News Archive

After several New Jersey judges came under nationwide scrutiny for troubling remarks during separate sexual assault cases, the state Supreme Court this week announced the resignation of one judge, proceedings to remove another, and new training about sexual violence for all judges in the state. The New Jersey Supreme Court confirmed to The New York Times Wednesday that it had accepted the resignation of Judge James Troiano, who in 2018 granted leniency to a 16-year-old rape suspect in part because he came from a “good family” and attended “an excellent school.” See the full text and the r…

The Armenian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum (EaP CSF ANP) expresses its deep concern with regard to the crisis over the RA Constitutional Court (CC). Without commenting on the well-known contradictions in the statements of the newly elected judge Vahe Grigoryan and members of the Court, we state the following.  For many years, the Armenian judiciary, including the Constitutional Court, has not enjoyed public trust, has failed to meet the standards of independent, impartial and authoritative judicial power free from political and party influence, having…

The Helsinki Association Human Rights NGO invites a round-table discussion on “Guaranteeing the rule of law, human rights and fair trials in Armenia as a means of promoting democracy”.  The discussion is scheduled for Saturday, June 29, from 11.00 to 13.00 at the Garni conference hall in the Ani Plaza Hotel (located at Sayat-Nova Ave. 19, Yerevan). HAHR has extended this invitation to embassy representatives, international organizations, state structures, fellow Human Rights NGOs, advocates and journalists.

In 1997, on the recommendation of the Economic and Social Council, the UN General Assembly proclaimed the 26th of June United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. The day’s focus is the struggle for the elimination of torture and the effective implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the “Torture Convention”) adopted on 10 December 1984. “Torture is a vicious attempt at breaking a person’s will. On this International Day in Support of…

  Pia Sabatier, volunteer Transitional-justice-ppt.pdf

Over the past three years, ProtectDefenders.eu – the EU Human Rights Defenders mechanism implemented by a Consortium of international civil society organisations, has emerged as a solid, successful and crucial tool for at-risk human rights defenders, and as an increasingly referenced instrument within the international human rights defenders community. As per the three-years report, ProtectDefenders.eu has stepped up the practical support available to HRDs at risk and local human rights NGOs, and mobilised resources in favour of at least 30,018 defenders in a timely…

May 31, 2019 Open Society Foundations-Armenia condemn the recent promotion of false allegations against the foundation by a small group of people who seek to destabalize Armenia and sow division. These falsehoods—which accuse us of everything from controlling the government to seeking violent clashes—are evidently ludicrous. The people behind these fabrications are clearly seeking to distract our country, our government and our citizens from the important work that lies ahead of us. Read more here.

A former North Carolina Supreme Court justice joined a crowd of people across the street from the state Legislative Building on Wednesday to speak out against changes lawmakers have proposed for how judges across the state make it to the bench. Lawmakers opened a special session Wednesday with no clear signs that judicial reform proposals would be on their agenda. But the protesters were lingering in the halls of the Legislative Building to be ready for any surprises. At the Fair Courts Day of Action, the groups gathered to draw attention to a number of reforms proposed by lawmakers, includ…

Advocating_for_Advocates_Rights_roundtable_meeting_presentation_April_29_2019.pdf