The Helsinki Citizens' Assembly–Vanadzor (HCAV) () is the

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

n branch of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly. It is headquartered in

Vanadzor Vanadzor (, ) is an urban municipal community and the third largest city in Armenia, serving as the capital of Lori Province in the northern part of the country. It is located about north of the capital Yerevan. As of the 2011 census, the city h ...

and maintains a satellite office in Armenia's capital,

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

History and objectives

The Helsinki Citizens' Assembly (hCa) was established in 1990 to improve fundamental rights and freedoms,

pluralism Pluralism in general denotes a diversity of views or stands, rather than a single approach or method. Pluralism or pluralist may refer more specifically to: Politics and law * Pluralism (political philosophy), the acknowledgement of a diversi ...

, and

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

in Europe. The Armenian branch was founded in Vanadzor in 1998. The Helsinki Citizens' Assembly–Vanadzor supports the strengthening of

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

, including women's rights, rights for

minorities The term "minority group" has different meanings, depending on the context. According to common usage, it can be defined simply as a group in society with the least number of individuals, or less than half of a population. Usually a minority g ...

, and

LGBT rights in Armenia Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Armenia face legal and social challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents, due in part to the lack of laws prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender ...

. HCAV calls for more women to be represented in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

. HCAV also supports the goals of the

2018 Armenian revolution The 2018 Armenian Revolution, most commonly known in Armenia as #MerzhirSerzhin (, meaning "#RejectSerzh"), was a series of anti-government protests in Armenia from April to May 2018 staged by various political and civil groups led by a member ...

, further developing Armenia's democracy and government transparency, and tackling

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

and police brutality. HCAV supports citizens through providing legal aid and court representation, maintains an emergency hotline, monitors

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

, and raises awareness through campaigns, seminars, and public presentations. HCAV provides legal aid to approximately 400 citizens annually and has assisted citizens to submit cases to the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

. HCAV conducts reporting on various issues and often provides recommendations to the

government of Armenia The Government of the Republic of Armenia () or the executive branch of the Armenian government is an executive council of government ministers in Armenia. It is one of the three main governmental branches of Armenia and is headed by the Pr ...

and the

Human Rights Defender of Armenia The Human Rights Defender of Armenia () is the official ombudsman, who, acting pursuant to the Constitution of Armenia, as well as, principles and norms of international law, protects the human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals. T ...

. Prior to Armenia joining the

Eurasian Economic Union The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU or EEU)EAEU is the acronym used on thorganisation's website However, many media outlets use the acronym EEU. is an economic union of five post-Soviet states located in Eurasia. The EAEU has an integrated single ...

, HCAV summitted a motion to the Court of Appeal demanding to recognize the actions aimed at joining the customs union by former president of Armenia

Serzh Sargsyan Serzh Azati Sargsyan (, ; born 30 June 1954)Official biography of Serzh Sargsyan

as illegal. HCAV opposed the decision of Serzh Sargsyan to approve Armenia's accession to the Russian-led customs union. On 14 September 2022, following the Armenia–Azerbaijan border crisis, Artur Sakunts stated, "Many

pro-Western The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...

Armenians have called for the country to leave the

CSTO The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO, ) is an intergovernmental military alliance in Eurasia consisting of six post-Soviet states: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. The Collective Security Treaty ha ...

. If Armenia does not show determination now and does not get out of the deadlock of the CSTO-Eurasian Union-trilateral statement of November 9, 2020 and does not take a step toward becoming part of the United States-France-European Union civilized system, then ussian President VladimirPutin, urkish President Recep TayyipErdogan and zerbaijan President IlhamAliyev will devour Armenia." Also in September 2022, HCAV presented a document of recommendations to

Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi ( ; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who was the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011 an ...

during her visit to Yerevan. One of the recommendations was to provide

major non-NATO ally A major non-NATO ally (MNNA) is a designation given by the Federal government of the United States, United States government to countries that have strategic working relationships with the United States Armed Forces while not being members of t ...

status to Armenia. In 2024, Artur Sakunts endorsed the

United Platform of Democratic Forces The United Platform of Democratic Forces () is a political alliance of three extra-parliamentary opposition, extra-parliamentary political parties in Armenia. It was established on 14 May 2024 and is headquartered in Yerevan. History The leaders o ...

Partnerships

The Helsinki Citizens' Assembly–Vanadzor maintains partnerships with

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

, the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, Helsinki Committee of Armenia,

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

National Endowment for Democracy The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is a quasi-autonomous non-governmental organization in the United States founded in 1983 with the stated aim of advancing democracy worldwide and counter communism, communist influence abroad, by prom ...

Open Society Foundations Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is an American grantmaking network founded by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with the s ...

OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the pr ...

Pink Armenia Pink Armenia () is the first LGBTQIA+ rights non-governmental organization in Armenia. Pink Armenia was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Yerevan. Its mission is to serve and support the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender individua ...

, as well as several diplomatic missions and other

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

's based in Armenia. The HCAV also cooperates with other Helsinki Citizens' Assembly chapters across Europe.

References

External links

Official website
{{Armenia topics Armenia–European Union relations Civic organizations Government oversight and watchdog organizations Human rights organizations Human rights in Armenia LGBTQ rights in Armenia Organizations established in 1998 1998 establishments in Armenia

History and objectives

Partnerships

See also

References

External links