Fifth Periodical Report Presented to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in Accordance with Article 15 of the Charter
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Strasbourg, 28 June 2019 MIN-LANG (2019) PR 5 EUROPEAN CHARTER FOR REGIONAL OR MINORITY LANGUAGES Fifth periodical report presented to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe in accordance with Article 15 of the Charter ARMENIA FIFTH PERIODICAL REPORT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA IN ACCORDANCE WITH PARAGRAPH 1 OF ARTICLE 15 OF THE EUROPEAN CHARTER FOR REGIONAL OR MINORITY LANGUAGES Yerevan 2019 2 Contents INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 4 Chapter 1 ..................................................................................................................................... 6 Practical steps taken at national level, summarising results of the fourth monitoring round of implementation of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages: Analysis of the situation ................................................................................................................................ 6 Chapter 2 ..................................................................................................................................... 7 Measures taken and programmes implemented after the Fourth Report submitted by the Republic of Armenia on implementation of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages: Steps taken — by articles ................................................................................................................ 7 Annexes ..................................................................................................................................... 29 ANNEX 1-1 ......................................................................................................................... 29 ANNEX 1-2 ......................................................................................................................... 31 ANNEX 1-3 ......................................................................................................................... 33 ANNEX 1-4 ......................................................................................................................... 34 ANNEX 2-1 ......................................................................................................................... 35 ANNEX 2-2 ......................................................................................................................... 36 ANNEX 3 ............................................................................................................................ 45 ANNEX 4-1 ......................................................................................................................... 45 ANNEX 4-2 ......................................................................................................................... 47 ANNEX 4-3 ......................................................................................................................... 48 ANNEX 5 ............................................................................................................................ 49 ANNEX 6 ............................................................................................................................ 50 ANNEX 7-1 ......................................................................................................................... 50 ANNEX 7-2 ......................................................................................................................... 53 3 INTRODUCTION 1. Armenia's fifth periodical report was submitted in June 2019. 2. According to Article 16 of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (hereinafter referred to as “Charter”), Armenia submits the Fifth Report on the course of measures aimed at implementation of the principles of the Charter and its provisions, on results of the fourth round of observations of the Committee of Experts on application of the Charter in Armenia, as well as on practical steps implemented at national level within the framework of the Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. 3. The Report has been drawn up by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia1. The Report is comprised of introduction, 2 parts and 7 annexes. The following has been taken into account in the process of preparing the Fifth Report: (a) Practical steps taken at national level, summarising the results of the third monitoring round of implementation of the Charter Analysis of the situation; (b) Measures taken and projects implemented after the Fourth Report submitted by the Republic of Armenia aimed at implementation of the Charter. Steps taken — by articles; (c) Information on the comments of the Committee of Experts on fourth monitoring round of implementation of the Charter; (d) Implementation of Recommendation CM/RecChL(2017)2 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on the application of the Charter by Armenia; (e) Annexes. 4. The Report covers issues relating to national minority languages. It is necessary to note that the term "regional language" is not defined in the legislation of Armenia, and the Republic of Armenia, by ratifying the Charter, has undertaken to develop policies and define an action plan aimed at the protection and development of national minority languages2. At the same time, organizations of other ethnic groups in Armenia, with the support of the authorities, implement various programmes aimed at the preservation of their ethnic groups and development of their languages. Pursuant to Decision of the Government of Armenia No 1483-N of 23 November 2007, the procedure for the preparation and approval of national reports of the Republic of Armenia in accordance with its international commitments was established. 5. The Report was drawn up based on information provided by the Staff of the Prime Minister, the Public Council and ministries and marzpetarans (regional administrations) of Armenia. 6. The draft Report was provided to the bodies responsible for the activities aimed at the application of the Charter, and considerations delivered thereby have been taken into account. 7. In order to prepare the Fifth Periodical Report of Armenia on implementation of the Charter, an inter-agency working group was established under the Order of the Minister of Education and Science of Armenia No 200-A/2 of 13 March 2019 which includes the following state institutions and Government agencies3: 1 As of 1 June 2019, Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport 2 According to the Declaration contained in the instrument of ratification by Armenia, minority languages in Armenia are Assyrian, Greek, Kurdish, Russian, Yezidi. 3 Current structure of the Government after the reforms effective from 1 June 2019 is available by the following link: https://www.gov.am/en/structure/ 4 - Staff of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia; - National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia; - Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia; - Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia; - Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia; - Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Republic of Armenia; - Ministry of Territorial Administration and Development of Armenia; - Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia; - Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs of the Republic of Armenia; - National Commission on Television and Radio of the Republic of Armenia; - Council of the Public Television and Radio Company of the Republic of Armenia; - Ministry of Healthcare of the Republic of Armenia. 8. While developing the Fifth Report, the government agencies of Armenia also took into consideration the opinions of the non-governmental organisations of national minorities in Armenia. 5 Chapter 1 Practical steps taken at national level, summarising results of the fourth monitoring round of implementation of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages: Analysis of the situation 9. According to Article 29 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, discrimination based on sex, race, skin colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion, world view, political or other views, belonging to a national minority, property status, birth, disability, age, or other personal or social circumstances shall be prohibited. 10. In Armenia, the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On the Human Rights Defender” was adopted in 2003 (amended in 2016, becoming a Constitutional Law of the Republic of Armenia), and the Staff to the Human Rights Defender has been established on the basis of the Law. Since 2011, a defender of the rights of the national minorities has been functioning within the Staff to the Human Rights Defender. In 2012, "Department of Vulnerable Groups Protection and Co-operation with Non-governmental Organisations" was established under the Staff to the Human Rights Defender, one of the strategic objectives of which is protection of the linguistic rights of national minorities. Since 2013, inter alia, the person responsible for protection of the rights of the national minorities has been the Adviser to the Human Rights Defender. 11. See points 11-12 of the previous Third and Fourth Reports of Armenia. 12. The Department for Ethnic Minorities and Religious Affairs of the Staff of the Government of Armenia (starting from May 2018 — of the Staff of the Prime Minister of Armenia) (hereinafter referred to as "Division") was established in 2004. This structural subdivision of the Staff of the Prime