Margaret Sekaggya, the UN Special Rapporteur for the situation of human rights defenders, presented her report on Thursday during the 16th session of the Human Rights Council.

In the report the Special Rapporteur focuses on the situation of women human rights defenders and those working on women’s rights or gender issues, violations that they face, etc.

During the reporting period, the Special Rapporteur visited Armenia from 12 to 18 June 2010. A separate report on this visit has been published. In the report, the Special Rapporteur highlighted details of current challenges faced by human rights defenders in Armenia in their legitimate activities, reads the statement by Helsinki Association for Human Rights.

Sekaggya highlights that the events of March 2008 have contributed to a very politicized environment which prevents constructive cooperation between the authorities, the Ombudsman and human rights defenders. Other challenges include restrictions on freedom of association, impediments to the freedom of assembly, restrictions on freedom of expression and impunity for abuses against human rights defenders.

After the introduction of the report by the Special Rapporteur, Armenia’s representative responded, stating that Armenia welcomed the report. The Armenian representative also said that all cases related to the events of March 1st 2008 had been investigated and that the perpetuators found responsible. The Armenian representative also stated that NGOs take part in the discussions of legislative changes, and that the Armenian authorities highly appreciate the role of NGOs.

Members of the South Caucasus Network of Human Rights Defenders, in particular, Artak Zeynalyan of “Jurists against torture”, Melissa Brown of “Shakhatun” NGO and the Armenian Coordinator of the Network, Mikael Danielyan of the “Helsinki Association for Human Rights”, were present during the report’s presentation.