Ombudsperson’s 2024 Annual Report

The annual report on the activities of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia and the state of human rights and freedoms protection during 2024 has been published (in Armenian).

This year also a separate chapter under the section “Issues Related to Equality and the Prohibition of Discrimination” is dedicated to the rights of LGBT persons (pages 312-320), the issue of sexual harassment (pages 321-328), and discrimination based on HIV/AIDS (pages 332-336).

Human Rights Protection of LGBT People in Armenia

In 2024, the Ombudsperson continued efforts to protect and promote LGBT rights. The report highlights key events, including a roundtable discussion organized by the Pink Human Rights Defender NGO on the topic “The Human Rights Situation of LGBT People in Armenia”, held in honor of the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia where the Ombudsperson Anahit Manasyan delivered a welcoming speech.

The report notes society’s prevailing intolerance and hate speech against LGBT individuals in Armenia. It also references cases documented by Pink Human Rights Defender NGO, which were submitted to the Ombudsperson’s office. In 2024, the organization recorded 57 cases of LGBT rights violations, including:

• Violations of the right to be free from torture, inhumane, and degrading treatment.
• Cases of sexual and physical violence.
• Psychological pressure, threats, and breaches of privacy.
• Violations of the right to respect for private and family life, among other cases.

Additionally, complaints were received regarding rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity in penitentiaries, by law enforcement officers, investigators, and medical personnel.

Legal Challenges

The report emphasizes that sexual orientation and gender identity are not explicitly recognized as protected characteristics in laws related to discrimination, hate speech, and hate crimes. The Ombudsperson reaffirms the necessity of legally recognizing these characteristics as protected grounds.

To address the identified issues, the Ombudsperson has put forward recommendations, including:

• conducting public attitude studies,
• organizing public awareness campaigns,
• providing ongoing training for police officers, investigators, prosecutors, judges, and medical personnel,
• amending Armenia’s Criminal Code (Articles 203, 329-330) and the Law on Audiovisual Media (Article 9) to include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as protected characteristics,
• updating the classification of diseases and health-related issues in line with the WHO’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11).

Sexual Harassment

The Ombudsperson’s annual report also addressed the issue of sexual harassment. Numerous challenges in the fight against sexual harassment continue to be recorded, stemming both from shortcomings in the sector’s legislative regulations and from perceptions and enforcement deficiencies in legal practice. Cases of sexual harassment often go unreported, which may be due to a lack of awareness or insufficient information, bias, lack of sufficient evidence, fear—including fear of being targeted by society—shame, criticism, the absence of a policy against harassment, and, in many cases, certain societal perceptions and stereotypes.

It should be reminded that recently, Pink Human Rights Defender NGO made an important statement and presented the organization’s position on the manifestations of sexual harassment and violence recorded in the field of human rights protection.

Discrimination Against People Living with HIV

In 2024, the Ombudsperson documented multiple cases of discrimination against people living with HIV within the healthcare system. Additionally, “Real World, Real People” NGO documented 23 human rights violations involving discriminatory treatment, breaches of privacy, and lack of respect in medical institutions.

The report concludes that discrimination against people living with HIV not only violates human rights but also hinders effective HIV prevention and treatment efforts.