Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the universal periodic review.

The report has been prepared in accordance with Human Rights Council resolutions 5/1 and 16/21, taking into consideration the periodicity of the universal periodic review. It contains the summaries of the 24 stakeholders within universal periodic review, which are summarized due to limitations on the volume of documentation.

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CMCE) recommended that the State continue reviewing its criminal law to make racial hatred and other hate motivations an aggravating circumstance for all crimes, adopt legislation criminalizing the distribution or otherwise making available racist and xenophobic material through its computer system and other acts of cyberhate and conduct public awareness campaigns on the different forms of hate crimes and hate speech.

It was recommended that the State develop and implement a general, unified policy against discrimination, which should, inter alia, include effective mechanisms for combating hate speech, hate crimes and other hate-motivated incidents, including prevention, proper investigation, accountability mechanisms and effective remedies.

The State was encouraged to conduct awareness-raising campaigns, including on public television, aimed at eliminating harmful stereotypes and discriminatory practices against marginalized groups.

CIVICUS stated that human rights defenders have been subjected to judicial harassment, defamation campaigns, threats and acts of intimidation, particularly those working on minority issues and gender. Human rights defenders working on environmental rights have been prosecuted, harassed and intimidated for engaging in advocacy to expose the activities of businesses that have a detrimental impact on the environment.

Front Line Defenders recommended that the State guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Armenia can carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and without restrictions, including judicial harassment, and ensure full respect for the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.

A joint submission by several organizations urged the government to conduct a high-level public campaign in support of human rights defenders, formally and publicly condemning attacks against human rights defenders and their families if they occur. It also urged the Government to record and collect statistical data on threats and attacks against defenders, as well as information on ongoing investigations and the number of cases brought against them.

The report indicated that journalists who are critical of the authorities and those who expose human rights violations and corruption are subjected to harassment, restrictions on their work, threats and attacks.

CIVICUS recommended that the State ensure that journalists can work freely and without fear of reprisals for expressing critical opinions or covering topics considered sensitive by the Government.

The report noted that the State was encouraged to strengthen its efforts to address without further delay the difficulties faced by Yazidi children, particularly girls, in accessing education.

The report recommended that the State develop a national strategy for the protection of the ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identity of minorities and create conditions for its promotion, in accordance with the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities.

It was recommended that the State party should organize minority rights awareness-raising campaigns to sensitize citizens on the existence of diverse religions and cultures. It also recommended that the State conduct a public awareness campaign to encourage the use of minority languages in contacts with local administrations. The report recommended that the State should ensure that the culture and history of national minorities were properly presented and taught in all schools, including schools attended by children belonging to the majority population, and that all aspects of national minority culture were taught as an integral part of Armenian society.

If necessary, the reader can read the full report at the link: www.ohchr.org/en/hr