Human Rights Defender's Statement on Incident in Tavush

Immediately following the publication of information regarding violence against children in Tavush, the Human Rights Defender of Armenia initiated a research process. Multi-faceted professional discussions have taken place, according to the Defender's office.

As can be seen from the available materials at this time, the violence against children was continuous. Unfortunately, this instance of family violence had tragic consequences, with a 6-year-old child dying in the hospital without regaining consciousness.

Violence against children is a gross violation of children's rights, which can lead to irreparable and even tragic consequences for the child's life and health, completely deforming their healthy development. Our state is obligated to take all measures to guarantee the protection of children from violence, whether perpetrated by parents, guardians, or any other individuals responsible for the child's welfare.

Children must be protected from all forms of physical or psychological violence, including beatings, insults or abuse, mockery or neglect, brutal treatment, and exploitation, among others. Unfortunately, violence against children, especially domestic violence, is a hidden phenomenon. Both societal and institutional stereotypical perceptions of this issue contribute to its concealment.

State institutions must strive harder to combat this condemnable phenomenon as a matter of priority. The Human Rights Defender strongly condemns violence against children, especially when it occurs within the family. It is even more condemnable when violence is directed towards children who are particularly vulnerable due to their status and need greater protection.

We must all understand that violence directly undermines family values, disrupts the right of a child to live in a family, and contradicts the best interests of the child. The situation concerning the operations of guardianship and trusteeship bodies is extremely concerning. These bodies have little effectiveness in disclosing cases of violence against children in families or in situations where children are in difficult circumstances.

Guardian and trusteeship bodies lack the necessary professional training to adequately fulfill their functions in safeguarding children's rights in the community. Community-level institutions play a crucial role in ensuring children's rights to be protected from all forms of violence. This especially applies to the guardianship and trusteeship bodies, whose activities should be directly linked to the social, psychological, and health welfare of children.

The Human Rights Defender has consistently raised awareness about the condemnable state of guardianship and trusteeship bodies, their absolute ineffectiveness in fulfilling duties, and the dangerous manifestations arising from this situation. This has been done through annual reports, as well as through the extraordinary public report on the guardianship and trusteeship bodies and commissions.

In the area of detecting and preventing violence against children in families, there are both systemic and legislative issues present in the examination of such cases. Both practice and legislation fail to ensure effective protection for children subjected to violence in families, complete disclosure, and the prevention of future possible cases.

It is necessary to enhance the rapid response of law enforcement agencies, as well as to ensure their necessary specialization and effective inter-agency cooperation at the community level. Any investigation of such cases should not be limited to case-by-case inquiries. The reasons and contributing factors of such acts must be thoroughly analyzed to implement preventive measures, thereby improving the system to ultimately exclude any instances of violence or gross violations of rights against any child or individual.

The Human Rights Defender has addressed relevant letters to the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Armenia, the Police of the Republic of Armenia, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, the Tavush Regional Administration, and the mayor of Khashtarak community. The Defender will continue to monitor the actions taken by the state regarding this case and the state of children's rights protection.