ARMENIA: RIGHT TO PROTEST AND STATE REPRISALS, 2015-2016

YOU ARE CODIALLY INVITED

SIDE EVENT AT THE OSCE ODIHR HDIM 2016

ARMENIA: RIGHT TO PROTEST AND STATE REPRISALS, 2015-2016

TUESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2016

13:00-14:45, Meeting room 2

(Lunch and refreshment will be provided during the event)

SPEAKERS’ BIOGRAPHIES

Davit Khachaturyan is the Board Chair of the Open Society Foundations-Armenia. He received his doctorate in law from Yerevan State University where he teaches ECHR and Lawyering Skills to Master Program. Mr. Khachaturyan worked for the U.S. Embassy in Armenia, at the U.S. Department of Justice, UNDP South Caucasus Anti-Drug Project, Court of Cassation of Armenia, and Armenian Academy of Justice. He is involved in programs of the Council of Europe and European Union as an expert on rule of law, judiciary and human rights, primary focusing to help bring Armenian human rights norms and laws in line with universal standards of human rights protection.

Giorgi Gogia is South Caucasus Director at Human Rights Watch, working on Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. He has worked and written extensively on criminal justice system reform, police brutality, freedom of expression and media freedoms and property rights. He also worked and written on international humanitarian law during the armed conflicts and health and human rights issues.;

Artur Sakunts is the Chairman of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor which provides legal consulting and assistance, conducts monitoring of closed and semi-closed institutions, including armed forces and psychiatric institutions, and hence presents legislative changes. He is an advocate for demilitarization in the region as a guarantee to peace and security, as well for prevention of human rights violations in the armed forces. Since 2011 he has been regularly representing victims and their successors on army cases to the court. In 2012 Mr. Artur Sakunts received Freedom Defender Award.

Avetik Ishkhanyan is the founder and the President of the Helsinki Committee of Armenia (HCA). Since1995, HCA has been conducting an on-going monitoring of the human rights situation with a special focus on closed and semi-closed institutions, including penitentiaries, orphanages and army, where conscientious objectors were in the alternative service. Mr. Ishkhanyan is the author of a series of reports covering areas such as life in penal institutions, treatment of detained persons, freedom of religion, freedom of peaceful assemblies in Armenia. He is actively engaged in advocacy for protection of rights of prisoners and life prisoners.

Levon Barseghyan is the Chairman of the Journalists’ Club “Asparez” in Gyumri, Armenia. He is a leading expert in the field of freedom media and information. In 1994-2000, he worked as a journalist and a chief editor in local “Tsayg” and “Shant” TV companies. In 1998-2002, he was an executive director of “Shant” FM-104.1 radio station and chief editor of “Shant” newspaper. He is the founder and chief editor of www.asparez.am and “Asparez”, the first daily newspaper published by an NGO in the post-soviet area. Mr. Barseghyan is an award winner of Freedom Defender, The Time for Freedom of Press for the consistent protection of media freedom.

Daniel Ioannisyan is the founder of the “Union of Informed Citizens” NGO established in 2013. The organization unites social activists distinguished for raising public awareness on important social and political issues providing valuable and reliable information. The main target fields are the foreign policy, law enforcement, electoral and energy sectors of Armenia. In 2010-2011 he worked at the National Parliament of Armenia and prepared packages of legislative reforms for the law enforcement sector. Since 2011, Mr. Ioannisyan has worked as a law enforcement sector analyst for local media resources.

Haykuhi Harutyunyan is the president of “Protection of rights without borders” NGO. She is a Fulbright Scholarships-Hubert Humphrey Fellow and studied in the Minnesota Law School, where she got her Master’s Degree on Human rights, Rule of Law and Leadership. She manages the efforts of the organization to promote protection of human rights, to foster the principles of the rule of law and good governance in Armenia. Ms. Harutyunyan is a practicing lawyer and a member of the Chamber of Advocates in Armenia. In 2003-2011, Ms. Harutyunyan has worked at the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor. ;

Nataliya Novakova is a Project Officer at International Partnership for Human rights working on freedom of faith in Russia, accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine, political prisoners in Azerbaijan. Nataliya is engaged in the fieldwork documenting war crimes in eastern Ukraine, doing research in Crimea and monitoring peaceful protests in other countries of the region. Nataliya is also consultant on Eastern Europe and Central Asia at Minority Rights Group Europe. She authored several publications on human rights and advocacy in Eastern partnership countries. Nataliya holds MPA degree from the Central European University (Budapest) and Master of Political Science from Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University (Ukraine).

The side event is collaborative and organized by the Partnership for Open Society Initiative in cooperation with Human Rights Watch and Civic Solidarity Platform.

The event is open to public. Representatives of Member States, Civil Society and Media are cordially invited. Lunch and refreshment will be provided. For further information on the event, please contact: Ms. Karine Ghazaryan at [email protected]