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Ensuring equal treatment of each person and equal opportunities to exercise rights, freedoms and responsibilities, as well as prevention of discrimination against each person and protection of the right not to be discriminated against, is the focus of our attention, as well as of the ruling Faction: This was stated by the Deputy Chair of the RA NA Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs Rustam Bakoyan, during the work debate of the draft law on Ensuring Equality and Protection from Discrimination organized in the Parliament on June 4.

The deputies from the NA Civil Contract Faction, the representatives of the state institutions and local self-government bodies took part in the debate.

The issue was debated in the Government, with the international partners of the RA, the international experience was studied and some provisions of the draft were adapted to various international conventions.

Presenting the package of draft laws, the RA Deputy Minister of Justice Karen Karapetyan informed that it was also sent to the Council of Europe and the OSCE/ODIHR. The observations made by the latter were accepted and after appropriate corrections, the package of draft laws was submitted for preliminary debate.

The representative of the department stated that the package particularly implies the expansion of the mandate of the Office of the Human Rights Defender, defines the notion and the types of discrimination, the responsibilities of state and local self-government bodies and their officials in the field of eliminating discrimination, and the structures of legal and judicial protection against discrimination.

“The adoption of draft laws will have a great role for our society in terms of raising the field of equality and prohibition of discrimination to another dimension. I also consider important the fact that, according to the regulations of the draft, the independence of the Human Rights Defender is preserved, which will not hinder the restoration of the violated rights and freedoms, the improvement of normative legal acts related to rights and freedoms,” the RA Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan noted.

The participants of the debate underlined the need to protect human rights and freedoms and in this context emphasized the policy of continuing the adopted position.

Summarizing the meeting, Rustam Bakoyan and the representatives of the state institutions voiced their observations and proposals.

It was mentioned that as a result of such debates, the package of drafts will be finalized.