Prosecutors increasingly identify discrimination-based crimes in Armenia

The number of criminal proceedings involving discrimination-based crimes in Armenia at least doubled in the first half of 2026, indicating that prosecutors have begun to better identify such crimes, Prosecutor General Anna Vardapetyan said.

Speaking at a discussion organized jointly by the Human Rights Defender’s Office and the Council of Europe, Vardapetyan said cooperation between Armenia’s Prosecutor General’s Office and human rights institutions has a history of several years. She said the Prosecutor General’s Office attaches importance to the participation of its representatives in events organized by the Human Rights Defender’s Office, which provides a basis for consistent and targeted work.

In her remarks, she particularly addressed the methodology and results of investigating crimes committed on the basis of discrimination.

“In 2025, I asked one of our departments to conduct an analysis of how many proceedings we had in Armenia involving discrimination as a basis. It turned out that there were only three proceedings. This does not mean that such crimes do not exist. It is obvious that we are not seeing this type of crime, so it became a challenge for me to make the prosecution system learn to see them. For this, we need to change our perspective and all the educational channels through which our prosecutors participate in continuing training. I am glad that we have participated in seven training programs through a fairly diversified partnership network. A total of 24 prosecutors participated in educational events organized by the Council of Europe, which is not merely formal participation, but rather the introduction of a new perspective into the prosecution system,” Vardapetyan said.

She added that the work has not ended with training. As part of the Promoting Equality and Non-Discrimination in Armenia program, in cooperation with the Council of Europe, Armenia’s Prosecutor General’s Office translated the EU Committee of Ministers’ recommendation on combating hate crimes and distributed it to all Armenian prosecutors under a mandatory instruction, so that they would be guided by the recommendations when supervising proceedings.

“In addition, together with the United Nations Development Programme, we translated guidelines that were also provided to all prosecutors, and we are consistent in ensuring that these documents are applied in prosecutorial work. The results of the first half of 2026 showed that the overall number of our proceedings has at least doubled, which means that prosecutors have started to identify crimes committed on the basis of discrimination. We have also carried out quite a lot of personnel changes in the prosecution system. Of course, while having great respect for experienced prosecutors who have worked in this system, we also attach importance to the introduction of new legal knowledge into the system. Our profession is very dynamic, especially in recent years, so serving prosecutors must periodically undergo training or give way to new prosecutors who make decisions,” the Prosecutor General said.

She added that there has also been a dynamic change in terms of women’s participation.

“Speaking about ways to overcome gender discrimination, I can offer one formula: professional conduct. In professional relations, overcoming discrimination on the basis of any gender requires speaking in a professional language, which is the most important starting point from an educational perspective. Any difference we have, from gender to nationality, is our contribution to our professional charisma. Professionalism is an important tool here to enable us to overcome all types of discrimination. Women prosecutors are selected according to the same principle in the Prosecutor General’s Office,” Vardapetyan said.