Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

List of issues in relation to the combined second and third periodic reports of Armenia *

A.Purpose and general obligations (arts. 1–4)

1.Please update the Committee on:

(a)The status of amendments to remove the term “prevention and treatment of disability” from the State Party’s Constitution and from its legislation on the rights of persons with disabilities (State Party report, para. 10);

(b)Measures to review the legislation and policy frameworks in order to move away from derogatory terminology and negative stereotypes concerning persons with disabilities;

(c)The inclusion of persons with disabilities in the National Strategy for Human Rights Protection and its action plan (2020–2022) and in subsequent human rights strategies, and on the human, technical and financial resources for implementing the Comprehensive Programme for the Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities for 2023–2027 and the list of measures to ensure the implementation of the Programme;

(d)Measures taken at the local level to develop support programmes for persons with disabilities based on the human rights model of disability;

(e)Measures taken to ensure that the concept of disability in national legislation and policies is in line with the Convention, and that disability assessments, disability certificates and support programmes for persons with disabilities are based on the human rights model of disability;

(f)Mechanisms in place to assess the effectiveness of training and awareness‑raising actions aimed at eliminating discriminatory attitudes towards persons with disabilities.

2.Please provide information on:

(a)Formal mechanisms to consult closely with and actively involve persons with disabilities, through their representative organizations, in the work of the National Commission on Issues of Persons with Disabilities and the regional and municipal commissions;

(b)Mechanisms to ensure the participation of persons with disabilities, through their representative organizations, in public decision-making concerning peace negotiations to address situations of armed conflict;

(c)Measures taken to support the establishment of organizations of persons with psychosocial and/or intellectual disabilities and to ensure their participation in public decision-making processes;

(d)Measures taken to ensure close consultation with and the active involvement of persons with disabilities in the lawmaking process, including through the official website of the State (www.e-draft.am), in accordance with the principles of universal design and accessibility standards.

B.Specific rights (arts. 5–30)

Equality and non-discrimination (art. 5)

3.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)Measures to adopt comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation that includes an explicit prohibition of discrimination on the basis of disability in all sectors and areas of life;

(b)Legislation and public policies in place to address multiple and intersectional discrimination, such as discrimination based on disability, sex, gender and/or age;

(c)Measures to prevent discrimination against persons with psychosocial and/or intellectual disabilities and to ensure their equal access to support in the community.

4.Please indicate what measures have been taken to appeal decisions of denial to provide reasonable accommodation and to redress discrimination against persons with disabilities.

Women with disabilities (art. 6)

5.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)Mechanisms to mainstream the rights of women and girls with disabilities in disability and gender equality legislation;

(b)The results of the 2019–2023 Gender Policy Implementation Strategy and other public policies that include measures for the realization of the rights of women and girls with disabilities;

(c)Mechanisms taken to prevent multiple and intersectional discrimination against women and girls with disabilities and to collect disaggregated information on the situation of women and girls with disabilities in order to inform public policies and actions.

Children with disabilities (art. 7)

6.Please provide information about:

(a)Assessments at the national, regional and municipal levels concerning community support required for the inclusion of children with disabilities, including children with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities, in the community, such as early development;

(b)Legislative and administrative measures aimed at preventing the abandonment, neglect and institutionalization of children with disabilities;

(c)Measures adopted to ensure the meaningful participation of children with disabilities and their representative organizations in decision-making processes that affect them;

(d)Mechanisms to ensure the right of children with disabilities to be heard, in accordance with their age and maturity, including concerning psychiatric interventions that continue to be authorized under the law on the rights of the child (art. 32).

Awareness-raising (art. 8)

7.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)Awareness-raising measures aimed at eliminating negative stereotypes about persons with disabilities, including persons with psychosocial and/or intellectual disabilities, and tangible results;

(b)Strategies to raise awareness about the rights of persons with disabilities, including national media campaigns, and the extent to which persons with disabilities, through their representative organizations, have been included in the planning and implementation of these strategies. Please indicate whether these strategies are time-bound and whether they are disseminated in accessible formats, including sign language, Braille and Easy Read;

(c)Mechanisms to develop and adopt a comprehensive, measurable and time‑bound national awareness-raising strategy and action plan to promote positive attitudes towards persons with disabilities and to foster disability-inclusive development.

Accessibility (art. 9)

8.Please update the Committee about:

(a)Mechanisms to ensure compliance with legislation relating to accessibility, including provisions in the law on the rights of persons with disabilities and the order of 5 April 2018 of the Chairperson of the State Urban Development Committee;

(b)The status of the review of the Code on Administrative Offences, in particular in relation to liability for lack of compliance with building codes and with accessibility requirements for persons with disabilities;

(c)The human, technical and financial resources allocated for the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the digital transformation agenda. Please describe the training and information provided to persons with disabilities on the use of digital technologies;

(d)Measures taken to ensure the implementation of universal design principles for digital accessibility and accessibility of the physical environment, communications, transportation, information technology and other services;

(e)The time frame for the implementation of accessibility requirements in the public sector and the extent to which they are mandatory;

(f)Measures to ensure accessibility as part of public procurement procedures.

Situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies (art. 11)

9.Please inform the Committee about measures to protect the safety and security of persons with disabilities in Nagorno-Karabakh and any assessment concerning the situation of internally displaced persons, asylum-seekers and refugees with disabilities.

10.Please provide information on:

(a)Accessibility measures adopted to ensure that persons with disabilities, through their representative organizations, are closely consulted on and actively involved in disaster risk reduction and humanitarian emergency strategies, plans and protocols;

(b)Steps taken to ensure that the disaster risk reduction measures and management strategies referred to in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 are inclusive of persons with disabilities and are prepared in accessible formats and languages;

(c)Strategies and coordination mechanisms among civil defence, rescue and emergency personnel and other relevant humanitarian actors on the protection of persons with disabilities during humanitarian emergencies. Please indicate how national plans are age-appropriate and gender- and disability-responsive.

Equal recognition before the law (art. 12)

11.Please provide updated information about:

(a)The status of the legislative reforms (State Party report, para. 173) aimed at recognizing the full legal capacity of all persons with disabilities in all areas of life and abolishing guardianship on the basis of impairment. Please indicate the extent to which persons with psychosocial and/or intellectual disabilities have been closely consulted and actively involved in the reform process;

(b)Support mechanisms available for the supported decision-making of persons with disabilities, taking into account their will and preference;

(c)Measures to raise awareness about the right of persons with disabilities to equal recognition before the law and to ensure that legislative and policy debates are informed by the Convention and the Committee’s general comment No. 1 (2014) on equal recognition before the law;

(d)The number of persons with disabilities residing in orphanages who have reached the age of 18, have moved to private housing and have regained their legal capacity.

Access to justice (art. 13)

12.Please provide the Committee with:

(a)Information on measures taken to ensure that all persons with disabilities have full access to justice, including remedies against guardianship, involuntary hospitalization and/or medical treatment, and that guardianship is not used as an obstacle to impede participation in judicial proceedings;

(b)Details of the procedural, age-appropriate and gender-responsive accommodations provided for persons with disabilities in legal proceedings in all areas of law;

(c)Data, disaggregated by disability, age, sex and gender, on the provision for persons with disabilities of legal aid and of public defence lawyers, including in cases that entail restriction of liberty, regardless of the existence of a request from the person concerned or his or her official representative.

Liberty and security of the person (art. 14)

13.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)Measures taken to eliminate the provisions on forced hospitalization and compulsory treatment from the law on social assistance, the law on psychiatric assistance and services, the Civil Code and the Civil Procedure Code. In addition, please describe the initiatives taken and the time frame envisaged for the removal from the law on amending the law on psychiatric care of the provisions on involuntary hospitalization and treatment (State Party report, para. 184) and for the enactment of legislation that is in line with article 14 of the Convention;

(b)Mechanisms to ensure close consultation with and the active involvement of persons with psychosocial and/or intellectual disabilities in the reform of the legal and policy frameworks relating to mental health.

14.Please indicate which entity is responsible for ensuring that the reform of mental health programmes is in line with the Convention and for overseeing the mechanism for its implementation and the measures for developing mental health support in the community so that persons with psychosocial and/or intellectual disabilities can leave institutions and be included in the community.

15.Please inform the Committee about measures taken to uphold the State Party’s obligations under article 14 of the Convention in European regional processes concerning the implementation of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine (Oviedo Convention) of the Council of Europe and in initiatives to develop an optional protocol to the Oviedo Convention.

Freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (art. 15)

16.Please provide information on:

(a)Measures adopted to prevent, monitor, receive and address complaints about cases of violence, ill-treatment and abuse in institutions, including the use of physical and chemical restraints. Please specifywhat steps are taken to protect children with psychosocial and/or intellectual disabilities against physical and chemical restraint and isolation practices in institutions and to ensure redress for survivors;

(b)The number of cases of abuse and violence that have been identified in institutions where persons with disabilities still live, and the number of investigations into and the type of redress that has been provided for survivors of violence and ill-treatment in institutions, disaggregated by sex, gender and age;

(c)The time frame envisaged to extend the list of torture-related offences to crimes committed against persons with disabilities in institutions, including psychiatric facilities;

(d)Measures taken to prevent and eliminate corporal punishment in institutions and to investigate such practices, prosecute perpetrators and provide redress for survivors;

(e)Measures taken to protect women with disabilities in institutions against harmful practices that undermine their right to privacy and personal integrity, including standardized haircuts and the collective sharing of personal hygiene items.

Freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse (art. 16)

17.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)Measures taken to prevent discrimination against and the bullying of children and adults with disabilities in schools and in society and to combat disability stigma;

(b)The current status of the process for ratifying the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and measures to overcome obstacles in the ratification process;

(c)Measures taken to implement the law on the prevention of domestic violence, the protection of victims within the family and the restoration of solidarity within the family, especially in relation to women with psychosocial and/or intellectual disabilities, and assessments on the progress achieved;

(d)Measures taken to raise awareness among and empower women, girls and boys with disabilities to recognize and report violence, including through accessible information, training programmes and peer support networks, including using Easy Read information and accessible formats;

(e)Measures taken to ensure the accessibility of shelters, hotlines and support services for women with disabilities, including women with hearing impairments and women and girls with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities.

Protecting the integrity of the person (art. 17)

18.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)Measures taken to raise awareness among persons with disabilities and family members about the prohibition of forced sterilization and forced abortion;

(b)Measures taken to establish a data-collection system that allows for the identification of cases of forced sterilization, forced abortion and genital mutilation.

Liberty of movement and nationality (art. 18)

19.Please provide information about measures taken to ensure that procedures for the issuance of passports are accessible to persons with disabilities and that persons with disabilities can exercise their freedom of movement, including the right to choose their place of residence and to enter or leave any country on an equal basis with others.

Living independently and being included in the community (art. 19)

20.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)Measures to ensure compatibility between the prohibition against establishing “care institutions” and the system of small group homes in the State Party;

(b)Measures to impose a moratorium on institutionalization;

(c)Measures to revise the deinstitutionalization policy of 2013 and to apply the Committee’s general comment No. 5 (2017) on living independently and being included in the community and its guidelines on deinstitutionalization, including in emergencies (2022).

21.Please also provide information on:

(a)The number of children with disabilities who have been released from residential and day-care institutions and the number of children with disabilities still living in institutions, disaggregated by age, sex, gender and type of impairment;

(b)Measures to develop support in the community for all persons with disabilities, including persons with hearing impairments and persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities in Yerevan and in municipalities across the State Party. Please include information on the public budget available for human and technical resources to provide the personal assistance required by persons with disabilities and other forms of support in the community, including for persons with intensive support needs;

(c)Assessments of the participation of persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities in the community and measures to ensure their equal access to community services, including education, health, sports and culture.

Personal mobility (art. 20)

22.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)The budget allocated to support persons with disabilities, including in rural areas, to access mobility aids and devices and other assistive technologies, which provide them with the capacity for spontaneous and independent mobility;

(b)Steps taken to remove the requirement for persons with disabilities who require new assistive devices and measures to undergo reassessment of their disability status.

Freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information (art. 21)

23.Please provide information about:

(a)Legislative measures for the official recognition of Armenian Sign Language as an official language;

(b)Mechanisms to formally qualify Armenian Sign Language interpreters to ensure the right of deaf persons to freedom of expression, opinion and access to information;

(c)Measures taken to ensure that Braille displays, speech-to-text systems and other adaptive technologies are developed or adapted for use in the Armenian language.

Respect for privacy (art. 22)

24.Please describe:

(a)The measures taken to protect the confidentiality of the personal information of persons with disabilities, including with respect to medical records and social protection;

(b)Appropriate and accessible complaint mechanisms and procedures, in case of arbitrary and/or unlawful interference with the right of persons with disabilities to privacy, and effective and accessible remedies in cases of violations of the right to privacy;

(c)The measures adopted to protect from arbitrary and unlawful interference the personal data, digitized databases and records relating to persons with disabilities, including health records and rehabilitation information, regardless of the person’s place of residence.

Respect for home and the family (art. 23)

25.Please provide information about:

(a)The number of foster families caring for children with disabilities throughout the State Party, the budget provided to ensure that children in foster families are adequately supported and the measures aimed at raising awareness of the role of families fostering children with disabilities who had been abandoned;

(b)The current status of the proposed legislative amendments to the Family Code concerning the exercise by persons with disabilities of the right to marry and to adopt, and allowing for foster care and adoption of children with disabilities;

(c)The time frame for the implementation of legislative provisions ensuring the right of persons with psychosocial and/or intellectual disabilities to have families, adopt children and fulfil their parental rights;

(d)Measures intended to provide parents of children and adolescents with psychosocial and/or intellectual disabilities with adequate awareness-raising, education, social and psychological support, and to prevent family separation on the basis of disability.

Education (art. 24)

26.Please provide information on:

(a)The mechanism for implementing the inclusive education plan for children with disabilities and updated data, disaggregated by age, sex, gender and rural or urban area, on their enrolment rate in public and private schools, dropout rates and accomplishment levels;

(b)Measures taken to prevent denial of admission of children with disabilities to private schools;

(c)Measures taken to train teachers and adapt curricula to support quality inclusive education, including through the use of digital technology;

(d)Reasonable accommodations and individualized support provided for children and adults with disabilities, including persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities, at all levels of education, including higher education;

(e)Measures, including strategies and time frames, to ensure that the physical accessibility of educational institutions is completed in all urban and rural communities;

(f)Mechanisms to provide textbooks in accessible formats and appropriate programmes to all persons with disabilities.

Health (art. 25)

27.Please provide information on:

(a)Measures taken to include the sexual and reproductive health of women and girls with disabilities in the Reproductive Health Improvement Strategy and Action Plan and to ensure that women and girls with disabilities have full access to gender-responsive healthcare;

(b)Measures to combat discrimination against persons with disabilities in health services, including sexual and reproductive health services, and to ensure the preparedness of medical staff;

(c)Measures to ensure the availability of quality mental health services in the community;

(d)Measures to ensure accessibility to health services, including mental health services, in the community, equipment, information and specialized services for all persons with disabilities, including persons with hearing impairments, and persons with disabilities living in rural areas.

Habilitation and rehabilitation (art. 26)

28.Please provide information about:

(a)Measures and procedures adopted to ensure that the participation of persons with disabilities in habilitation and rehabilitation services and programmes is accessible, comprehensive, cross-sectoral and based on the human rights model of disability;

(b)Measures to ensure the participation of persons with disabilities, through their representative organizations, in the design and establishment of community-based habilitation and rehabilitation programmes;

(c)Measures adopted to ensure the provision of habilitation and rehabilitation services and programmes as close as possible to the local community, including in rural areas.

Work and employment (art. 27)

29.Please provide information about measures to promote the access of persons with disabilities to the open labour market, in all fields of the economy, both in the public and the private sectors. Please also describe the measures taken:

(a)To ensure the accessibility of digital platforms for jobseekers, including women with disabilities, young persons with disabilities and persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities;

(b)To ensure the labour rights of persons with disabilities, including in the scope of temporary contracts and with respect to the principle of equal pay for work of equal value;

(c)To increase employment opportunities for women with disabilities, including employer incentives, accessible workspaces and inclusive vocational training and entrepreneurship;

(d)To monitor and enforce anti-discrimination measures in employment, ensuring the provision of reasonable accommodations in the workplace.

Adequate standard of living and social protection (art. 28)

30.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)The mechanism by which the State Party ensures adequate social protection for persons with disabilities, including the coverage of disability-related expenses through pensions and benefits;

(b)The envisaged time frame to bring the disability pension in line with at least the minimum cost of consumer expenses;

(c)Mechanisms to ensure an adequate standard of living for families of children with disabilities;

(d)Measures taken to prevent homelessness among persons with disabilities and to ensure that public housing programmes, including programmes to develop accessibility, are accessible for asylum-seekers and refugees with disabilities;

(e)The number and percentage of persons with disabilities living in poverty and the type of support, including housing, access to support and general services in the community. Please also describe current programmes to combat poverty targeting persons with disabilities and their families.

Participation in political and public life (art. 29)

31.Please provide information on:

(a)Measures taken to ensure the right to vote for all persons with disabilities, including persons with psychosocial and/or intellectual disabilities;

(b)Steps taken to repeal article 48 (4) of the Constitution, according to which a person who has been recognized as “incapacitated” by a court decision that has legally entered into force does not have the right to elect or be elected or participate in a referendum;

(c)Measures adopted to provide human assistance and intermediaries, including guides, readers, qualified sign language interpreters and accommodations in Braille and Easy Read, to facilitate the accessibility of polling stations and political campaigns.

Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport (art. 30)

32.Please inform the Committee about the strategy adopted to implement the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled. Please indicate whether the Treaty has been made available in Armenian by any accessible means (on the Internet or other official sources) to civil society and the public.

33.Please describe the accommodations available for persons with disabilities in sports, recreational and cultural facilities.

C.Specific obligations (arts. 31–33)

Statistics and data collection (art. 31)

34.Please provide information about steps taken to collect and analyse data on persons with disabilities and how the data are used in the development of national policies and programmes, in line with article 31 of the Convention.

International cooperation (art. 32)

35.Please provide information about:

(a)Measures to ensure that persons with disabilities are closely consulted and actively involved in decision-making processes concerning international cooperation strategies and programmes;

(b)Mechanisms to prevent the use of international and/or regional funds in policies that run contrary to the Convention;

(c)Measures to ensure that international cooperation initiatives taken by the State Party are gender-responsive and empower women and girls with disabilities in all areas of life.

National implementation and monitoring (art. 33)

36.Please inform the Committee about:

(a)Measures adopted to designate one or more focal points within the government structure with sufficient authority to ensure that disability is mainstreamed across all policies, programmes and relevant ministries;

(b)Mechanisms to implement the recommendations of the Office of the Human Rights Defender, measures to strengthen its public funding, and human and technical resources to perform its monitoring functions;

(c)Age- and gender-responsive measures adopted to ensure close consultation and the active involvement of persons with disabilities and their representative organizations, including organizations of women with disabilities and children with disabilities, in the process of monitoring the implementation of the Convention, including by strengthening their role in the Public Council on the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Public Council on the Protection of Children’s Rights.