Estonia welcomes the high-level delegation of the Republic of Armenia.
We congratulate Armenia for a seat in the Human Rights Council. This achievement fits well within the broader picture of the country’s renewed commitment to the advancement of human rights and democracy. A particular highlight for us being Armenia’s considerable improvement in internet freedom, as shown by the latest Freedom House survey.
Estonia commends the Republic of Armenia for the significant improvements it has achieved in the conduction of free and fair elections, as well as safeguarding the freedom of association. Concerning the latter, we encourage further steps to guarantee the freedom of peaceful assembly for non-governmental organizations and human rights defenders.
Estonia recommends the Republic of Armenia to:
- Ratify and fully align its national legislation with the Rome Statute of the ICC.
- Ratify the second optional protocol to the ICCPR.
- Enhance women’s access to basic health care and sexual and reproductive health services.
- Ensure that all cases of domestic violence are thoroughly investigated and that victims have access to medical, social, legal and other support services.
- Adopt legislative measures necessary to prohibit all forms of violence against children.
- Support human rights defenders with official condemnation of attacks when they occur.
Finally, Estonia urges the Republic of Armenia to implement swift counter measures to address the allegations of torture and other forms of ill-treatment perpetrated by law enforcement officials during arrests, detentions and interrogations. In addition, we call to promptly adopt the “Law Ensuring Equality before the Law” to address the issues of discrimination.
We wish the delegation of Armenia a successful review meeting.
Thank you!