Recap| January 2025
European Court issued a new judgment
On January 7, 2025, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) issued its judgment in the case of Minasyan and Others v. Armenia, recognizing violations of fundamental human rights by Armenia.
This case concerns the article and other similar articles, published by “Iravunk” newspaper on 17.05.2014, presenting a blacklist of a group of people, and calls everyone to express zero tolerance towards them and to restrict their opportunities in every possible field of their activity.
The publications in question included personal data of targeted individuals, accompanied by calls for discrimination and incitement to intolerance.
The Court found that Armenia violated the applicants’ right to respect for private and family life, combined with the absolute right to be free from discrimination. The Court emphasized that the constitutional prohibition of discrimination and the Civil Code’s prohibition of insult are insufficient to protect individuals from homophobic hate speech. According to the Court, the severe harm caused to the mental integrity, dignity, and honor of the individuals targeted by the publications cannot be adequately addressed through civil legislation. Moreover, the state failed to demonstrate that these legal provisions are effectively applied in practice.
Crafting our activities around community needs
As every year, we kicked off January with our annual planning, a crucial process where we review our strategic plan and align our activities for the year ahead. This planning process allowed us to reflect on the accomplishments of 2024, analyze the findings from the needs assessment conducted among our beneficiaries, and build our activities based on the findings.
Through this reflection, we identified key areas for growth and innovation, ensuring that our programs remain responsive and impactful.
As promised, 2025 will be even more dynamic, with new projects and initiatives designed to better serve our community and further our mission.
