Open Letter

Mr. President and Mr. Prime Minister,

On behalf of the members of the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Women and the many victims of domestic violence in the Republic of Armenia, we write this letter to expressour great disappointment in your failure to accept the recently submitted draft law on domestic violence.

As you are already aware, and as presented in the submitted draft law, domestic violence (DV)is a pervasive and serious matter in Armenia. DV has direct and severe impact on our society, especially on our women and children. Only last year, five women(that we know of) died from direct consequences of DV, leaving behind 12 minor children. Additionally thousands turned to different NGOs asking for support and protection. Yet, the government of Armenia, including our policy makers,is still failing to respond adequately to this urgent issue.

According to Amnesty International’s 2008 survey, and  UNFPA statistical research 25% of women are victims of domestic abuse and most of these victims don’t have effective access to the criminal justice system, safe shelters, and rehabilitation mechanisms. According to the RA police department, 621 cases of DV were reported last year, and based on the observations of  RA Police Criminal Investigation Third Department head Nelly Duryan, the reported cases are on the rise compared to previous years. Despite the sounding of the alarm by many organizations including EU, OSCE and the UN, the government response to this issue still remains insufficient to stop the problem.

The development and introduction of the DV law manifests the genuine effortsof civil society, international organizations and local authorities to introduce a national law that would address specifically, for the first time and in a comprehensive manner, the DV problem in Armenia. Significant efforts by many partners including the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, Police Representatives, International Organizations and local NGOs went into consultations, researching and developing this legislation over several years.

Based on multiple reassurances by government representatives, our expectation was that this legislation would pass through all necessary reviews by the government with constructive suggestions to move it forwardtoward eventual adoption by parliament.

Thus, it came as a great surprise to all of us, after the first reading of the bill,that the government rejected it based on some elements contradicting the constitutionand criminal law. The government was supposed to provide recommendationsand improve the draft law, and not reject it. During, the analysis presented by the Ministry of Justice, and the deceptive explanations provided by your representative Ms.Mirzakhanyan, the main impression left among civil society and international organizations was that the government was doing everything to reject such a law. The Justice Ministry’s suggestion was to create amendments to the existing criminal code. This would be acceptable only in developed countries where there are existing mechanisms and social infrastructure to provide further assistance to victims.Unfortunately, Armenia’s decision proves that there is no understanding of what DV is since gender-based violence or hate crimes are unique and don’t fit into the regular criminal or civil liability structures. By postponing this law, we are losing valuable time and many innocent lives, as well as increasing the burden on government because this is serious public health problem as well as an economic one. We are strongly urging the government to take responsibilityand adopt a strong stand towards its obligations expressed on many occasions and via different international conventions ratified by the RA in the past decades.

We remind you that in 1992 the government ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discriminations Against Women (CEDAW), to address gender equality issues in the country. Also by the decree of the Prime Minister an interagency-committee was formed to counter gender-based violence in Armenia in 2011, when different representatives of the government and organizations under the guidance of the Ministry of Social Affairs adopted a National Action Plan for 2011-2015, stating its goal to pass a separate law on DVby 2013.Also more recently, the government of Armenia ratified a National Strategy paper on the protection of human rights; in that paper, article42.2 says clearly that the government: “the draft law on combating domestic violence is prepared according to international norms and according to the procedure it will be circulated (N159 – 29 October 2012)”

While government has signed onto these and many other agreements, its follow-through and implementation of the many commitments contained in these agreements has been insufficient.

Nevertheless, civil society as well as international organizations has worked very hard to help government meet its many commitments by offering resources and expertise. The development of this DV law is just one example of this effort to help the government keep its promises.

DV is not just a women’s issue; it is a national issue and it is a human rights issue. By failing to pass this critical legislation, the government has sent a very clear message to the Armenian people and the world that it considers the prevention of domestic violence to be a low-priority issue and that there is no genuine political will to address it.

Through this letter we convey to you once more our disappointment and strong concerns on the issue and urge you to respect the obligations that the government took upon itself. In particular, we are expecting concrete steps to improve the draft law and adopt it rather than integrate it in the criminal code. Our Coalition, backed by a strong civil society both in Armenia and Diaspora will continue to advocate for the passage of the law.

In order to continue this process, we urge you to establish a dialogue between the government and active women’s rights defenders and international organizations involved in the creation of the draft law.

Sincerely,

Coalition to Stop Violence against Women in Armenia