MINISTERS’ DEPUTIES

Decisions

CM/Del/Dec(2024)1514/H46-4

5 December 2024

1514th meeting, 3-5 December 2024 (DH)   H46-4 Oganezova v. Armenia (Application No. 71367/12) Supervision of the execution of the European Court’s judgments   Reference documents CM/Notes/1514/H46-4

 

Decisions

The Deputies

1.         recalled that this case mainly concerns violations on account of the lack of protection by the authorities from homophobic attacks and hate speech, as well as the absence of effective investigation into these incidents;

As regards individual measures

2.         urged the authorities to take all the required measures to speed up the investigation and finalise it in a timely manner to avoid loss of evidence, prescription and ultimate impunity of perpetrators;

As regards general measures

3.         welcomed the considerable progress achieved in the process of drafting the Law on Equality; encouraged the authorities to give a higher priority to LGBTI protection in this draft law in line with the relevant international standards and the Court’s findings in this case, and keep it informed of the progress in its adoption;

4.         invited the authorities to establish a system of disaggregated data collection on hate crime, including crimes committed on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI), and to provide updated statistical data on the number of complaints submitted on hate crimes and hate speech on SOGI grounds, the number of investigations initiated, the number of cases sent to court and their outcome;

5.         further invited the authorities to provide examples of practice of law-enforcement authorities and domestic courts showing how the Criminal Code provisions on hate crimes and hate speech against LGBTI people are being applied;

6.         welcomed the capacity building measures for the police in this field, the adaptation and translation of the relevant council of Europe manuals on policing hate crime and non-discrimination, as well as the authorities’ intention to include them into the regular curricula for police training; encouraged the authorities to continue their efforts with a view to increasing the capacity of all criminal justice actors to combat the LGBTI-phobic hate crime, hate speech and discrimination effectively, and encouraged them to continue to take full advantage of co-operation possibilities with the Council of Europe in this field;

7.         called on the authorities to continue taking determined action by conveying a clear zero-tolerance message towards any form of discrimination, hate speech and violence, in particular against LGBTI persons, and continue raising awareness at the highest level and among the general public about discrimination and prejudice experienced by LGBTI persons in order to help foster their acceptance and with a view to eliminating barriers against their full inclusion into society;

8.         decided to resume consideration of this case at one of their DH meetings in 2026 at the latest.