Vigen Kocharyan participates in round-table discussion entitled "Combating racial discrimination and intolerance"

Today, a round-table discussion entitled "Combating racial discrimination and intolerance" took place with the participation of Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Vigen Kocharyan. Representatives of state bodies, the Staff of the Human Rights Defender, non-governmental and international organisations, as well as representatives of embassies represented in the Republic of Armenia participated in the round-table discussion.

The objective of the meeting was to find - as a result of holding discussions - proportionate solutions for ensuring implementation of the recommendations presented in the 2016 Report of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) on Armenia.

Vigen Kocharyan expressed his gratitude to the Council of Europe, in particular to the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, for effective co-operation with the Ministry of Justice and highly appreciated, in this context, the professional consultancy provided by the Council of Europe in regard to the large-scale activities for legislative amendments following the constitutional reforms.

Vice-Chair of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance Reetta Toivanen attached importance to the organisation of the discussion, noting that the task of the Commission was not to criticise and identify the mistakes of member states, but to identify the issues and find solutions through joint discussions.

During the discussion, Minister Kocharyan presented the draft Laws "On ensuring legal equality" and "On national minorities" and answered questions from the participants attending the round-table discussion.

The round-table discussion was organised by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), in co-operation with the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia and the Staff of the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia.