Human rights defender Anahit Manasyan received the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Belgium to the Republic of Armenia, Eric de Muynck. The Defender presented to the ambassador issues related to the protection of the rights of people forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh, referring to the fact-finding activities carried out by him and his staff, during which the results of deaths, tortures, disrespect of bodies, mutilations, and ill-treatment of civilians as a result of Azerbaijani aggression, prohibited by international law, were obtained—information about cases.
The mentioned information was included in the extraordinary report of the Human Rights Defender, which was the first to be presented by the Defender with an advisory section proving the authenticity of the information to international organizations and actors with a mandate to protect human rights, including being introduced to the UN International Court of Justice as a document documenting human rights violations.
Anahit Manasyan emphasized the need to adequately guarantee the rights of forcibly displaced persons in the Republic of Armenia. Within the framework of the meeting, the severe humanitarian problems and violations of fundamental human rights caused by the Azerbaijani aggression were presented.
The Defender also referred to the priorities of the institution’s activities. In this context, he emphasized the importance of the work carried out in the direction of protecting the rights of children, women, and persons with disabilities, the determination to continue the work on the fight against intolerance, discrimination, and hate speech, and ensuring equality of rights within the scope of his mandate.
In his turn, Eric de Muynck thanked for the reception, highly appreciating the Defender’s work in guaranteeing human rights, and expressed confidence that Armenia-Belgium cooperation in the field of human rights protection will continue to be at a high level. The parties have expressed their willingness to continue stable cooperation.
