YEREVAN. – The first session of the interdepartmental commission on human rights was held in Yerevan on Tuesday.

The Commission is headed by Secretary of the National Security Service Arthur Baghdasaryan. The first meeting was attended by Ombudsman Karen Andreasyan, heads of the EU, Council of Europe and OSCE delegations to Armenia.

Opening the session, Baghdasaryan recalled that the commission had been formed under the Strategy for Human Rights adopted last year.

“Protection of human rights is one of the priorities of Armenia’s national security,” he said.

According to him, huge work, especially in terms of improving domestic legislation, has been carried out in this area. The Commission’s work will be accompanied by periodic monitoring to make its work transparent and public. Working groups will be formed to make the work more targeted, he added.

Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia Traian Hristea noted the importance of human rights protection in terms of adoption of European values. He stressed that Europe is developing dialogue on the issue with Armenia and other states.

The representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in Armenia Oleksandr Pavlyuk said that the formation of the Commission on Human Rights coincided with the first Armenia’s presidency of the Council of Europe. He believes this will provide new opportunities for the consideration of European problems and reaffirming Armenia’s commitment to protect human rights.

The head of the OSCE office in Armenia, Ambassador Andrey Sorokin said that the issue of human rights is inseparable from the mandate of his organization and recalled that the OSCE Office is working closely with Armenia in this direction.