Within the scope of the monitoring mission initiated by the EU Delegation in Armenia for the purpose of assessing the performance of actions that are part of the EU’s Support to Human Rights Protection in Armenia budget support financing agreement, Head of the Special Investigation Service of Armenia Sasun Khachatryan, Deputy Head Vladimir Hovhannisyan and the Head of the Department for Investigation of Crimes against Humanity met with experts Mushegh Yekmalyan and Yanis Sofianopoulos.

As reported the Special Investigation Service, during the meeting, the experts were told about the peculiarities of the investigation of tortures and crimes against humanity and the statistics on the criminal cases being investigated by the Service.

Expressing gratitude to the head of the Service for the meeting and cordial reception, the experts presented the key target directions of their program, including support to human rights protection and gender equality. They also mentioned that the earmarked actions are being carried out in two stages, including monitoring for assessment of the actions that are part of the agreement and the submission of a recommendation on the new program to be implemented in Armenia.

The need for video-recording the investigative actions performed within the scope of preparation and investigation of instituted criminal cases by the police and investigative bodies was also considered, and according to the interlocutors, this will help reveal cases of torture and maltreatment and increase effectiveness of investigation.