State obligations to ensure human rights and prevent discrimination

State obligations to ensure human rights and prevent discrimination

Human rights are the fundamental freedoms that every person is entitled to from birth, which accompanies them throughout life. The Republic of Armenia (RA), as a state governed by the rule of law, ensures the undisturbed realization of the rights of all persons in its territory. In this regard, the state has undertaken three main obligations under the Constitution and international treaties recognizing human rights. The state is obliged to respect human rights, that is, to refrain from human rights violations i.e., negative obligations of the state. Violations of the rights of the individual should not be allowed by state bodies, including law enforcement officers or other persons with state authority3 . The state has a positive obligation to protect the rights of the individual from violations by third parties. Under this obligation, the state must prevent the violation of individual rights by various individuals and organizations. This implies the creation of effective legal mechanisms to effectively investigate the violations of rights, to restore the violated rights, to compensate the damages caused by the violation. The next positive obligation of the state is to create an environment for the realization of rights. The state government must establish such legal mechanisms and such a public environment where individuals can exercise their fundamental freedoms unimpeded. The primary guarantor of human rights protection in the Republic of Armenia is the supreme law of the country, the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, which stipulates those human rights operate directly4. The supremacy of human rights in the Republic of Armenia is at the same time recognized by international treaties and treaties, which have been ratified by the state. Such international instruments have a higher legal force than the codes, laws, and other normative legal acts in force in the country5. The equal rights of all before the law and of non-discrimination are defined both by the RA Constitution and international conventions.

Discrimination based on sex, race, skin color, 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 is prohibited by the Constitution of the RA6 . All major human rights instruments define the possibility of exercising human rights without discrimination. It underscores the universal value of a person’s right to nondiscrimination7 .

Discrimination in international law is defined as an exclusion, distinction, or preference based on a particular circumstance or feature and which aims to restrict or recognize or

3 The Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, article 3. 2015. https://www.arlis.am/DocumentView. aspx?docid=143723. 4 Ibid. Article 3(3). 5 Ibid. Article 5(3). 6 The RA Constitution, article 29. 2015. 7 Articles 1 (3) and 55 of The UN Charter, article 7 of UDHR. Article 2, 4 (1) and 26 of ICCPR, article 2 of ICESCR, article 2 of CRC, article 14 of ECHR, Protocol No. 12 of the ECHR.