• Legislation governing human rights issues in the army;
• Coordination between the different actors who are called upon to ensure the rights of the servicepersons are protected;
• Human rights education in the army.

We will take stock of what has been done and achieved so far, but I also hope that we will be able to lay the ground for the next stage of our cooperation. At that next stage we propose to place an emphasis on the rights of female members of the armed forces. This focus, which I understand is also supported by the Ministry of Defence, is all the more relevant as more women are now serving in the armed forces, including in combat positions. Until recently women mostly served in support positions. But now you also have women combat officers. Even though there might be just a handful of them, they need to be empowered to stand for their own human rights and the rights of every man and every woman in the Armenian army. 

I sincerely hope that this conference will be an opportunity to make a comprehensive assessment of where we stand after these thirty months, to discuss our successes and the lessons we learned along the way, so that at the end of this day we can say: “We have done well, but we also know how to do better, and we will do it together”. Our expectations from this event are high, but I am sure that together we will achieve what we plan.

To conclude I would like to thank the Government of the United Kingdom for its generous contribution which made this project possible, as well as for its interest to continue this cooperation.

I would also like to thank the speakers and experts who will intervene during the various sessions today and who have participated in the implementation of the project.

Thank you for your attention.