YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. On September 28, Human Rights Defender Ms. Kristinne Grigoryan had a meeting with the Head of the Children's Rights Division and CoE Coordinator for the Rights of the Child, Ms. Regina Jensdóttir, and the Secretary of the Steering Committee on Combating Discrimination, Diversity and Inclusion, Mr. Wolfram Bechtel, the Human Rights Defender's Office said. 

During the meeting with the Coordinator for the Rights of the Child, Ms. Kristinne Grigoryan referred to the mandate of the Human Rights Defender and the main directions of activities in the field of children's rights protection, presented details about the initiative to form a public council on children's and youth rights adjunct to the Human Rights Defender and the process of its implementation, as well as the activities carried out in the direction of ensuring children's right to participate in the decision-making process.

Ms. Jensdóttir welcomed the Defender's initiatives aimed at ensuring children's participation in the decision-making process and presented the CoE toolkit for evaluating the process of ensuring children's participation. Ms. Jensdóttir was interested in the issues of ensuring access to justice for children in Armenia, as well as issues related to the rights of minors in penitentiary institutions.

The Defender, presenting the facts contained in the report published by the Defender of Human Rights on September 16, drew the attention of the CoE Coordinator for the Rights of the Child to the violations of the fundamental rights of displaced persons, including more than 1400 children, due the Azerbaijani aggression.

During the meeting with Mr. Wolfram Bechtel, Secretary of the Steering Committee on Combating Discrimination, Diversity and Inclusion of the CoE, issues related to the adoption of comprehensive legislation on ensuring equality of rights in Armenia, the combat against hate speech, as well as defining the prevention and responsibility of hate crimes were discussed. Referring to the report published on September 16, Ms. Grigoryan emphasized that the war crimes committed by the Azerbaijani armed forces constitute the direct result of the incitement and promotion of the Armenophobia of the Azerbaijani authorities, and these crimes are carried out on the basis of hatred.

In his speech, Mr. Bechtel noted the important role of public officials in refraining from and preventing hate speech.