It is proposed to establish the Fact-Finding Commission under the Public Council; discussion held with civil society representatives under the chairmanship of Minister

Minister of Justice Grigor Minasyan delivered a speech at the public discussion devoted to the legislative initiative for the establishment of a fact-finding commission and attended by a number of NGOs.

The Minister mentioned that since independence, massive human rights violations have been regularly committed in the Republic of Armenia, accompanied with the steady presence of systemic and political corruption in the country, which has been highlighted in a number of national and international reports and has been raised and is being raised as an issue among public and political circles several times.

The Minister of Justice emphasised that the political changes that took place in 2018 in the Republic of Armenia prepared a ground for the introduction of auxiliary mechanisms — as transitional justice tools — to identify these violations, make them public, give an assessment of the past and make institutional reforms.

Accordingly, the need for using transitional justice tools has been enshrined in both the previous Strategy for Judicial and Legal Reforms and the new 2022-2026 Strategy. In particular, it has been enshrined that a fact-finding institution needs to be established in order to identify the cases of massive and regularly committed human rights violations in Armenia and to submit proposals aimed at restoring and protecting the violated rights.

According to the Minister, the events that took place after 2020 — the state of emergency, the war, new elections, border encroachments and the new social and political realities — have compelled to revise certain approaches. After various discussions, it was decided to establish this institution under the Public Council.

As a result, the Public Council will gain a reputation, and it will eventually be possible to establish the fact-finding commission without tremendous resources. Summing up his speech, Grigor Minasyan mentioned that the establishment and operation of the fact-finding commission will be impossible without the active support and participation of the civil society, and, accordingly, a substantive discussion is necessary in order to find consensus-based solutions.

Within the scope of the meeting, representatives from the NGOs and the Ministry of Justice held a question-and-answer session.