Today, the Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan participated in Anti-Corruption Policy Council session chaired by the RA Prime Minister. During the session, the Minister of Justice presented the draft “On Anti-Corruption Strategy of the Republic of Armenia and Approval of 2019-2022 Action Plan for its Implementation” revised by the Government decision. The Human Rights Defender presented 18 main recommendations, which are almost completely adopted.
During the session, Arman Tatoyan spoke about the institutional system envisaged by the Strategy. He noted that this version of the Draft Strategy was substantially revised, highlighting that it guarantees the independence of the proposed Anti-Corruption Committee from any political body or political influence. First of all, it relates to the fights against crime. The strategy envisages that the Anti-Corruption Committee will be formed on the basis of a redistribution of the functions of the current investigative bodies. In this regard, the Defender stressed that it is important that torture cases continue to be investigated by the Special Investigation Service as an independent investigative body.
The Defender also spoke about the correlation between the Human Rights Defender and Commission for the Prevention of Corruption that is envisaged by the Strategy.
During the session, the importance of presenting declarations, public awareness activities on the actions that are based on the Strategy, etc. were also discussed. Given the systemic negative impact of corruption on the human rights system and the rule of law, the Human Rights Defender attaches importance to his participation in the Anti-Corruption Policy Council sessions, which allows him to directly present recommendations on anti-corruption issues in the country.