UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office urges Armenia to respect human rights

PanARMENIAN.Net - The United Kingdom Foreign & Commonwealth Office published Human Rights and Democracy: the 2010 Report ; among other countries it refers to Armenia, according to the British embassy in Armenia.

Specifically, the report reads that “the second round of the EU–Armenia human rights dialogue took place on December 7. This provided an opportunity for the EU to reiterate to Armenia the importance of human rights as an essential element for Armenia’s development into a fully democratic society.”

It goes on saying: “On June 15 the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media commented that amendments to the law on television and radio broadcasting in Armenia were not sufficient to improve media pluralism. The EU encouraged the Armenian government and legislators to continue to work closely with civil society, the Council of Europe and OSCE experts to ensure that its broadcasting law promotes media freedom and is in line with international standards.

In March, the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights issued its report on the conduct of the trials that took place in the aftermath of the March 2008 post-election violence in Yerevan. The report revealed shortcomings in Armenia's justice system and made a number of recommendations. It is important that the Armenian government implements these recommendations as part of its judicial reform program.

Although Armenia has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its principles are addressed in the constitution, women continue to suffer significant discrimination in economic and political life. On November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the EU announced the launch of 10 new human rights and democracy projects including one that aims to reduce gender-based domestic violence in Armenia.”