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    Child protection and EU cooperation between Eastern Partnership countries during 2018, with a focus on Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine
    (Global Campus of Human Rights, 2019) Muradyan, Mariam
    This is a brief overview of progress and challenges in three Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries during 2018. The first part of the article analyses the commitments and obligations of three EaP countries under the international and regional frameworks, emphasising the relevant mechanisms and checks and balances. In this part the United Nations and Council of Europe mechanisms are considered. The cooperation framework between the European Union (EU) and the EaP countries is considered separately. Considering the fact that human rights protection has always been one of the key preconditions in developing political and economic cooperation between the EU and partner countries and the fact that the EU proclaims itself as a global actor, human rights and child protection are considered separate cooperation dimensions. In the second part the bilateral and multilateral cooperation with the EaP countries is categorised into three clauses. The clauses are built on the announced strategies and agendas of cooperation emphasising the slight deviations from the initial plans. Furthermore, the overview of selected achievements and perplexing challenges in human rights with the focus on child protection are described in Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine. Although some comparisons are drawn between the three countries, the contribution encourages the idea of considering each country individually bearing in mind the recent changes in political transformation both in domestic and international relations, economic declines and social transformations caused by the aftermath of the conflicts with Russia, as well as the advancements in fulfilling the bilateral agendas. The research shows that the announced targets and the EU’s commitments and actions in developing national judiciary, human rights protection and social systems in Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine are slow. Nevertheless, the delayed achievements in human rights and child protection do not hinder the nature of cooperation between the EU and EaP countries, displaying the weak connection of human rights conditionality in the external policy of the EU with its neighbours. Key words: human rights; child protection; European Union; Eastern Partnership; partnership clauses
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    Human rights and democratisation during 2019: The case of Armenia, Georgia and Moldova
    (Global Campus of Human Rights, 2020) Rakopyan, Marina
    The three countries discussed in the article, the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Georgia and the Republic of Moldova, have all witnessed developments and experienced weaknesses as far as human rights and democracy are concerned, particularly during 2019. From elections to emigration, the three countries have had different obstacles to overcome. All post-Soviet Union countries are making efforts to improve their record in respect of human rights and as they forge closer ties with the European Union (EU). Over the course of 2019, the three countries were moving forward slowly but steadily towards improved protection and promotion of human rights. All three countries had an issue with arbitrary detention, and the independence of the judiciary, while the majority of them had issues with torture and inhuman treatment and unlawful interference with privacy by government. Despite some differences in the areas, women’s rights were not fully respected in the three countries. Minorities had fewer opportunities to participate in governmental structures. Protecting the rights of LGBTQ+ persons remained an issue in all three countries, despite the considerable effort that countries made toward greater tolerance. Children’s rights were not fully respected in the countries, especially as far as child labour and child trafficking are concerned. Key words: Armenia; Georgia; Moldova; human rights; democracy; arbitrary detention; torture and inhuman treatment; women’s rights; minorities; rights of LGBTQ+ persons
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    The ‘mantra of stability’ versus human security in the post-Soviet space
    (Global Campus, 2017-12) Avetisyan, Sos ; Abrahamyan, Vahan ; Chobanyan, Marianna ; Lyabuk, Kostantyn ; Nabi, Walaga
    This article provides an understanding of current human security challenges in the post-Soviet space. Cognisant that such studies are rare, we hope to provide a stepping stone for further theoretical and empirical research. Drawing on comparative case studies of Armenia, Belarus, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, the article argues that while securitisation techniques deployed by authoritarian and/or semi-authoritarian regimes vary in scope, degree and targeting, they share two important commonalities with the overarching aim of ensuring regime endurance. First, the exogenous threats, whether real and/or willfully constructed by the ruling regimes, provide a convenient context in the Balzaquian sense to construct effective securitisation acts. Closely related to the first point, the external environment and internal deliberation by ruling elites fuel a specific narrative-constructing strategy of illiberal state-building ideology, which normalises anti-human rights policies in the specific countries. Concurrently, we problematise the traditionalist approach and treat the ‘audience’ as a monolithic and passive entity. Making use of Bourbeau and Vuori's work on resilience, we demonstrate that securitisation is not a straightforward bottom-up process, but also is filtered through societal resistance. Key words: human security; securitisation; democratisation; illiberal statebuilding
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    Regional perspectives on democratisation of Eastern Partnership countries
    (Global Campus, 2018-10) Aleksanyan, Arusyak
    Interest in studies and measurements of democracy and human rights in terms of globalisation and regional cooperation has extended beyond the academic context, reflecting the features of government policies and the development strategies of countries. Countries in a region with higher and closer levels of democracy have more opportunities for political and economic cooperation. From this point of view the assessment of democracy and human rights levels of Eastern Partnership member states such as Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova, is of special interest. Academic literature presents a great variety of theories and definitions of democracy. There are also various indices covering different aspects of democracy. Some of them emphasise the formal or institutional aspects of democracy, whereas others define its procedural features. Other indices measure the implementation of the level of declared rights and even consider democracy in terms of economic development. Thus, to measure and present the comparative analysis of democracy and human rights levels of Eastern Partnership countries, the article first provides the selection and description of democracy indices (proceeding from the differences in covering aspects of democracy). Then, based on the selected indices, a new aggregated index of democracy is calculated through the method for constructing composite indices for providing a multi-sided analysis of democracy and human rights of Eastern Partnership countries. Finally, drawing on the obtained and calculated data, I rank Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine by democracy levels, revealing regional perspectives on human rights and democratisation. Key words: democracy; measurement; Eastern Partnership; democracy indices; aggragated democracy index
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    The right to education in the Caucasus in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic
    (Global Campus Human Rights, 2021) Ghazinyan, Sergey ; Corzanego Khatounian, Ana Teresa ; Tatoueva, Christina ; Wojsyk, Jakub ; Gogueva, Zemfira
    This paper is intended to initiate an international discussion on the implementation of the right to education during the global healthcare crisis. For that purpose, it analyses the experiences of Armenia, Russia, Georgia and Belarus in the light of measures taken by the authorities to respond to the new challenges, and examines the concrete situation faced by children and teachers in the region. It aims to identify the most common and visible problems that occurred in the Caucasus region during the Covid-19 pandemic, based on available data from particular countries. For comprehensive analysis of the issue, the present paper discusses the right to education as defined in international law, and looks at the main challenges inherent in the four pillars of the right to education as framed by UNESCO: accessibility, availability, acceptability and adaptability of education. As sources of information, it considers the observations of relevant domestic and international stakeholders, including the National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI), Human Rights Watch (HRW), UNESCO and UNICEF, as well as various academic sources. In each case, the response to issues generated by the COVID-19 pandemic is analysed in the context of other social factors. The article concludes that, while some examples of response could be seen in the countries under discussion, the lack of structured, informed, and timely responses made it difficult for children to fully enjoy their right to education. The paper provides recommendations targeted to the issues revealed, with the aim of improving state systems of response to the global healthcare crisis within the framework of implementing the right to education.