Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 9 of the Convention

Seventh to eleventh periodic reports of States parties due in 2014

Armenia *

[Date received: 29 December 2015]

Contents

Page

Introduction3

Article 14

Article 28

Article 310

Article 410

Article 511

Article 628

Article 729

Annexes

Annex 135

Annex 242

Annex 344

Annex 446

Introduction

1.The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination was ratified by the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on 23 July 1993. Pursuant to the requirement of paragraph 1 of Article 9 of the Convention, the countries which have acceded thereto shall periodically submit a national report on implementation of the provisions of the Convention to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. This document comprises the Seventh-Eleventh Joint Periodic Report submitted by the authorities of the Republic of Armenia.

2.The report covers the legislative, judicial, administrative and other measures undertaken by the authorities of the Republic of Armenia, which are aimed at implementing the provisions of the Convention. It has been elaborated taking into consideration the Concluding Observations, containing the concerns and recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (hereinafter referred to as “the Concluding Observations”), which were submitted after the discussions on the Fifth and Sixth Joint Periodic Report of the Republic of Armenia that took place during the 78th session of the Committee from 14 February to 11 March 2011.

3.This Report has been drawn up by an inter-agency working group and coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia. The working group is composed of the representatives of the following agencies:

•Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia

•Staff to the President of the Republic of Armenia

•Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia

•Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia

•Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia

•Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia

•Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia

•State Migration Service of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Emergency Situations of the Republic of Armenia

•The Police of the Republic of Armenia

•Division for Ethnic Minorities and Religious Affairs of the Staff of the Government of the Republic of Armenia

•National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia

•Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Armenia

•Judicial Department of the Republic of Armenia

•National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia

•Council of the Public Television and Radio Company of the Republic of Armenia

•National Commission on Television and Radio of the Republic of Armenia

4.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested the Office of the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia to nominate a candidate for participation in the working group, but the latter responded that its participation was not appropriate.

5.The draft report has been brought up for discussion with the representatives of non-governmental organisations of 11 national minorities of the Republic of Armenia, and the comments and recommendations made thereby have been taken into consideration in the final version of the report.

Article 1

6.According to point 10 of the Concluding Observations submitted by the Committee in 2011, the Committee asks the authorities of the Republic of Armenia to provide reliable information on the actual composition of the population based on the results of the Census held in 2011. The 2011 Census Programme (Questionnaire) of the Republic of Armenia has been elaborated in compliance with the requirements of “the Recommendations of the Conference of European Statisticians for the 2010 Censuses of Population and Housing” (elaborated in cooperation with Eurostat, the UN Economic Commission for Europe, New York and Geneva, 2006). Moreover, according to the mentioned recommendations, respondents are obliged to answer all the questions included in the questionnaire, except for the questions concerning nationality, language and religion.

7.Annex 1, which is attached to the Report, contains the distribution of the permanent population of the Republic of Armenia by ethnicity, sex and age, based on the results of the latest census. Annex 1 also provides the distribution of persons born alive and the dead by their national belonging.

8.There are more than 37 non-governmental organisations registered in the Republic of Armenia and pertaining to national minorities.

9.Until 2012 the Coordinating Council, established in March 2000 at the initiative of the national minorities of the Republic of Armenia and with the purpose of targeting the activities of national and cultural organisations, was allocated 10 million AMD in order to promote the educational and cultural activities of national minorities. The procedure for distribution of the amount has been discussed and approved by the Council every year.

10.It is worth mentioning that the Council has discussed and stated many times the problems relating to the need to change the procedure for increasing and distributing the financial allocations considered by its members. The recommendation of the Council regarding the increase of the money allocated to the national minorities has been submitted to the Government of the Republic of Armenia.

11.As a result, since 2012, the annual amount allocated to the national minorities by the Government of the Republic of Armenia has been doubled, reaching 20 million AMD; at the same time, the procedure for distribution of that amount has been revised by the decision taken during the session of the Coordinating Council. The procedure for allocation of grants has not been elaborated by the Government of the Republic of Armenia, but as in the past, it has been agreed upon with representatives of the national minorities included in the Coordinating Council.

12.According to that procedure, at the beginning of each year, 9 million AMD is allocated to the member organisations of the Council from the total amount in compliance with the ongoing programmes submitted by them, and based on the principle of equal treatment to all national minorities residing in the Republic of Armenia, and 1 million AMD is allocated for the joint activities of the Council.

13.At the beginning of each year, the list of joint activities is discussed and approved during the session of the Council. The representatives of 11 nationalities represented in the Council participate in the activities.

14.Since 2012, the annual additional amount of 10 million AMD allocated to the national minorities of the Republic of Armenia by the Government of the Republic of Armenia is allocated in order to provide funding for the most important initiatives and programmes aimed at development of national culture, preservation of the language and identity of the communities of the national minorities, as well as awareness raising of the representatives of national minorities in the legal field. The initiatives and programmes are submitted for additional financing to the Coordinating Council of the national and cultural organisations of the national minorities of the Republic of Armenia by the member organisations of the Council, as well as by other organisations representing the communities of the national minorities.

15.They are discussed and approved by the Council, giving priority to meeting the needs of organisations lacking national and state institutions and/or organisations representing large communities.

16.During a regular session in 2012, the Council coordinator submitted the mentioned principle to the Council members, who accepted and approved it unanimously.

17.Thus, for example, based on the above mentioned principle - in 2012-2014, within the scope of the amount of 30 million AMD provided by the Government of the Republic of Armenia to the national minorities of the Republic of Armenia as additional funding for programmes, out of the three largest communities lacking state institutions, the Yezidi community has submitted programmes and, accordingly, has received funding in the amount of 3,9 million AMD, the Assyrian community — in the amount of 3,8 million AMD, the Kurdish community — in the amount of 3 million AMD, which constitutes 36 percent of the total funds.

18.Out of the programmes submitted to the Council, programmes that are mainly aimed at preserving the national identity, traditions and national language (printed media, improvement of the education level), developing culture and raising awareness in the legal field are discussed and later submitted for approval.

19.At the same time, priority is given to the programmes submitted by separate organisations for the strengthening of relations and cooperation between communities in Armenia, and the implementation and subsequent events of which envisage the participation of representatives of the 11 communities of the national minorities of the Republic of Armenia and the main ideas of which are the exchange of cultural information, building bridges for mutual understanding through history, national traditions and the arts, instilling mutual respect and correct perception of cultural diversity.

20.Besides, the programmes that enable the communities of the national minorities of Armenia to participate and represent Armenia in intercommunity cultural or sport events held in their historic motherlands are partially financed.

21.It should also be noted that the organisations representing some national communities do not benefit from the additional funding for programmes envisaged for the current year simply because they have not submitted any programme (initially agreeing with the principle of giving priority to meeting the needs of organisations lacking national and state institutions and/or organisations representing large communities).

22.In all other cases, all the programmes complying with the above mentioned standards have been financed as much as possible either fully or partially by receiving the majority of votes of the Council members.

23.The Republic of Armenia fosters co-operation of national minorities with their mother countries. Particularly, in case of Georgia and Iran two bordering states of Armenia contacts are maintained freely and without constraints, as has always been the case in the past. With regard to the third neighbour — Azerbaijan, direct contacts with the minorities living in that country have become impossible since 1988, when the policy of ethnic cleansing implemented by the Azerbaijani authorities turned into apparent aggression and massive military actions against the population of Nagorno-Karabakh. This has resulted not only in the continuing closure of the border with this country, but also into a large-scale xenophobic and racial-hatred propaganda by Azerbaijan on the state level which directly affects the minorities and undoubtedly fails to contribute to the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. As opposed to Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia attaches particular importance to peaceful settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which will create an opportunity for strengthening the regional stability and security and guaranteeing exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, including the national minorities. The Republic of Armenia supports contacts of non-governmental organisations among different countries as an important means for building confidence.

Refugees

24.Taking into consideration the fact that refugees are one of the most vulnerable groups in society and may be exposed to various manifestations of discrimination, the authorities of the Republic of Armenia have continued to implement relevant activities aimed at preventing similar phenomena and fighting against them.

25.Armenia received first refugees back in 1988; these refugees were the ones who had survived and fled from the massacres of the Armenians organised in the city of Sumgait, Azerbaijan on February 26-29, 1988.

26.On 10-13 January 1990, massacres of the Armenians were organised in Baku, resulting in complete removal of the Armenian population from Baku. Concurrently, Azerbaijan launched war against Nagorno-Karabakh, as a result of which the period covering 1990-1991 saw the depopulation of Kirovabad, Khanlar, Getashen, Shahumyan and other settlements. As a result, Armenia received more than 400.000 refugees exiled from Azerbaijan. Pursuant to the data provided by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, until the year of 2005 Armenia was heading the list of countries with the largest number of refugees per 1000 people.

27.From the first days of arrival of refugees, the Republic of Armenia has adopted the policy aimed at integrating refugees into the society, despite the social and economic difficulties prevailing in the country. The policy aimed at integrating refugees into the society has been yielding more tangible results since 2000, the year that marked the launch of activities of the Migration and Refugees Department of the Government of the Republic of Armenia a separate institution dealing with issues of refugees, currently State Migration Service of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Emergency Situations.

28.On 5 February 2015, the Government of the Republic of Armenia approved and sent to the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia the draft Law of the Republic of Armenia “On making amendments and supplements to the Law of the Republic of Armenia ʽOn refugees and asylum’”, the adoption of which is aimed at ensuring the policy undertaken by the Government of the Republic of Armenia in the asylum sector, i.e. fully harmonise the national legislation on the rights of asylum seekers and refugees in the Republic of Armenia with international, particularly, European standards, deriving from the obligations undertaken by the Republic of Armenia under international conventions.

29.Among a number of changes, the draft Law suggests enhancing the rights of asylum seekers considered vulnerable and giving them guarantees for exercise thereof (for example, consideration of the asylum claim of a minor with no accompanying person or separated from the family within a possible short time period, provision of an accommodation for them by way of priority, provision of equal rights to refugees and the citizens of the Republic of Armenia in the sphere of higher education etc.).

30.With regard to the requirement under point 11 of the Concluding Observations, it should be mentioned that due to the actions taking place in the region, the number of asylum seekers in the Republic of Armenia has increased in recent years. In 2010 – 68 (25 of them received asylum), in 2011 – 73 (54 of them received asylum), in 2012 – 579 (390 of them received asylum), in 2013 – 320 (259 of them received asylum), in 2014 – 226 (136 of them received asylum), in 2015, as of 1 September – 237 (102 of them received asylum) foreign nationals sought asylum.

31.The countries of origin of the asylum seekers are Syria, Ukraine, Iraq, Iran and African countries (Cote d’Ivoire, Republic of the Congo, Guinea and Mali).

32.“Special housing” SNCO operates under the State Migration Service, the purpose of activities of which is to provide accommodation (including food and personal hygiene products) to asylum seekers until the adoption of a final decision on the asylum claim. “Special housing” SNCO has 22 rooms that can accommodate 45 asylum seekers. Currently, works are being carried out to establish a new shelter for 100-120 asylum seekers with funding from the EU. In the nearest future, with EU funding, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) envisages to implement the “Support to Migration and Border Management” programme, one of the components of which is the development of design/estimate documentation for the establishment of a new shelter for asylum seekers in the Republic of Armenia. For this purpose, the Government of the Republic of Armenia will allot a land plot in the suburbs of Yerevan with the relevant surface. After the stage of development of the design/estimate documentation, it is necessary to undertake construction of a new special shelter, for which there may be support from international institutions, as was the case with the Republic of Georgia.

33.With regard to the requirement to submit information on the social-economic situation, particularly on housing issues of the vulnerable groups under point 12 of the Concluding Observations, we inform that the Government of the Republic of Armenia, by Decision No 747-N of 20 May 2004, approved the priority housing programme for the refugees forcedly displaced from Azerbaijan. For the purpose of implementation of the above mentioned programme, relevant funds were envisaged to be allocated from the state budget in 2005-2008. During these years, 1 065 families received housing certificates, 718 of whom realised them by obtaining apartments. Since 2009, no funds have been envisaged to be allocated from the state budget of the Republic of Armenia for that purpose. Due to the lack of funds in the state budget of the Republic of Armenia, which is a result of the global economic crisis, the housing issue of 924 refugee families considered as beneficiaries of the programme, remains unsolved. At present, according to the standards defined in the priority housing programme approved by the mentioned Decision, there are 670 refugee families in Yerevan and 254 refugee families in Marzes, 924 refugee families in total, who are in urgent need. Based on evaluations, a sum of 9,5-10 billion AMD will be required to solve the problem.

34.The asylum seekers and persons having the status of a refugee, as vulnerable groups, are among the candidates to receive residential space from the Social Housing Fund envisaged by the Strategic Programme for Development of a Social Housing Fund, which was approved by the Government of the Republic of Armenia.

Discrimination against women of national minorities

35.All the legal grounds to prevent violations of women’s rights on the grounds of gender exist in the Republic of Armenia. All current mechanisms for restoration of violated rights are available to each citizen, as well as to women of the national minorities of the Republic of Armenia.

36.Taking into consideration the conservative nature of family relations in the Yezidi and Kurdish communities (early marriages), which is also mentioned in point 16 of the Concluding Observations, on 13 April 2013 amendments were made to the conditions for concluding a marriage in the Family Code of the Republic of Armenia. In particular, Article 10 prescribes:

“Voluntary mutual consent of the man and the woman getting married, as well as their attainment of the age of eighteen is required for concluding a marriage, except for cases provided for by the second paragraph of this part, that is:

A person may also get married at the age of seventeen, where there exists the consent of his or her parents, adopters or curator. A person may also get married at the age of sixteen, where there exists the consent of his or her parents, adopters or curator, and the other person getting married is at least eighteen years old.

Conclusion of a marriage shall be prohibited in the following circumstances:

Contracting a marriage shall be prohibited:

(a)Between the persons where at least either of them is married to another person as prescribed by law;

(b)Between close relatives (relatives in the direct ascending and descending lines, i.e. parents and children, grandfather, grandmother and grandchildren, as well as siblings, half-blood brothers and sisters, and cousins);

(c)Between adopters and adoptees;

(d)Between the persons, where at least either of them has been recognised as legally incapable by the court”.

37.Besides, on 20 May 2013 the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia adopted the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men”; the main purpose thereof is to ensure equality between women and men in all spheres, legal protection from discrimination, as well as support the formation of civil society.

38.As for the requirement to consider the manifestations of discrimination towards women of national minorities during implementation of the gender policy under point 16 of the Concluding Observations, it should be mentioned that currently (in 2015), studies are being carried out and will end with the development of a package of documents on the primary directions of the sphere for the coming years in which the gender issues of the national minorities shall be discussed.

Article 2

Legislative Reforms

39.For the purpose of ensuring the rights and freedoms of representatives of the national minorities residing in the territory of the Republic of Armenia, a relevant legislative framework has been established in the Republic of Armenia, which is described in detail in the Fifth-Sixth Joint Periodic National Report submitted to the Committee. However, for the purpose of fighting against all forms of discrimination, the legal framework regulating various spheres of social life has been amended, and numerous practical measures have been implemented in recent years.

40.One of the first steps in the state policy for exclusion of discrimination may be considered the National Strategy for the Protection of Human Rights, developed on the basis of Decree of the President of the Republic of Armenia NK-159-N of 29 October 2012 (hereinafter referred to as “the Strategy”) as a tool ensuring implementation of a joint and comprehensive policy in the sphere of human rights protection. For the purpose of implementation of the Strategy, on 27 February 2014, Action Plan deriving from the National Strategy for the Protection of Human Rights (hereinafter referred to as “the Action Plan”) was adopted by Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia N-303-N. Part 2 of the Action Plan refers to the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief, the fight against discrimination. Moreover, the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, for the purpose of implementation of Decision 303-N, must study the compatibility of the legislation of the Republic of Armenia with the norms of international law relating to the prohibition of discrimination, as well as discuss the appropriateness of adopting a separate law “On the fight against discrimination”.

41.According to point 2 of Article 3 of the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On non-governmental organisations”, the right of a human being to form associations includes the right to set up an association freely with others, to join it (take part in it), the right to take part in its activity and to withdraw from membership (participation) without any restrictions — irrespective of nationality, race, gender, language, religion, political or other views, social origin, property or other status and citizenship. This right may in cases and in the manner prescribed by law — be restricted for officers of the armed forces and law-enforcement officers. Article 21 of the same Law enshrines that the authorised state body may apply to the court with a claim to liquidate the organisation where the activities of the organisation are aimed at violently overthrowing the constitutional order of the Republic of Armenia, inciting national, racial and religious hatred and spreading propaganda of violence or warfare.

42.Article 15 of the Judicial Code of the Republic of Armenia enshrines the principle of equality of all before the law. According to point 2 of the same Law, “Discrimination of rights, freedoms and duties on the ground of sex, race, skin colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion, world outlook, political or other views, national minority status, property status, birth, disability, age, or other personal or social circumstances shall be prohibited.” The Judicial Code prescribes that a judge must not hold membership in organisations that instil hostility and discrimination on the ground of race, sex, nationality, religion, or other features, as well as in organisations that engage in activities prohibited by law. Membership in religious organisations or unions of compatriots shall not per se be considered as a breach of this provision.

43.Article 248 of the Code of the Republic of Armenia on Administrative Offences enshrines that “Examination of a case on administrative offences shall be carried out according to the principle of equality of all citizens before the law and the body examining the case, regardless of their origin, social and property status, racial or national belonging, sex, education, language, attitude towards religion, type and nature of occupation, place of residence, and other circumstances.”

44.Annex 2, which is attached to the Report, gives a general picture of the existence of anti-discrimination norms in the legislation of the Republic of Armenia, as well as legal regulation based on the grounds protected by the prohibition of discrimination (for example, sex, age, national belonging, health condition, religion, belief, political or other views, etc.).

45.On 19 June 2013, the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia adopted the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On making supplements to the Law of the Republic of Armenia ʽOn local self-governmentʼ”; the implementation thereof envisages capacity-building of local self-government bodies through the deepening of relations between the latter and the population (including national minorities), development of community-based participatory institutions, establishment of the culture of democratic governance as a separate level for public administration. One of the most important innovations of that Law is that the residents of the community may take the initiative to include an issue in the agenda for the session of the Council of Elders (under the current law the Head of the Community and the Council of Elders enjoy this right). Naturally, residents representing national minorities also enjoy this right.

46.In relation to the requirement of point 20 of the Concluding Observations, it should be mentioned that Armenia has signed the International Convention for the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families and at the moment it is undergoing the domestic procedure for ratification.

Other reforms

47.The Government of the Republic of Armenia does not implement a policy or measures aimed at changing the structural composition of the population. The concern about composition change has been in the centre of attention of the Government of the Republic of Armenia and the latter, in the main document describing the above-mentioned reforms “Concept for enlargement of communities and establishment of inter-community unions” (which was approved during the session of the Government of the Republic of Armenia of 10 November 2010), as the most important criterion for enlargement of communities, stipulates the following:

“The communities inhabited by national minorities may be enlarged only with the communities predominantly inhabited by the representatives of the same nation.”

Article 3

48.There is no information on implementation of Article 3 of the Convention since the legal system of the Republic of Armenia excludes racial segregation, and no such cases have been recorded in practice. However, as for point 8 of the Concluding Observations, which refers to the provisions on segregation and apartheid in the legislation, it should be mentioned that Article 390 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia enshrines the impermissibility of practices of apartheid or other inhuman and degrading practices involving outrages upon personal dignity, based on racial discrimination regarded as grave breaches of the norms of international humanitarian law during armed conflict, which is considered a criminally punishable act and is punished by imprisonment for a term of eight to twelve years.

Article 4

49.The Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, which entered into force on 1 August 2003, addresses, in particular, the provisions of Article 4 of the Convention. According to part 1 of Article 226 of the Code, actions aimed at incitement of national, racial, or religious hostility, racial superiority or humiliation of national dignity are qualified as crime and are punished by a fine in the amount of two-hundred-fold to five-hundred-fold of the minimum salary, or by imprisonment for a term of two to four years. As an aggravating circumstance for part 1 of the same Article, part 2 of Article 226 also includes the rest of the provisions of Article 4 of the Convention; in particular, committing such actions publicly or using mass media, by exerting violence or threatening to exert such violence, through abuse of power are punished by three to six years of imprisonment. Besides, in Article 63, the circumstances aggravating punishment and liability also include committing a crime on the grounds of national, racial or religious hatred, religious fanaticism.

50.In its turn, according to Article 392 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia — by the relevant amendment to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia of 23 May 2011 — “Expulsion, unlawful confinement, enslavement, application of mass death penalties on a regular basis, kidnapping followed by disappearance, torture or cruel actions, committed based on racial, national, ethnic background, political views and belief of the civilian population shall be punished by imprisonment for a term of seven to fifteen years, or by life imprisonment.”

51.Implementation of the requirements set forth by point (b) of Article 4 of the Convention is guaranteed by Article 28 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, which defines that everyone shall have the right to association with others and to join them, though at the same time part 2 of Article 47 provides for a restriction; in particular, “the exercise of rights and freedoms for the purpose of overthrowing the constitutional order, incitement of national, racial and religious hatred, propaganda of violence and warfare shall be prohibited.”

52.As for the recommendation set forth by point 14 of the Concluding Observations, reference should be made to Article 21 of the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On non-governmental organisations” adopted on 4 December 2001, which stipulates that in case the activities of an organisation are aimed at incitement of racial hatred, the authorised state body may apply to the court with a claim to liquidate the organisation, as well as to Article 3 of the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On political parties”, which stipulates that a union may not be recognised as a party if its Charter provides for membership solely by professional, national, racial, or religious characteristics. Moreover, Article 9 of the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On political parties” stipulates that “Establishment and operation of political parties, the objectives or activities of which are aimed for incitement of national, racial and religious hatred, propaganda of violence and warfare, shall be prohibited.”

53.At the same time it should be mentioned that now there is no political organisation in the territory of Armenia, the members of which make calls for expulsion of any ethnic group from the territory of Armenia.

Article 5

54.The state, on behalf of the bodies and officials authorised by the Constitution and other laws of the Republic of Armenia ensures equality before the law through legal, organisational and other mechanisms without any differentiation on the grounds of race, colour, national or ethnic origin. Based on the current legal framework, the authorities of the Republic of Armenia ensure equality with regard to exercise of all the rights referred to in the Convention.

(a)Right to equality before the court and all other bodies administering justice

55.According to Article 91 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, justice in the Republic of Armenia is administered solely by the courts. Equality of all before the law and the court in the Republic of Armenia is ensured through the legislation of the Republic of Armenia.

56.The Code of the Republic of Armenia on Administrative Offences prescribes examination of a case on administrative offence according to the principle of equality of citizens. Particularly, it is mentioned that “Examination of a case on administrative offence shall be carried out according to the principle of equality of all citizens before the law and the body examining the case, regardless of their origin, social and property status, racial or national belonging, sex, education, language, attitude towards religion, type and nature of occupation, place of residence, and other circumstances.”

57.Article 6 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia enshrines that persons having committed a criminal offence shall be equal before the law and shall be subject to criminal liability irrespective of sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion, world outlook, political and other views, national minority status, property status, birth, disability or other personal or social circumstances.

58.According to Article 8 of the Penitentiary Code of the Republic of Armenia, the procedure and conditions for the execution of a sentence shall extend to all convicts, irrespective of sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, ethnic or social origin, national minority status, birth, property or other status.

(b)Right to security of person and protection by the State from violence or bodily injury, whether inflicted by government officials or by any individuals or institution

59.The Constitution of the Republic of Armenia ensures that everyone has the right to personal liberty and security. A person may be deprived of liberty in cases and in the manner prescribed by law. It also guarantees the right to effective legal remedies for protection of rights and freedoms of all before judicial and other state authorities.

60.On 28 November 2007, the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia adopted the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On the Special Investigation Service”. According to the Law, the Special Investigation Service carries out preliminary investigation of criminal cases pertaining to complicity with regard to official positions of management staff of legislative, executive and judicial authorities, of persons carrying out special state service, or pertaining to crimes committed by them, as well as to election processes, as provided for by the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia.

61.For the purpose of ensuring this right, topics devoted to human rights, as well as national and racial minorities have been included in the curricula of the service-related courses regularly held within all the subdivisions of the Police of the Republic of Armenia and the Educational Complex of the Police.

62.Thus, in April 2010, the Embassy of the United States of America to Armenia organised a seminar on “The Right to Liberty and Security of a Person under the European Convention of Human Rights”, which was attended by 8 police officers of the Republic of Armenia.

63.On 15-16 November 2010, a seminar on “Public Order Protection and Eliminating Ill-Treatment for Police Officers” was held in Yerevan. The seminar was organised by the Secretary General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs of the Council of Europe, jointly with the Police of the Republic of Armenia. In total, 45 leading officers of the central apparatus and territorial subdivisions of the Police of the Republic of Armenia took part in the seminar.

64.On 8-9 November 2011, the Council of Europe, jointly with the European Union, organised “European Code of Police Ethics and the Police Ethics in Armenia from the Perspective of Human Rights” thematic seminar in Yerevan for police officers. The seminar was attended by 41 police officers of the Police of the Republic of Armenia.

65.On 20 June 2014, a lecture entitled “The Problems of the Inviolability of Fundamental Human Rights” was organised with the support of the Division for Scientific Works of the Educational Complex of the Police of the Republic of Armenia.

(c)Political rights, in particular the right to participate in elections, to vote and to be elected on the basis of universal and equal suffrage, right to take part in governance, as well as in the public affairs of the country at any level and right to have equal access to public service

66.The legal framework of the Republic of Armenia fully guarantees the aforementioned rights. Thus, Article 30 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia prescribes that citizens of the Republic of Armenia - who have attained the age of eighteen shall have the right to vote and to take part in referenda, as well as to take part in the state governance and local self-governance directly and through their representatives elected by free expression of their will. According to Article 64 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, everyone having attained the age of twenty-five, having been a citizen of the Republic of Armenia for the preceding five years, having been permanently residing in the Republic in the preceding five years and having the right of suffrage may be elected as a deputy.

67.In addition to the constitutional provisions, Article 3 of the Electoral Code of the Republic of Armenia, in its turn, prescribes that “Electors shall - irrespective of national origin, race, gender, language, religion, political or other views, social origin, property or other status - have the right to vote and to be elected. Any restriction of the right to suffrage on these grounds shall be prosecuted by law.” Article 4 ensures that citizens participate in elections on equal grounds and on equal conditions for exercising their right to vote.

68.As for point 13 of the Concluding Provisions, which expresses concern about insufficient representation of the national minorities within the elective and other public bodies, it is known that notwithstanding a relatively great number of communities of national minorities in Armenia, the number of persons belonging to them is small enough, and this does not enable them to have their own deputy, even from compact settlements. This is the reason why they do not have their representative in the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia.

69.Notwithstanding the fact that no representative of a national minority nominated by the community is represented in the National Assembly, the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On making supplements to the Law of the Republic of Armenia ʽOn local self-governmentʼ” adopted by the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on 19 June 2013 envisages capacity- building of local self-government bodies through the deepening of relations between the local self-government bodies and different groups of the population, including national minorities. In particular, the Law enables the residents representing national minorities to take the initiative to include an issue in the meeting agenda of the Council of Elders.

70.It is worth mentioning that according to Article 89 of the Draft of the Constitutional Reforms adopted on December 6, 2015 the representatives of national minorities are — as prescribed by the Electoral Code — provided with seats in the National Assembly.

71.Based on the requirements of the above mentioned point 13 of the Concluding Observations, Annex 3 includes the table showing the involvement of the national minorities within the elective and other state bodies of the Republic of Armenia.

(d)Other civil rights, in particular:

Right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of the State

Right to leave any country, including one’s own, and to return to one’s own country

72.According to Article 25 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia,

“Everyone lawfully staying within the Republic of Armenia shall have the right to move freely and choose a place of residence within the territory of the Republic of Armenia.

Everyone shall have the right to leave the Republic of Armenia.

Every citizen and everyone enjoying the right to reside in the Republic of Armenia shall have the right to return to the Republic of Armenia.”

73.In the reporting period, there were no obstacles for the representatives of the national minorities of the Republic of Armenia with regard to exercise of the right to establish and maintain free and peaceful contacts across frontiers with persons lawfully staying in other States. Every year, representatives of the national minorities of the Republic of Armenia participate in international conferences, workshops and other events without any impediment.

Right to marriage and choice of a spouse

74.According to Article 35 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, a man and a woman of marriageable age have the right to marry and form a family with free expression of their will. They enjoy equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution. Marital relationships are also regulated by the Family Code of the Republic of Armenia, which prohibits all forms of restriction of citizen’s rights in family relationships on the ground of social, racial, national, language or religious belonging.

Right to own property alone as well as in association with others

Right of succession

75.Under Article 8 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, the right to property is recognised and protected in the Republic of Armenia and, under Article 31, everyone has the right to possess, use, dispose of, and bequeath his or her property at his or her discretion. The owner has the right to undertake at his or her discretion any actions with regard to the property belonging to him or her, not contradicting the law and not violating the rights and interests of other persons protected by law, as well as shall have the right to alienate his or her property to other persons as ownership, transfer to them the rights of use, possession and disposition of the property, to pledge the property or to dispose of it in another way.

76.Right to property is fully regulated by the provisions of the Civil Code of the Republic of Armenia.

Right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion

Right to freedom of opinion and expression

Right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association

77.Article 26 of the Constitution prescribes the fundamental rights of freedom of thought, conscience and religion. The Constitution also guarantees freedom of activity of all religious organisations functioning in the Republic of Armenia as prescribed by law. Freedom of religion, belief, general relations with regard to the rights and activities of religious organisations are regulated by the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On freedom of conscience and religious organisations”. The Law of the Republic of Armenia “On freedom of conscience and religious organisations” enshrines that direct or indirect restrictions on citizens’ rights to belief, religious persecutions or prevention of other rights, incitement of religious enmity are subject to liability prescribed by law.

78.According to the data of 2015, 66 religious organisations are registered in the State Register Agency of Legal Entities of the Republic of Armenia, whereof 8 are the religious organisations of national minorities (including Russian, Assyrian, Jewish, Yezidi religious communities). According to Article 5 of the current Law of the Republic of Armenia “On freedom of conscience and religious organisations”, the terms established for the registration of religious organisations are not mandatory for the religious organisations of national minorities; the latter benefit from preferential and simplified terms prescribed by law when receiving state registration. The state body for religious affairs authorised by the Government of the Republic of Armenia is the Division for Ethnic Minorities and Religious Affairs of the Staff of the Government of the Republic of Armenia which, as prescribed by law, gives an expert opinion on the religious communities having applied for registration. In the reporting period, positive opinions were delivered for the applications of all the religious communities for state registration; the registration of any religious community applied for registration was not rejected.

79.The state body for religious affairs authorised by the Government of the Republic of Armenia, i.e. the Division for Ethnic Minorities and Religious Affairs of the Staff of the Government of the Republic of Armenia, as prescribed by law (Article 23 of the Law “On freedom of conscience and religious organisations”), assists — upon the request of religious organisations — in reaching an agreement with state bodies on specific issues and provides the support that is necessary for the resolution of these issues by state bodies, as well as participates, on behalf of the State, as a mediator in the resolution of issues and disputes arising between the religious organisations of Armenia.

80.In 2013, the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On alternative service” was amended in accordance with European standards, within the scope of which the peculiarities conditioned by religious belief have been taken into account. In particular, the terms of alternative service have been reduced to a certain degree, defining the term of alternative military service for 30 months and the term of alternative labour service — for 36 months, instead of the former 36 and 42 months, respectively. The discussion on the applications of the citizens of the Republic of Armenia on alternative service and decision-making are vested in the “Republican Commission”, which is composed of single representatives of the state administration bodies authorised in the spheres of territorial administration, healthcare, labour and social affairs, education and science, police and defence, as well as administration bodies coordinating the spheres of national minorities and religion. The process of making amendments to the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On alternative service” took place during public discussions held in an open atmosphere, taking into consideration the approaches and opinions of all the stakeholders.

81.Religious organisations of the Republic of Armenia operate freely, as well as build their meeting houses and cathedrals. In the reporting period, Jehovah’s Witnesses built a new meeting house, and Armenia’s Yezidi Community built the world’s second cathedral-complex in the Republic of Armenia.

82.The Republic of Armenia has taken all historical and architectural, cultural, and religious structures located within the territory of the Republic of Armenia under state protection, irrespective of their ethnic or religious belonging. According to the Agency for Preserving Historical and Cultural Monuments of the Ministry of Culture, besides the monuments belonging to the Armenian Apostolic Church and other historic monuments (e.g. a pagan temple, Chalcedonian churches, etc.), the following monuments belonging to the religious and ethnic communities currently existing or already not existing within the territory of Armenia — are protected by the state:

•Catholic church in Gyumri, built in 1848-1855, by the Reverend Canon Araratyan

•Russian church in Vanadzor, built in 1895, reconstructed in 1977

•Russian church in Gyumri (Plplan Zham), built in 1904

•Russian church in Yerevan, built in 1913

•Russian church in the community of Amrakits, built in 1910-1914

•Russian church in the community of Urasar, built in the late 19th and in the early 20th century

•Alexandrapol Fortress (1835-1845, St Alexandra Church), city of Gyumri

•“Kabardinski” military post (19th century), city of Gyumri

•“Kazachi post” military post (19th century), city of Gyumri

•“Sivirski” military post (19th century), city of Gyumri

•“Poligon” military post (19th century), city of Gyumri

•Barrack Complex (19th century), Kanaker District, city of Yerevan

•Russian church, city of Alaverdi, Manes district, built in the 1880-1890s

•“Al. Pushkin meeting Al. Griboyedov’s catafalque” Memorial Spring, Lori Marz of the Republic of Armenia, community of Gargar

•The Russian Soldier’s grave (the bed of honour, 1804), Lori Marz of the Republic of Armenia, community of Nor Khachakap

•Blue Mosque (Gueoy Mosque) in Yerevan, built in 1766. It was reconstructed in 1992 and is currently open to visitors. The Mosque has a library, museum, cultural centre and school of Persian language. The Blue Mosque in Yerevan is valued as an outstanding example of late Persian architecture preserved in Transcaucasia

•Mosque of Abas Mirza (Sardar) in Yerevan, built in the late 19th century, city of Yerevan

•Turkmen tomb (1413), Ararat Marz of the Republic of Armenia, community of Argavand

•Mongolian tomb (13th century), city of Yerevan

•Tomb (15th-17th centuries), Aragatsotn Marz of the Republic of Armenia, community of Aruch

•Tomb (14th century), Aragatsotn Marz of the Republic of Armenia, community of Bazmaghbyur

•Mosque (Persian, 17th century), Aragatsotn Marz of the Republic of Armenia, community of Agarak

•Mosque (Persian, 17-18th centuries), Syunik Marz of the Republic of Armenia, Andokavan community

•Tomb (Muslim, 13th century), Syunik Marz of the Republic of Armenia, community of Tegh

•Mosque (Persian, 19th-20th centuries), Shirak Marz of the Republic of Armenia, community of Zorakan

•St Kyrill Church (Assyrian church, 1840), Ararat Marz of the Republic of Armenia, community of Dimitrov

•Urma Church (Assyrian church, late 19th century) Ararat Marz of the Republic of Armenia, community of Verin Dvin

•St Mary the Virgin Church [Surb Mariam Astvatsatsin] (Assyrian, 1881), Kotayk Marz of the Republic of Armenia, community of Arzni

•St Sva Church (Greek church, 1909), Lori Marz of the Republic of Armenia, Shamrugh village. It is valued as an example of a Greek church preserved in Armenia

•Church (Persian, 19th century), Kotayk Marz of the Republic of Armenia, community of Hankavan

•Church (Persian, 17th century), Lori Marz of the Republic of Armenia, community of Yaghdan

•Church (Greek, 18th century), Syunik Marz of the Republic of Armenia, city of Kapan, Kavart district

•Jewish cemetery of the 14th-17th centuries, Vayots Dzor Marz of the Republic of Armenia, Yeghegnadzor region, community of Yeghegis

•Kurdish cemetery of the 16th-18th centuries, Aragatsotn Marz of the Republic of Armenia, subregion of Aragats, community of Rya Taza

83.Around 50 Azerbaijani monuments, mainly cemeteries, are registered and are being preserved in various Marzes of Armenia.

84.In October 2012, the multi-member delegation led by spiritual leader of All Yezidis Mire-Mira Tahsin Beg visited Armenia and received a high-level reception. During a meeting with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, the latter assured that Armenia would continue to provide all the possible conditions to ensure the exercise of the rights of representatives of national minorities, including the Yezidi community and expressed willingness to discuss the issues that the Government can help to solve.At the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, the delegation led by the spiritual leader was also received by His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians. During the visit, the spiritual leader of the Yezidis also participated in the ceremony of consecration of Ziarat, which is the second largest temple of Yezidi religion after Lalish and was built in 2011 in the Aknalich settlement of Armavir Marz.

85.On 22 April 2015, the ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of the new Tause Malak temple in the same settlement was officiated by His Holiness Mire-Mira Tahsin Beg.

(e)Economic, social and cultural rights, in particular:

T he right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work, to protection against unemployment, to equal pay for equal work, to just and proper remuneration

86.The developed legal framework guarantees the exercise of these rights in the Republic of Armenia. According to point 3 of part 1 of Article 3 of the Labour Code of the Republic of Armenia, the legal equality of parties to employment relations is a main principle of the labour legislation, irrespective of their sex, race, national origin, language, origin, nationality, social status, confession, marital and family status, age, beliefs or views, membership to political parties, to trade unions or non-governmental organisations, other circumstances not associated with the professional skills of employees.

87.According to point 4 and 5 of part 4 of Article 114 of the Labour Code, sex, race, national origin, language, origin, nationality, social status, confession, marital and family status, beliefs or views, membership to political parties or to non-governmental organisations, as well as age, except for the cases prescribed by law, may not be deemed as a lawful reason for rescinding an employment contract.

88.According to part 1 of Article 15, the capacity of having labour rights and bearing responsibilities (labour passive legal capacity) shall be recognised equally for all nationals of the Republic of Armenia.

89.The requirement that men and women shall receive equal pay for equal or equivalent work is prescribed by Article 178 of the Labour Code of the Republic of Armenia.

The right to form and join trade unions

90.Article 28 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia prescribes that everyone shall have the right to form associations with other persons, including the right to form and join trade unions.

91.According to Article 21 of the Labour Code of the Republic of Armenia, for the purpose of protection and representation of their rights and interests, employers and employees may freely and voluntarily join and establish trade unions and employers’ associations in the manner prescribed by law. At the same time, the Code prohibits hindering joining trade unions by employees.

92.According to Article 35 of the Code, non-state supervision over the implementation by employers of the labour legislation, other regulatory legal acts containing norms of labour law and of collective agreements shall be exercised by trade unions, and non-state supervision over the implementation by employees of the labour legislation, other regulatory legal acts containing norms of labour law and collective agreements shall be exercised by employers (representatives of employers).

The right to place of residence

93.The national minorities of the Republic of Armenia are free to choose their place of residence, and the obstacles that they face in the course of full exercise of this right are common for all nationals of the Republic of Armenia, irrespective of their national origin, and are conditioned by the existing social and economic issues in Armenia. The majority of national minorities of the Republic of Armenia resides in a dispersed manner, in different Marzes and towns of the Republic of Armenia. They are not isolated and live mostly in mixed national composition.

The right to health, medical assistance, social security and social services

94.Representatives of national minorities in the Republic of Armenia equally benefit from all types of medical assistance and services prescribed for nationals of the Republic of Armenia. Medical assistance and services at medical institutions of the Republic of Armenia are provided in cases of application (transfer), irrespective of race, national origin, language, sex, religious beliefs of a person or any other distinction.

95.The race, national or ethnic origin or any other similar characteristic of a person is not noted in any medical document filled in or maintained by medical institutions. While providing medical assistance and services to the population, medical institutions do not make any distinction as to the racial, national or other characteristics, since the available documents do not allow identifying the racial or other affiliation of a person who applied to the medical institution.

The right to education and professional training

96.The Republic of Armenia, based on the existing Constitution and legislative norms, ensures the right to education, irrespective of national origin, race, sex, language, confession, political or other views, social origin, property status or other circumstances.

Pre-school Education

97.In recent years, low-cost and school-based micro programmes are being carried out with the support of the World Bank in order to increase the enrolment of children in pre-school education. Within the scope of the programme, priority is given to poor families and to communities where there are no pre-school institutions. The special focus is on the enrolment of children of socially disadvantaged families, including the children of national minorities, refugees and migrants in pre-school education. Within the scope of the programme, school-based pre-school services are created or those services are expanded in kindergartens. In particular, in 2010, within the scope of this programme, micro-programmes for pre-school education were introduced in the institutions of general education of the communities of the Ararat Marz of the Republic of Armenia, including at the kindergarten of the community of Dimitrov and at the school of the community of Verin Dvin; repairing, finishing and furnishing works were carried out. Pre-school education centres have been established in the school buildings in a number of rural communities of Armenia where there are classes for the children of national minorities aged 4-5 during the first half of the day. Such pre-school education centres operate in a number of schools of general education in the Shirak, Aragatsotn, Armavir and Ararat Marzes of the Republic of Armenia.

98.With the view to ensuring continuation of pre-school education programmes launched with the support of the World Bank, starting from 2011, funds were envisaged in the State Budget of the Republic of Armenia for organising one-year education for senior pre-school age children. In 2011, corresponding funds were allocated from the State Budget of the Republic of Armenia to 4 Marzes of the Republic for pre-school education. The list has been enlarged year after year, and starting from 2014, corresponding funds are allocated from the State Budget of the Republic of Armenia to all the Marzes of the Republic of Armenia for pre-school education. The children of families belonging to vulnerable groups are obviously among the general groups of beneficiaries benefiting from the services provided as a result of the implementation of these programmes.

99.The mentioned initiative provides the opportunity to make pre-school education accessible for senior pre-school age children. It also expands the enrolment of beneficiaries (including children of national minorities, refugees, migrants and other vulnerable groups) in general education programmes, as well as facilitates their integration and supports instruction of the Armenian language. There is no restriction (conditioned by nationality, ethnic, sex and other affiliation) on enrolment in pre-school groups.

100.In 2015, centres organizing pre-school education with alternative models for children at the ages of 5-6 were created at general education schools N 1 and N 21 of the city of Yerevan within the scope of the programme “Capacity- building and Improvement in Living Standards of Refugees” carried out by the representative office of the Save the Children organisation in Armenia. The centres were furnished and provided with relevant teaching and methodical materials. The National Institute of Education of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia conducted corresponding training courses for educators and their assistants. The pre-school groups will operate under a 4-hour regime. The programme is aimed at raising the level of access to pre-school education for children of families having moved from Syria to Armenia and solving their problems with integration.

General Education

101.Pursuant to Article 4 of the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On general education”, general education of national minorities of the Republic of Armenia may be organised in their native or national language, by compulsory instruction of the Armenian language. At the same time, by Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia No. 1392-N of 25 July 2002, in individual cases (in schools in mountainous, highland, borderline rural settlements, in urban and rural schools having classes in languages of national minorities and in other cases) a class with few learners may be opened upon the authorisation of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia. This Decision provides the opportunity to open classes comprised of only Yezidi children in Yezidi-populated communities. In accordance with the procedure “For enrolment of a learner in an educational institution carrying out the main general education curricula in the Republic of Armenia, the transfer of a learner from an institution and dismissal from the institution, as well as organising of education for children enrolled in general education later than the prescribed period”, a learner belonging to a national minority is enrolled in the school with instruction in the national (native) language of the learner or a school (class) with a course on that language, and in case of absence thereof-the parent of the learner selects the language of instruction.

102.Within the scope of the 2012-2017 programme of the Government of the Republic of Armenia, the possibility for representatives of national minorities to receive high- quality basic education is expanded, as well as an additional opportunity for full-fledged manifestation of the cultures of the national minorities is provided. Based on the above mentioned programme, during the last three years, pursuant to the State Medium-Term Expenditure Programme of the Republic of Armenia, expansion of the possibility for learners of national minorities to receive education in their native language, as well as development of the culture of the national minorities are among the priorities set in the field of general education. Pursuant to the programme and timetable for the development of education of national minorities drafted by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia, textbooks are published and republished for the schools of national minorities on annual basis, as well as regular trainings are conducted for teachers of the schools of national minorities on a regular basis.

103.The Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia approves the exemplary educational programme of a general education school of the national minorities for each year where certain amount of hours is provided for study of native language, literature, culture and history of the national minorities for the 1st-12th grades (41 class hours per week).

104.The Yezidis, Kurds and Assyrians living in Armenia have created a teaching and methodical basis within the general education system with the support of state institutions. There are Commissions on “Iranian Studies” and “Semitology” established within the National Institute of Education of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia, performing expertise of curriculum, textbooks, manuals in the Yezidi, Kurdish and Assyrian languages.

105.The following steps have been carried out in the field of education of national minorities in Armenia:

•Sums are being allocated in the State Budget of the Republic of Armenia for the publication of textbooks based on the preliminary applications submitted by communities of national minorities residing in Armenia. Due to the sums allocated, textbooks for the 1st-4th grades in the Assyrian language have been published, the textbook “Speak Assyrian” for the 1st grade and the exercise book “Write and Read in Assyrian” for the 1st-2nd grades, the “Alphabet Book” of the Kurdish and Yezidi languages, the textbooks for the 2nd-12th grades in Kurdish and curricula have been published and republished.

•The textbooks of the Yezidi language for the 2nd-12th grades have been published. The Yezidi Community has also shown active participation in the development of these textbooks; the Yezidi specialists of the National Institute of Education of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia have been involved.

•The criterion and curriculum of Kurdish and Assyrian languages for 1st-12th grades have been approved.

•The textbook “Armenian Studies-5”, and textbooks of Mathematics for senior grades have been translated from Armenian into Russian and provided to the pupils of the schools of national minorities by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia.

•The curriculum for the 1st-9th grades in the Yezidi language, textbooks of the Yezidi language (electronic version) for 1st-9th and 11th grades are posted at http://lib.armedu.am in the “Database of Resources” subsite of the “Armenian Environment” portal operated by the National Institute of Educational Technologies. The electronic textbooks of Kurdish language for the 2nd-7th grades are also posted here.

•The National Institute of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia regularly conducts 30-hour trainings for the teachers of Yezidi and Kurdish languages; Armenian language courses have also been held for representatives of the national minorities. In 2015, 7 Assyrian language teachers were trained; training for Greek language teachers will also be conducted by the end of the year.

•Due to the lack of highly-qualified teachers of the Yezidi language, by way of exception, the Yezidi language is taught by teachers with no relevant education and recommended by non-governmental organisations.

•Non-governmental organisations of national minorities in the Republic of Armenia have established Sunday schools which operate in their languages. As of 2014, there are Polish, Greek, Georgian, Jewish, German, Belarusian and Ukrainian Sunday schools, most of which organise their courses at the Cultural Centre provided free-of-charge to national minorities by the State.

106.Around 42 schools of general education have classes with instruction in the Russian language for the population of Russian or Slavonic origin where the general education subjects are taught in the Russian language, except for Armenian language and literature and the History of Armenia. Meanwhile, there are around 60 schools of general education in the Republic of Armenia providing advanced Russian language instruction. In all schools of general education of the Republic with instruction in Armenian, Russian language and literature are taught from the 2nd-12th grades, and the teaching is conducted using textbooks developed in Armenia, taking into consideration the peculiarities of teaching Russian language in national schools. In the schools with advanced Russian language instruction, Russian language is taught from the 1st grade. Special textbooks and methodological manuals have been published for these schools. In schools (classes) where Russian is the language of instruction, textbooks recommended by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation are used, as well as programmes recommended and approved by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia.

107.Taking into consideration the military situation in Syria and the number of immigrants in Armenia, all children have been provided with the opportunity to continue their education in corresponding classes of a general education school, irrespective of the availability of documents certifying the class. As for the young people who have graduated in Syria, have received a graduation document, but have lost it as a result of the military situation, they have been provided with the opportunity to study in the last class of the general education institution of the Republic of Armenia and receive a graduation document of the Republic of Armenia. With a view to ensuring maximum integration, all refugees have been centralised in several schools where they have been provided with psychological and educational assistance individually. A considerable number of Syrian-Armenians have been enrolled in Basic School N 14 after Nar-Dos in Yerevan (here they are also taught Arabic by a Syrian-Armenian teacher), as well as in High School N 114 of Yerevan.

Vocational Education

108.The applicants belonging to national minorities in the Republic of Armenia are enrolled to the institutions of higher education on general basis, as well as based on the applications submitted by the heads of national minority communities.

109.Based on the results of admissions exams, every year, upon the proposal of the given community, tuition free slots are provided from the reserve slots to the representatives of national minorities (to the Assyrian, Yezidi and Kurdish communities). In 2013, a slot was provided to a representative of the Assyrian community and in 2014 – 2 slots for representatives of the Yezidi community, and in 2015 – 1 slot for a representative of the Yezidi community.

110.For the 2015 Academic Year, 2 applications were submitted to the Co-ordinating Council in relation to discounts of tuition fee for 2 Assyrian students having been admitted to the Armenian State Pedagogical University after Kh. Abovyan and Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and Cinema. The applications with attached petition were sent to the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia, which gave a positive response.

111.Classic Assyrian is taught in the second semester of the first academic year and in the first semester of the second academic year of the Master’s Programme in the Faculty of Oriental Studies of Yerevan State University, and Yezidi language is taught in the Faculty of Oriental Studies, where instruction of that language is in line with the profession that the student has chosen.

112.Since 2007, upon nomination of the organisations represented in the Co-ordinating Council and upon motion of the Staff of the President of the Republic of Armenia, in each academic year, representatives of Yezidi, Kurdish and Assyrian communities have been provided with slots on a non-competitive basis for study in the Faculty of Oriental Studies of Yerevan State University. Starting from 2010, representatives of other national minorities, who are nominated by the organisations representing relevant communities in the Council and who express a wish to study in the departments related to culture and language at higher education institutions with the aim of developing national culture and language, based on the decision of the Republican Admission Committee also have the opportunity to enjoy those privileges on an annual basis.

113.Later, upon motion of the Council, the higher education institution applies full or partial discount of tuition fee for those students. Besides, the Youth Foundation of Armenia provides financial assistance both for education of Yezidi students and implementation of cultural programmes proposed by the youth organisations representing the Yezidi community.

114.The applicants belonging to national minorities who have been admitted to state higher education institutions benefit from all the privileges established by the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On education”, including participation in the rotation process arranged in the higher education institution, benefit from the right of tuition waiver in the prescribed manner, are provided with state scholarships, participate in inter- and intra-institutional transfer - according to their preferences and in the manner established, participate in the admission to Master’s degree programme, etc.

115.With a view to raising awareness, particularly at the initiative of the Yezidi community, numerous events are organised in order to make the Yezidis pay more attention to vocational education and are held with the active participation of representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia.

116.It should be mentioned that, in spite of the fact that over the last couple of years the applicants belonging to national minorities, including the Yezidis have mainly been applying to the Faculty of Oriental Studies and to the professional faculties of foreign languages of Yerevan State University, they, at the same time, also obtain qualification of a pedagogue. This provides those students with the opportunity to work as pedagogues in their respective communities upon graduation. There are also students belonging to national minorities within non-state higher education institutions.

117.We inform the following in relation to points 12 and 15 of the Concluding Observations of the Committee:

118.The Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia, within the scope of co-operation with international and non-governmental organisations, has carried out several educational and cultural programmes targeted at the education of children and youth of Iraqi-Armenian migrants having taken shelter in Armenia and the parents thereof, their cultural adaptation, as well as the improvement of their conditions.

119.In particular, the Save the Children international organisation began to implement its programme in this direction in 2008 and continued until 2011. The programme was carried out through funding from the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration of the U.S. Department of State. The Mission Armenia non-governmental organisation also participated in the implementation of the programme.

120.Within the scope of the programme, a number of activities have been carried out for the education of pre-school age children, schoolchildren, extracurricular education, leisure, as well as the cultural adaptation and improvement of living conditions of migrant families.

121.Within the scope of the programme, educational and cultural centres have been established in the Kanaker-Zeytun administrative district of Yerevan and in the Darbnik village of Ararat Marz where children have been and are cared for, taught and educated and where there have been and are computer courses, language courses and parent education courses. At the pre-school education centre, children between the ages of 5-6 take their first steps in the field of developing speech, having an idea of elementary mathematics, art and aesthetic education and prepare for school life. Courses for parents have been organised within the scope of parent education. Discussions and individual consultations devoted to the education, health, nutrition and the organising of a vacation for children have been conducted. Jointly with the National Institute of Education of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia, practical lessons have been organised on the basis of resource centres, and relevant methodological books have been distributed to the participants of the courses due to technical assistance of the UNICEF.

122.Besides, within the scope of the “Target Initiative for Armenia” Programme funded by the EU, Armenian language is taught for migrants, refugees and the members of other vulnerable groups lacking knowledge of Armenian at the Armenian State Pedagogical University after Kh. Abovyan of Yerevan.

Admission of foreign nationals to vocational education institutions of the Republic of Armenia

123.The admission of foreign nationals (including Diasporan Armenians) at educational institutions of the Republic of Armenia is regulated by international treaties of the Republic of Armenia on co-operation in the education and science sectors signed between the Republic of Armenia and other states, as well as in accordance with the procedure “For admission of foreign nationals, as well as family members of diplomats working within bodies of the diplomatic service of the Republic of Armenia operating in a foreign state to higher education institutions of the Republic of Armenia”, approved by Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia No. 700-N of 28 April 2011, the procedure “For admission to educational institutions carrying out primary vocational (technical) and secondary vocational education programmes of the Republic of Armenia” approved by Order of the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia No. 254-N of 5 April 2012, the procedure “For admission of foreign nationals to educational institutions carrying out primary vocational (technical) and secondary vocational education programmes of the Republic of Armenia” approved by Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia No. 1295-N of 25 August 2011.

124.The purpose of the existence of separate procedures for admission is to:

•Make education accessible for foreign nationals at educational institutions of the Republic of Armenia

•Contribute to upbringing with the spirit of respect and mutual understanding between peoples, help spark interest among the youth in Armenian cultural heritage and contribute to the development of Armenology

125.Foreign nationals having received a secondary education in the Republic of Armenia and residing in Armenia (including refugees, persons having received temporary shelter, etc.) may also be admitted to primary (handicraft) and secondary vocational institutions, as well as to higher education institutions and scientific and research institutions on a general basis. Foreign nationals having expressed the desire to be admitted to state universities of the Republic of Armenia on a general basis shall submit to the Admission Committee of the university, along with other documents, a certificate of secondary education, a document (original) of secondary vocational and primary vocational (handicraft) education, as well as an identification document (passport, military service record, birth certificate (along with temporary identification document issued by the Police of the Republic of Armenia adjunct to the Government of the Republic of Armenia), a certificate of refugee, special passport of the Republic of Armenia, residency certificate). During admission exams, the examination papers are translated for those lacking knowledge of the Armenian language. In all other cases, all the prescribed conditions of the competition apply to them equally, and in case of earning high points-they have the right to slots for which scholarships are provided and tuition fee is reimbursed.

126.Applicants who have preferred to be admitted through the admissions procedure for foreign nationals may be admitted to the paid instruction system (first year) of secondary vocational and higher education institutions, where they are fluent in Armenian and have minimum knowledge of the exam subjects. Foreign applicants having been admitted to state higher vocational education institutions of the Republic of Armenia with no knowledge of the Armenian language are admitted to the preparatory faculty (departments) of higher education institutions for a one-year period where they study Armenian and the exam subjects for admission.

127.Foreign students, including also Diasporan Armenian students from 33 countries mainly study at state universities of the Republic of Armenia, as well as at the following interstate universities: Armenian-Russian (Slavonic) University and the European Regional Educational Academy. The specified students are primarily nationals of Iran, India, Syria, Georgia, Russia and the USA.

128.At the same time, based on the situation created in the Syrian Arab Republic, a 50% discount has been set for the tuition fee for students having migrated from Syria and studying in the preparatory departments of higher education institutions of the Republic of Armenia, and starting from 2012, the tuition fee for Syrian-Armenian students studying at a higher education institution has been set to amounts prescribed for nationals of the Republic of Armenia.

129.It is also necessary to mention that the tuition fees for the 2012-2013 Academic Year for 300 students having migrated from Syria have been reimbursed with the support of the Government of the Republic of Armenia and “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund. Besides, the Government of the Republic of Armenia, the AGBU and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation have reimbursed the tuition fees for 375 Syrian-Armenian students of universities of Armenia for the 2013-2014 Academic Year through the “Centre for Coordination of Syrian-Armenians’ Issues” NGO. The tuition fees for the 2014-2015 Academic Year for 396 students having migrated from Syria have been reimbursed. For the 2015-2016 Academic Year it is envisaged to reimburse tuition fees for nearly 450 students (the Syrian-Armenians having attended high schools, as well as the Syrian-Armenians arriving to Armenia due to more migration flows will also be included in the abovementioned number of students).

The right to equal participation in cultural activities

130.The development of the cultures of national minorities creating and producing cultural diversity in Armenia is in the focus of the Government of the Republic of Armenia.

131.The national minorities residing in the territory of the Republic have the right to protect and develop their own traditions, language and culture, as well as their freedom of conscience and are involved in the sustainable development processes in the Republic of Armenia. The national minorities of Armenia (Yezidis, Kurds, Russians, Ukrainians, Greeks, Assyrians, Jews, Belarusians, Georgians, Poles and Germans) are unique with their cultural identities, and the cultures of the latter form a part of the cultural diversity of Armenia.

132.Article 9 of the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On fundamentals of cultural legislation” stipulates that “participation in the cultural life of the society and carrying out cultural activities in the territory of the Republic of Armenia is an inalienable right of each person, irrespective of his or her national origin, race, sex, language, religion, belief, social origin, property or other status”.

133.Article 8 of the above mentioned Law stipulates that the Republic of Armenia shall support the preservation and development of the cultural identity of the national minorities residing in its territory, and shall, through implementation of state programmes, contribute to the creation of conditions for preservation, dissemination and development of their confession, traditions, language, cultural heritage and culture.

134.As mentioned above, the authorities of the Republic of Armenia make allocations from the State Budget for the implementation of relevant activities and programmes. The issues relating to the preservation of historical, spiritual, cultural values and ethnic identity of national minorities residing in the territory of the Republic of Armenia are also included in the programmes of the culture sector of the National Security Strategy.

135.It is also necessary to cite Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia of 1 March 2012 “On approving the criteria for recognition of the cultural spaces in the Republic of Armenia and the list of cultural spaces”, by which it is envisaged to preserve the folk traditions of national minorities, study the development of their culture, reinforce co-operation with relevant regional and international institutions ensuring the broadest possible participation of communities, groups — which create, preserve and transfer intangible cultural values — in activities for the preservation, development and dissemination of that heritage.

136.The Division for Ethnic Minorities and Religious Affairs of the Government of the Republic of Armenia, which maintains close relations with the communities of national minorities of the Republic of Armenia, largely contributes to the preservation, dissemination and development of the cultural heritage of national minorities.

137.The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia traditionally conducts the following events for national minorities only:

•Exhibitions of fine arts and decorative-applied arts of national minorities of the Republic of Armenia

•Music festival of the national minorities of the Republic of Armenia, in which representatives of all the communities of national minorities participate

•Since 2008, a new project “Arrangement of visits to the monuments of the national minorities of the Republic of Armenia and creation of a video film” has been carried out. The project is also of a scientific and cognitive nature

138.In 2015, the national minorities of Armenia, with state support, have held events devoted to national holidays, including the organisation of traditional Yezidi, Assyrian, Ukrainian and Russian cultural, educational and festive events in the Marzes of the Republic of Armenia, which have been held by the “National Union of Yezidis” NGO, the “ʽAtur’ Assyrian Association of Armenia” NGO, the “ʽUkraina’ Federation of Ukrainians of Armenia” NGO and “Rosia” NGO, respectively. The national minorities of Armenia have also participated in the events held within the framework of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. In particular, the Co-ordinating Council of national and cultural organisations of the national minorities of the Republic of Armenia organised an event entitled “National Minorities of Armenia against Genocides” at “Arno Babajanyan” Concert Hall; the “ʽIlios’ Community of Greeks of the City of Yerevan” NGO carried out the Armenian translation of the documentary film “Following the Traces of Argonauts” about the genocide of the Greeks; the “Jewish Community of Armenia” held an event entitled “Wheel of History” at the House of Moscow dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, to the Jewish Holocaust and to the 70th anniversary of the Great Patriotic War; the “National Union of Yezidis” organised an event dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide at the holy place of the Yezidis (Ziarat) located in Armavir Marz; the “Midia-Shangal” Yezidi organisation, with the support of Yezidi benefactors abroad and the Republican Party of Armenia, placed a monument dedicated to the memory of the innocent victims of Yezidi people of 1915 in the centre of Yerevan.

139.A photo exhibition dedicated to condemnation of the genocidal acts perpetrated against the Yezidis in north Iraq was held at “Naregatsi” Art Institute (the event was carried out by the “Inter-Ethnic and Inter-Cultural Collaborations Centre” humanitarian NGO).

140.About 450 books in Greek, 686 books in Kurdish and thousands of books in Russian are kept and used in the languages of national minorities in the National Library of Armenia. There is also a large number of books in these languages in other libraries of the Republic; books in Russian are available in school libraries as well. There is also a significant number of books in the aforementioned, as well as in other minority languages (including languages of the national minorities of the Republic of Armenia: Georgian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, German and Polish) in the libraries of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, as well as of relevant scientific research institutions.

141.Between 2010 and 2014, literature in the languages of national minorities was also published within the framework of the “Government-Sponsored Literature” Programme. The tables below show the list of the published literature:

The distribution of allocations envisaged by the “Government-Sponsored Literature” Programme, according to individual publications (2010-2014)

R/N	Author	Title of the book	Volume (print media)	Circulation (copy)	Unit Price (Armenian Dram)	Amount (thousand drams)
Literature of National Minorities (2010)
1	Aziz Tamoyan	“ Participation of the Yezidis in the Karabakh War ” (study)	8	400	1375	550,0
2	Alikhane Mame	“ Poems ” (Kurdish)	5	500	600	300,0
Total:	13	900		850,0
Literature of National Minorities (2011)
1	Yuri Alexandrov	“ Collection of Poems ”	5	400	750	300,0
2	Group of authors	“ Jewish Community of Armenia ”	8	400	1000	400,0
3	Group of authors	“ 10th Anniversary of the Co-ordinating Council of National and Cultural Organisations of National Minorities ” (catalogue)	5	500	520	260,0
Total:	18	1 300		960,0
Literature of National Minorities (2012)
1	Collection (compiled by A. Demirtchyan and S. Namchevadze)	Anthology of the Literature of National Minorities	12	500	2000	1 000,0
Total:	12	500		1 000,0
Literature of National Minorities (2013)
1	Vazire Asho	“ Smoye Shamo: Life and Work ” (memories)	10	500	1200	600,0
2	Alikhane Mame	“ Articles ”	10	500	1600	800,0
Total:	20	1 000		1 400,0
Literature of National Minorities (2014)
1	Amarike Sardar	“ Longing ” (Kurdish)	14	300	2500	750,0
2	Alexander Poryadochny	“ Silver String ” (Armenian)	4	400	1000	400,0
Total:	18	700		1 150,0

(f) The right of access to any place, or facility designed for provision of services to the public, such as transport, hotels, restaurants, cafes, theatres and parks

142.There is no issue of restrictions on the freedom of movement in the Republic of Armenia. The representatives of national minorities who are nationals and residents of the Republic of Armenia enjoy all the rights and freedoms prescribed in the Constitution and in the legislation of the Republic of Armenia.

143.The non-governmental organisations of national minorities organise activities within any cultural centre and within any facility of their choice, designed for provision of services to the public in the Republic of Armenia. There has never been any discrimination or obstacle against them during the organising of events in public places. The national minorities of the Republic of Armenia freely organise numerous events at parks, schools, cultural centres and various facilities designed for the provision of services to the public.

Article 6

144.The requirements of this Article are mostly met by the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia and the Judicial Code of the Republic of Armenia.

145.Article 20 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia provides for everyone’s right to legal assistance, and in cases provided for by law, legal assistance shall be provided at the expense of state funds. This constitutional provision is enshrined in the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia as well.

146.As for the concern raised by point 9 of the Concluding Observations, according to which the lack of complaints against acts of racial discrimination may be the result of complicated judicial procedures, an indicator of the lack of confidence in the judiciary or the lack of desire of the responsible authorities to undertake legal procedures, we inform that the rules of proper conduct of the judge are prescribed by the Judicial Code of the Republic of Armenia: “When acting in his or her official capacity, a judge shall abstain from being biased through words or actions, as well as from leaving such an impression. Such bias includes both being biased towards certain persons and being biased based on the ground of race, sex, confession, national belonging, physical impairments, age, social status and other similar characteristics. This provision does not hinder the court from addressing race, sex, confession, national belonging, physical impairments, age, social status and other similar features, if they are the subject of court examination.”

147.Besides, the provisions in the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia also provide each individual, except for the body conducting criminal proceedings, with the opportunity to act in a language that he or she has command of. This provision may be of utmost significance in the protection of interests of representatives of national minorities in a legal procedure. Moreover, the Code also envisages that “upon the decision of the body conducting criminal proceedings, persons participating in the criminal procedure, who do not have command of the language of the criminal procedure, shall be provided with the opportunity to exercise their rights prescribed by this Code through an interpreter at the expense of state funds”.

148.In relation to the requirement, prescribed in point 9 of the Concluding Observations, to submit information concerning complaints against acts of racial discrimination, Annex 4 provides information about the crimes committed under the elements under relevant articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia relating to the rights protected by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination recorded by the Police of the Republic of Armenia between 2010 and 2015 (as of 17 March 2015).

149.Among legal defence mechanisms, the role of the ombudsman institution should be highlighted as well. The Law of the Republic of Armenia “On Human Rights Defender” also guarantees effective protection of rights and reinstatement of violated rights, including in case of any act of racial discrimination. Any individual may apply to the Defender, irrespective of their national origin, nationality, place of residence, sex, race, age, political and other views and active legal capacity.

Article 7

Education and Instruction

150.The legal acts and other documents aimed at protecting the rights, culture and language of national minorities within the scope of fulfilment of the requirements of the given Article, as well as requirements of sub-points (a) and (b) of point 9 of the Concluding Observations are posted in Armenian, Russian and English on the official website of the Government of the Republic of Armenia (http://www.gov.am/am/staff-structure/info/74/). During regular visits to the settlements of national minorities, meetings with representatives of the non-governmental organisations, heads of communities and directors of schools of the national minorities of the Republic of Armenia, the employees of the Division for Ethnic Minorities and Religious Affairs of the Government of the Republic of Armenia provide them with those legal acts on an electronic carrier.

151.In 2011, the three-part collection entitled “Compilation of Documents on National Minorities Rights”, which had been drafted and published by the Office of the OSCE in Yerevan in association with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia and the Division for Ethnic Minorities and Religious Affairs of the Government of the Republic of Armenia, was released. The collection contains the main legislative acts of the UN, the CoE, the OSCE and the Republic of Armenia regarding the rights of national minorities. Importance is attached to this collection in terms of raising awareness about the rights of representatives of national minorities, as well as in terms of its practical significance for the relevant state bodies of the Republic of Armenia.

152.In 2013, the post-graduate supplementary education department of Yerevan State University, in co-operation with the Civil Service Council of the Republic of Armenia and the Division for Ethnic Minorities and Religious Affairs of the Government of the Republic of Armenia elaborated and implemented a 72-hour training programme for civil servants of the Republic of Armenia on the Protection of the Rights of National Minorities in the Republic of Armenia.

153.In relation to point 17 of the Concluding Observations, which requires taking preventive measures against manifestations of discrimination against individuals and groups, it is necessary to mention that, for this purpose, Armenia generally attaches special importance to human rights education. In particular, it is worth mentioning the creation of a task force by the UNDP Armenian Representation and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia, which has elaborated the 2012-2015 National Action Plan for Human Rights Education. Adequate steps for teachers and schoolchildren have been envisaged in the plan, and a specific schedule for implementation of those steps has been prescribed.

154.With a view to preventing and fighting against manifestations of racial or national discrimination, the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Armenia has taken necessary measures as a part of the measures aimed at raising awareness about human rights within the armed forces. In particular, Chapter 12 of the manual “Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Members of the Armed Forces” is entirely devoted to the rights of personnel belonging to ethnic or linguistic minorities. Based on the given manual, a separate course is held within the armed forces, within the scope of which the special focus is on racial discrimination, national minorities and other issues relating to them.

155.From 4 to 5 October 2012, the Secretariat of the Council of Europe, jointly with the Police of the Republic of Armenia, organised a seminar entitled “Human Rights and Police” for police officers in Yerevan. Issues relating to the European Code of Police Ethics, the international experience in human rights and police reforms, the right to rallies, community policing and the positive experience in the introduction of the latter were discussed during the seminar.

156.In the thematic plans developed in the Training and Attestation Faculty of the Police Educational Complex of the Republic of Armenia, the subject “Ensuring Human and Citizens’ Rights and Freedoms in Police Activities” is included for the officers of all subdivisions of the Police.

157.Issues relating to national minorities were also discussed during an international conference on “Current Issues of Human Rights” held at the Police Educational Complex of the Republic of Armenia on 10 December 2014.

158.Thematic units relating to fundamental human rights, gender equality, violence, tolerance and civil society have been included in the curriculum for the “Sociology” subject at general education schools.

159.The “Tolerance” Programme is being implemented in the field of general education with the support of the UNDP. The “Instruction of Tolerance” manual for supervising teachers has been introduced for the 1st-4th and 5th-9th grades. The teaching and methodological manual “Dignity and Tolerance” has also been developed for high school teachers. The programme teaches learners about tolerance and co-operation, promotes conflict resolution, etc. The teachers using the manual have undergone respective training within the scope of the programme.

160.The teaching and methodological manual “How to Prevent Violence in School” has been developed for teachers of educational institutions with the support of the “Hope and Help” organisation and has been distributed to educational institutions.

161.At the same time, information on the history, cultures and religions of other peoples and nations has been included in the “World History”, “Armenian History” and “History of the Armenian Church” courses.

Culture

162.Necessary steps are consistently being taken and different kinds of events are being held in different sectors of social life in the Republic of Armenia, including the cultural sector, for the fight against racial discrimination, the elimination of prejudice leading to discrimination and the promotion of tolerance, which is also supported by the State. In particular:

•Anniversaries of Independence Days of the national state of the communities of the national minorities are celebrated.

•National holidays of the communities of the national minorities are celebrated (with state support).

•Between 2010 and 2015, meetings of representatives of the national communities of the Republic of Armenia with the leaders of the official delegations of their respective countries, including the delegations from the Russian Federation, Israel and Kurdistan, have been organised.

•The delegates of the national minorities of Armenia are included in the delegation for the Armenian Culture Days in their respective countries, as well as in cultural programmes (with state support). For instance, leader of the Jewish community, Rimma Varzhapetyan, was part of the official delegation during the Armenian Culture Days held in Israel in 2014.

•In 2015, President of the Belarusian Community of Armenia Irina Tabolic-Poghosyan participated in the 1st session of the Coordinating Council for Belarusians Abroad at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus.

•In July 2015, President of “Rosia” NGO Y. Yakovenko participated in the regional conference for Russian compatriots in the CIS and Baltic states held in Kyrgyzstan. The “Rosia” NGO, in the name of Y. Yakovenko, was elected as a member of the World Coordinating Council of Russian Compatriots.

•The summer vacation for children of the Jewish community was organised in Yeghegnadzor through the efforts of the Jewish community and with the support of the “Maccabi” organisation of Israel.

•Events dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War have been organised through the efforts of the Yezidi community.

•The event of the “ʽBelarusʼ Belarusian Community of Yerevan” dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War has been organised.

•Every year on 24 April, they visit the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex dedicated to the victims of the Armenian Genocide that took place in the Ottoman Empire.

•The song and dance ensemble of the Georgian community has participated in the ethnographic festival held in Batumi (with state support).

•A jubilee dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the “Rosia” NGO and “Harmonia” Russian Cultural Centre NGO of the Russian community, as well as a jubilee dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the “Verbichenka” Ensemble of the Ukrainian community of the city of Vanadzor have been organised (with state support).

•A jubilee dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the “Menora” Jewish Cultural Centre has been organised (with state support).

•A joint event of national minorities dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide with the title “National Minorities of Armenia against Genocides” has been organised (with state support).

Information

163.Importance is also attached to the creation of opportunities for publication of the presses of the communities of national minorities among other events aimed at fighting against racial discrimination and encouraging an atmosphere of tolerance. With that purpose, the criteria for state support provided to the presses of national minorities have been facilitated by legal acts of the Republic of Armenia (compared with local media). The “Lalish” and “Yezdikhana” Yezidi newspapers, the “Rya Taza” and “Zagros” Kurdish newspapers, the “Dnipro-Slavutich” Ukrainian newspaper, the “Respublika Armenia”, “Golos Armenii” and “Novoye Vremya” Russian newspapers, the “Literaturnaya Armenia” magazine and the “Ilios” Greek newspaper, the “Magen David” (Star of David) newspaper of the Jewish community and other newspapers are released in Armenia through state funding.

164.The allocations for the presses published in the languages of the national minorities within the framework of the “State Support to the Non-State Press” budgetary programme between 2010 and 2014 are presented in the table below:

The distribution of allocations envisaged by the “Publication of the Non-State Press” programme (2010-2014), according to individual publications (Presses published in the languages of national minorities)

R/N	Names of state administration bodies of the Republic of Armenia carrying out the expenditures programme and the entities acting as legal persons receiving state support	Names of Presses	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
	Total Sum (thousand drams)		11 968,0	12 468,0	9 977,0	9 977,0	9 977,0
Newspapers
1	“National Union of Yezidis” NGO	“Yezdikhana”	1 000,0	1 000,0	900,0	900,0	900,0
2	“National Committee of Yezidis” NGO	“Lalish”	1 000,0	1 000,0	900,0	900,0	900,0
3	“Rya Taza” Newspaper Editorial Office LLC	“Rya Taza”	1 000,0	1 000,0	900,0	900,0	900,0
4	“Golos” LLC	“Golos Armenii”	500,0	500,0	500,0	500,0	500,0
5	“ʽUkraina’ Federation of Ukrainians of Armenia” NGO	“Dnipro-Slavutich”	2 668,0	2 668,0	2 648,0	2 648,0	2 648,0
6	“Kurdish National Council of Armenia” NGO	“Zagros”	1 000,0	1 000,0	1 000,0	900,0	900,0
7	“Newspaper of the Jewish Community of Armenia” NGO	“Magen David”	500,0	500,0	500,0	500,0	500,0
8	“ʽIveriaʼ Georgian Charitable Community” NGO	“Iveria”	500,0	500,0	500,0	500,0	500,0
9	“ʽNovoye Vremyaʼ Daily Editorial Office” LLC	“Novoye Vremya”	500,0	500,0	500,0	500,0	500,0
10	“ʽBelarusʼ Belarusian Community of Yerevan” NGO	“Belarus” (Russian, Belarusian)	-	-	300,0	300,0	300,0
11	“ʽKhayadtaʼ Federation of Assyrian Organisations of Armenia” union of legal persons	“Asiri y skie Novosti” (Russian, Assyrian)	-	-	1 000,0	800,0	800,0
12	“ʽIliosʼ Greek Community of the city of Yerevan” NGO	“Ilios” (Russian, Armenian, Greek)	-	-	-	300,0	300,0
Magazines
10	“Patrida” NGO of the Greeks of Armenia	“Byzantine Heritage”	500,0	500,0	-	-	-
11	“Litera” LLC	“Literaturnaya Armenia”	2 500,0	3 000,0	-	-	-
12	“ʽPoloniaʼ Union of Poles in Armenia” Charitable NGO	“Poka Mi Zhivi”	300,0	300,0	329,0	329,0	329,0

165.Article 22 of the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On television and radio” prohibits the use of television and radio programmes for inciting national, racial and religious hostility or internecine. According to Article 61 of the same Law, “the validity of a licence shall be terminated when the requirements of Article 22 of the Law have been violated.”

166.Sub-para (d) of para 3 of point 5 of Article 26 of the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On television and radio” envisages that the Public Television and Radio Company shall be obliged to allocate air time for broadcasting special programmes and transmissions in the languages of national minorities of the Republic of Armenia. The total amount of hours for those programmes shall not exceed 2 hours per week on television and 1 hour per week on radio. At the same time, sub-para (b) of the same paragraph provides that the Public Television and Radio Company shall be obliged to provide programme series and programmes to the television and radio audiences, presenting the interests of different regions of the Republic of Armenia, national minorities, different layers and social groups of the society without any time limit in line with the requirements of the Convention.

167.Within the framework of fulfilment of the above-mentioned obligations, the Public Television and Radio Company of the Republic of Armenia has structured the content of airtime in a way to present the cultural peculiarities of the national and religious minorities residing in the Republic of Armenia and to shed light on the culture of foreign countries through documentaries and other programmes. Representatives of the national minorities are often invited to participate in different types of programme series on public television.

168.Programmes about national minorities of Armenia dedicated not only to their language, culture and history, but also to the problems thereof, are broadcasted regularly. Moreover, the Public Radio Company transmits programmes in 13 languages every day (15 minutes in Russian, Greek, English, French, German, Spanish, Turkish, Georgian and Assyrian and 30 minutes in Arabic, Azerbaijani, Persian, Kurdish and Yezidi). Those broadcasts are available on the website of the Public Radio Company at www.armradio.am.

169.Human rights and citizens’ fundamental rights and freedoms, issues related thereto in Armenian society, as well as issues related to the exercise of several rights protected by the norms of international law, including the rights of national and racial minorities are touched upon regularly within the framework of the social programmes broadcast by the Public Television Company.

Annex 1

Distribution of the permanent population of the Republic of Armenia according to the national composition, sex and age Based on the results of 2011 Census of the Republic of Armenia / person /

National origin	Total	Including by age groups
0-9	10-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50-59	60+
RA: Total including:	3,018,854	387,501	411,712	564,163	410,426	388,024	412,290	444,738
Armenian	2,961,801	379,155	403,277	553,964	402,434	380,840	405,656	436,475
Yezidi	35,308	5,984	6,236	6,795	5,193	4,645	3,624	2,831
Russian	11,911	1,160	1,088	1,669	1,481	1,299	1,745	3,469
Assyrian	2,769	371	374	514	331	320	394	465
Greek	900	79	71	112	121	100	121	296
Ukrainian	1,176	65	55	101	131	167	199	458
Kurd	2,162	437	373	398	300	255	198	201
Georgian	617	36	43	94	110	77	98	159
Persian	476	44	51	175	93	71	26	16
Pole	124	9	10	21	19	11	13	41
Belarusian	214	10	7	18	25	23	34	97
Jew	127	18	11	18	9	10	15	46
German	67	5	7	3	8	12	16	16
Other	1,102	116	100	257	158	177	137	157
Refused to answer	100	12	9	24	13	17	14	11
RA: Men including:	1,448,052	206,994	213,396	276,006	197,187	180,566	190,283	183,620
Armenian	1,422,268	202,375	208,998	270,847	193,458	177,427	187,703	181,460
Yezidi	17,757	3,355	3,260	3,447	2,500	2,272	1,718	1,205
Russian	3,815	609	569	788	614	365	403	467
Assyrian	1,357	204	184	282	174	155	190	168
Greek	334	37	38	63	42	34	38	82
Ukrainian	207	29	27	25	32	25	25	44
Kurd	1,089	242	195	216	154	117	84	81
Georgian	231	18	27	48	49	31	34	24
Persian	295	27	26	100	66	51	15	10
Pole	33	6	4	8	4	2	2	7
Belarusian	33	8	2	7	4	3	3	6
Jew	52	10	4	7	5	5	6	15
German	21	2	3	1	5	1	7	2
Other	518	65	53	157	76	71	49	47
Refused to answer	42	7	6	10	4	7	6	2
RA: Women including:	1,570,802	180,507	198,316	288,157	213,239	207,458	222,007	261,118
Armenian	1,539,533	176,780	194,279	283,117	208,976	203,413	217,953	255,015
Yezidi	17,551	2,629	2,976	3,348	2,693	2,373	1,906	1,626
Russian	8,096	551	519	881	867	934	1,342	3,002
Assyrian	1,412	167	190	232	157	165	204	297
Greek	566	42	33	49	79	66	83	214
Ukrainian	969	36	28	76	99	142	174	414
Kurd	1,073	195	178	182	146	138	114	120
Georgian	386	18	16	46	61	46	64	135
Persian	181	17	25	75	27	20	11	6
Pole	91	3	6	13	15	9	11	34
Belarusian	181	2	5	11	21	20	31	91
Jew	75	8	7	11	4	5	9	31
German	46	3	4	2	3	11	9	14
Other	584	51	47	100	82	106	88	110
Refused to answer	58	5	3	14	9	10	8	9

Distribution of the permanent population of the Republic of Armenia according to the national composition, sex and native language Based on the results of 2011 Census of the Republic of Armenia /person/

National origin	Total	Native language
Armenian	Yezidi language	Russian	Assyrian	Greek	Ukrainian	Kurdish	Polish	Belarusian	Georgian	Hebrew	English	French	German	Persian	Other	Refused to answer
RA	3,018,854	2,956,615	30,973	23,484	2,402	332	733	2,030	64	107	455	14	491	94	85	397	549	29
Armenians	2,961,801	2,948,766	249	11,862	124	78	106	22	21	21	14	5	357	44	33	4	88	7
Yezidis	35,308	4,271	30,628	79	1	0	0	323	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	4	0
Russians	11,911	1,372	47	10,466	5	2	6	1	2	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	6	1
Assyrians	2,769	418	2	81	2,265	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Greeks	900	557	3	88	1	249	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Ukrainians	1,176	208	0	357	1	2	606	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Kurds	2,162	406	39	24	2	0	0	1,684	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	3	0
Poles	124	52	0	32	0	0	2	0	35	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	0
Belarusians	214	41	0	85	0	0	3	0	0	85	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Georgians	617	94	0	75	0	1	0	0	0	0	440	0	6	0	1	0	0	0
Jews	127	87	0	31	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	0	0	0	0	0	0
Germans	67	19	0	19	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	0	20	0	0	0
Persians	476	41	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	26	0	393	4	0
Other	1,102	225	2	267	2	0	7	0	5	0	1	0	106	24	27	0	429	7
Refused to answer	100	58	0	17	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	14
Men	1,448,052	1,420,964	15,666	7,934	1,175	123	94	1,014	25	18	175	8	220	50	34	246	293	13
Armenian	1,422,268	1,417,413	128	4372	49	30	29	8	12	10	7	3	131	16	14	1	41	4
Yezidi	17,757	2,066	15,497	28	1	0	0	163	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Russian	3,815	518	17	3,276	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Assyrian	1,357	211	0	25	1,120	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Greek	334	220	2	19	1	91	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Ukrainian	207	75	0	66	1	1	64	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kurd	1,089	208	20	11	2	0	0	843	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	3	0
Pole	33	14	0	6	0	0	0	0	11	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Belarusian	33	14	0	11	0	0	0	0	0	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Georgian	231	38	0	21	0	0	0	0	0	0	167	0	5	0	0	0	0	0
Jew	52	39	0	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	0
German	21	6	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	9	0	0	0
Persian	295	24	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	16	0	245	4	0
Other	518	91	0	83	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	75	18	9	0	236	3
Refused to answer	42	27	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	5
Women	1,570,802	1,535,651	15,307	15,550	1,227	209	639	1,016	39	89	280	6	271	44	51	151	256	16
Armenian	1,539,533	1,531,353	121	7,490	75	48	77	14	9	11	7	2	226	28	19	3	47	3
Yezidi	17,551	2,205	15,131	51	0	0	0	160	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	0
Russian	8,096	854	30	7,190	5	1	5	1	1	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	6	0
Assyrian	1,412	207	2	56	1,145	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Greek	566	337	1	69	0	158	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ukrainian	969	133	0	291	0	1	542	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Kurd	1,073	198	19	13	0	0	0	841	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
Pole	91	38	0	26	0	0	2	0	24	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Belarusian	181	27	0	74	0	0	3	0	0	77	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Georgian	386	56	0	54	0	1	0	0	0	0	273	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
Jew	75	48	0	23	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
German	46	13	0	17	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	11	0	0	0
Persian	181	17	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	10	0	148	0	0
Other	584	134	2	184	1	0	7	0	4	0	0	0	31	6	18	0	193	4
Refused to answer	58	31	0	11	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	9

The permanent population of the Republic of Armenia according to the national origin, sex and other language they have a good command ofBased on the results of 2011 Census of the Republic of Armenia /person/

National origin	Total	Other language they have a good command of	They do not have command of the language
Armenian	Yezidi language	Russian	Assyrian	Greek	Ukrainian	Kurdish	Georgian	English	French	German	Persian	Other
RA	3,018,854	43,420	5,370	1,591,246	1,468	2,136	1,151	1,309	6,151	107,922	10,106	6,342	4,396	10,339	1,227,498
Armenian	2,961,801	7,486	3,026	1,585,567	1,365	1,996	1,006	956	5,974	107,013	10,056	6,216	4,352	10,113	1,216,675
Yezidi	35,308	26,524	2,317	2,022	10	5	6	16	85	47	9	22	3	13	4,229
Russian	11,911	5,317	17	1,026	8	7	56	0	25	349	15	70	0	47	4,974
Assyrian	2,769	1,126	0	1,193	82	0	1	2	4	13	0	1	1	2	344
Kurd	2,162	1,520	6	59	0	0	0	333	2	4	0	1	9	21	207
Ukrainian	1,176	487	0	408	0	1	72	2	3	23	1	4	1	4	170
Greek	900	223	1	343	3	125	1	0	0	29	2	0	1	5	167
Georgian	617	129	0	147	0	0	0	0	57	12	1	2	0	7	262
Persian	476	127	1	34	0	0	2	0	0	184	1	0	28	17	82
Other	1,634	474	2	402	0	1	7	0	1	242	21	25	1	109	349
Refused to answer	100	7	0	45	0	1	0	0	0	6	0	1	0	1	39
Men	1,448,052	18,985	2,596	792,738	616	907	495	634	2,284	37,379	2,978	1,983	2,118	4,415	579,924
Armenian	1,422,268	2,668	1,414	790,331	571	867	466	447	2,223	36,961	2,956	1,932	2,087	4,327	575,018
Yezidi	17,757	13,308	1,171	1,003	3	4	3	8	33	20	4	16	2	7	2,175
Russian	3,815	1,311	6	352	3	0	13	0	7	113	1	21	0	9	1,979
Assyrian	1,357	550	0	587	38	0	0	1	1	4	0	1	1	0	174
Kurd	1,089	747	4	26	0	0	0	177	1	2	0	1	8	12	111
Ukrainian	207	64	0	78	0	0	8	1	2	5	1	1	0	0	47
Greek	334	79	1	134	1	35	0	0	0	10	1	0	0	2	71
Georgian	231	32	0	61	0	0	0	0	17	2	0	0	0	6	113
Persian	295	89	0	13	0	0	2	0	0	101	1	0	20	11	58
Refused to answer	42	2	0	19	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	17
Women	1,570,802	24,435	2,774	798,508	852	1,229	656	675	3,867	70,543	7,128	4,359	2,278	5,924	647,574
Armenian	1,539,533	4,818	1,612	795,236	794	1,129	540	509	3,751	70,052	7,100	4,284	2,265	5,786	641,657
Yezidi	17,551	13,216	1,146	1,019	7	1	3	8	52	27	5	6	1	6	2,054
Russian	8,096	4,006	11	674	5	7	43	0	18	236	14	49	0	38	2,995
Assyrian	1,412	576	0	606	44	0	1	1	3	9	0	0	0	2	170
Kurd	1,073	773	2	33	0	0	0	156	1	2	0	0	1	9	96
Ukrainian	969	423	0	330	0	1	64	1	1	18	0	3	1	4	123
Greek	566	144	0	209	2	90	1	0	0	19	1	0	1	3	96
Georgian	386	97	0	86	0	0	0	0	40	10	1	2	0	1	149
Persian	181	38	1	21	0	0	0	0	0	83	0	0	8	6	24
Other	977	339	2	268	0	0	4	0	1	85	7	14	1	68	188
Refused to answer	58	5	0	26	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	1	22

Persons born alive according to the national affiliation, 2002-2013* (according to the national origin of mother)

Year	Assyrian	Belarusian	Yezidi	Armenian	Jew	Greek	Russian	Georgian	Ukrainian	Kurd	Other	Not mentioned	Total
2002	36	2	375	31 , 670	6	5	101	3	12	5	14	0	32 , 229
2003	32	0	324	35 , 288	1	11	97	6	14	3	17	0	35 , 793
2004	31	0	362	36 , 967	2	10	100	2	19	7	20	0	37 , 520
2005	31	1	435	36 , 882	3	6	101	5	9	4	22	0	37 , 499
2006	30	0	497	36 , 993	0	10	75	3	6	4	7	14	37 , 639
2007	23	3	605	39 , 336	1	6	86	4	5	3	8	25	40 , 105
2008	30	1	635	40 , 366	3	9	97	1	4	8	9	22	41 , 185
2009	15	2	660	43 , 549	2	10	100	4	9	6	16	40	44 , 413
2010	41	2	771	43 , 816	0	6	100	2	8	5	24	50	44 , 825
2011	24	0	660	42 , 482	5	5	61	6	4	2	32	59	43 , 340
2012	21	0	582	41 , 710	5	4	59	8	9	4	13	65	42 , 480
2013	33	2	517	41 , 046	1	6	80	6	7	3	12	77	41 , 790

Deaths according to the national affiliation, 2002-2013*

Year	Assyrian	Belarusian	Yezidi	Armenian	Jew	Greek	Russian	Georgian	Ukrainian	Kurd	German	Other	Not mentioned	Total
2002	19	8	162	24923	5	26	311	9	48	20	4	19	0	25 , 554
2003	18	2	166	25581	1	27	179	6	16	2	4	12	0	26 , 014
2004	27	2	149	25269	1	25	161	5	20	6	3	11	0	25 , 679
2005	13	2	73	26174	1	12	82	3	11	2	1	5	0	26 , 379
2006	7	0	52	27043	0	7	64	5	6	4	0	6	8	27 , 202
2007	4	0	67	26658	0	14	64	2	4	5	0	3	9	26 , 830
2008	12	1	116	27163	0	7	88	2	1	3	0	8	11	27 , 412
2009	12	1	127	27317	0	11	59	3	10	4	0	7	9	27 , 560
2010	13	1	105	27685	0	4	74	2	5	4	0	4	24	27 , 921
2011	12	1	97	27755	0	10	66	1	8	1	1	3	8	27 , 963
2012	21	1	102	27293	0	8	70	0	7	4	0	5	88	27 , 599
2013	13	5	97	26738	2	11	132	7	11	2	1	8	169	27 , 196

* According to the information provided by the Territorial Divisions of the Civil Status Acts Registration under the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia .

CERD/C/ARM/7-11 Annex 2

Below is an overview of norms against discrimination available in the legislation:

Legislative act	Article
Constitution	14.1
Criminal Code	6, 63, 226, 392
Criminal Procedure Code	8(2)
Labour Code	3(3), 114(4)(4), 180(3)
Family Code	1(5)
Law “ On education ”	6(1)
Law “ On television and radio ”	22(1)(2)
Law “ On protection of economic competition ”	7(2)(a)
Administrative Offences Code	248
Law “ On social protection of disabled persons ”	17(2)
Law “ On procurement ”	3(2)(1)
Law “ On medical assistance and service to the population ”	4
Law “ On donation of human blood and its components and transfusion medical assistance ”	14(6)
Penitentiary Code	8
Law “ On penitentiary service ”	14
Judicial Code	15(2), 89(9), 90(3)(6)
Electoral Code	3(3)
Law “ On political parties ”	3(3)(2) ,7, 9
Law “ On citizenship ”	3(2)
Law “ On foreigners ”	22, 32
Law “On the rights of children”	4
Law “ On the police ”	5
Law “ On civil service ”	11
Law “ On non-governmental organisations ”	3(2), 21
Law “ On treatment of arrestees and detainees ”	2(3)
Law “ On police service ”	11(1)
Law “ On fundamentals of cultural legislation ”	9
Law “ On protection and use of immovable monuments of history and culture and historical environment ”	7
Law “ On service in national security bodies ”	14(1)
Law “ On human rights defender ”	8
Law “On judicial acts compulsory enforcement service”	9(1)
Law “ On community service ”	11
Law “ On special civil service ”	11
Law “ On state service in the staff of the National Assembly ”	11
Law “ On public service ”	11
Law “ On state service in the Department of Investigation Committee ”	15(1)
Law “ On remuneration for persons holding state positions ”	4(1)(7)
Law “ On libraries and library science ”	18(1)
Law “ On the profession of advocate ”	29(3)
Law “ On equal rights for men and women ”	Fully covers the prohibition of discrimination

Legal regulation in the mentioned legislative acts according to the grounds protected by the prohibition of discrimination (for example: sex, age, national affiliation, health condition, religion, belief, political or other views, etc., hereinafter referredto as “protected grounds”) is as follows:

Protected ground	Yes/No
Race	yes
Skin colour	yes
Ethnic origin	yes
Social origin	yes
Birth	yes
Sex	yes
Gender	yes
Genetic feature	yes
Nationality	yes
Language	yes
Religion, belief	yes
Health, disability	yes
Age	yes
Political or other views	yes
Family, marital status	yes
Education	yes

Annex 3

Representation of representatives of national minorities in elective and other state bodies of the Republic of Armenia

No	The name of the Republican Executive Body	National origin
Russian	Yezidi	Assyrian	Kurd	Ukrainian	Greek	Georgian	Moldavian	Pole	Other
1	Within the Staff to the President of the Republic of Armenia	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2.1	Within the system of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia	21	16	8	1	3	1	1	1	-	Estonian-1, Tatar, Moldavian, Belarusian, Chuvash, Tatar - 1 person from each nation
2.2	Within the system of the Ministry of Nature Protection of the Republic of Armenia	4	2	-	-	1	-	-	-	1
2.3	Within the system of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Armenia	2	5	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
2.5	Within the system of the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs of the Republic of Armenia	4	1	-	-	-	1	-	-	1
2.6	Within the system of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Armenia	4	7	5	3	1	-	2	-	-
2.7	Within the system of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Armenia	3	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2.8	Within the system of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia	11	3	2	-	-	1	1	-	-	Jew, Lithuanian, Iranian - 1 person from each nation
3	The Police of the Republic of  Armenia	17	20	5	2	3	3	2	-	1
4.1	Yerevan Municipality	2	3	-	-	-	1	-	-	-
4.2	Ararat Marz	81	6	47		-	-	-	-	-
4.4	Aragatsotn Marz	-	309	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4.5	Kotayk Marz	6	12	12	-	-	-	-	-	-
4.6	Lori Marz	13	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	-
4.7	Shirak Marz	3	2	-	-	4	-	1	-	-
4.8	Syunik Marz	1	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
4.9	Armavir Marz	2	66	4	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Total	167	448	84	6	11	10	7	1	3	5

Annex 4

Cases of crimes committed under the elements of relevant articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia relating to the rights potected by the International Convention On the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination recorded by the Police of the Republic of Armenia during 2010-2015 /as of 17 March 2015/

	Committal, Institution	Article	Description	Adopted decision
1.	7 December 2014 22 December 2014	160	A taxi approached Gevorg Vardanyan, a member of the religious organisation “Jehovah’s Witnesses” while he was distributing free spiritual books at the crossroad of Saralanj district in Kotayk Marz; two women came out of the car, argued with him and hindered the exercise of his activity. Norik Baghdasaryan (father’s name: Zhora), the taxi driver hit Vardanyan with a fist once.	Under preliminary investigation
2.	3 March 2010 12 September 2013	Point 2 of part 2 of Article 226	For the purpose of carrying out actions aimed for incitement of national hatred and humiliation of national dignity- publicly, by threat to use violence- materials have been posted on different websites containing adverse opinions concerning French-Armenians, Russia, as well as calls for violence and threats.	Suspended under point 1 of part 1 of Article 31 of the Criminal Procedure Code 14 October 2013
3.	27 February 2011 12 April 2011	Point 1 of part 2 of Article 226	The expression “Death to the Jewish people” was posted on the social networking website Facebook by unknown persons.	Suspended under point 1 of part 1 of Article 31 of the Criminal Procedure Code 27 December 2011
4.	23 April 2011 24 April 2011	Point 1 of part 2 of Article 226	Obtaining anti-Armenian propaganda books containing defamatory information about the Armenia people from the area adjacent to the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Tbilisi, Spartak Akojyan (father’s name: Haykaz), a national of Georgia, transported them to Armenia and tried to sell them at the “Vernisazh” exhibition-market, making statements in the presence of vendors and those visiting the fair.	Court 08 December 2011 On 25 April 2012 the Court of General Jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork-Marash sentenced him to imprisonment for a term of four years by; on 20 July 2012 the Court of Appeal found him insane and released him.