The Helsinki Committee of Armenia was established in 1995 as a watchdog foundation to monitor and protect
human rights in Armenia. It was also tasked to support Armenia's bid to join the
Council of Europe. The HCA supports defending rights of
ethnic and religious minorities, combating discrimination, protecting the rights of children, ensuring
freedom of association and
freedom of speech, providing health services to socially vulnerable citizens, safeguarding natural resources and forested areas, and implementing
educational reforms. The organization often holds conferences, seminars, rallies, and public discussions throughout Armenia.
Avetik Ishkhanian served as the chairman of the HCA from its founding until his death in 2025. In 2013, the HCA opposed the
Government of Armenia's decision to join the Russian-led
Eurasian Economic Union. The HCA claimed that joining the Eurasian Economic Union would severely limit civil liberties and press freedom and that Russia would pressure Armenia to adopt repressive laws and would seek to restrict the activities of
NGO's. Avetik Ishkhanyan stated, "If the Armenian government had any intention of altering human rights protections [for the better], it would never have decided to join the Eurasian Economic Union, in which respect for human rights is absent at a structural level." During the
2016 Yerevan hostage crisis, the HCA called on the
police to respect the rights of citizens to protest peacefully. In 2017, the HCA was accredited by the
Central Electoral Commission of Armenia to carry out observing and monitoring duties at polling stations during elections. The HCA praised the democratic reforms implemented following the
2018 Armenian revolution. They noted that freedom of expression and media has improved significantly. In July 2018, the HCA conducted a monitoring project on
hate speech in
mass media in Armenia. The report noted, "incidents of hatred and dangerous speech were largely driven by the religious viewpoints of the targeted individuals, their sexual orientation and their gender identity." The HCA proposed that media outlets refrain from all discrimination and recommends the
National Assembly to ban all forms of hate speech in line with
Council of Europe standards. In February 2020, the HCA and the
Human Rights Defender of Armenia put forward a case to the
European Court of Human Rights in regards to protection of the rights of military servicemen and access to healthcare for persons deprived of liberty. During the
COVID-19 pandemic in Armenia, the HCA called on the Government of Armenia to respect the freedom of assembly of people.
Reporting The Helsinki Committee of Armenia publishes annual reports on the condition of human rights in the country. The "Human Rights in Armenia in 2022" report discussed the state of affairs following the
Second Nagorno-Karabakh War and the subsequent
political crisis. The report noted hardships facing residents of
Artsakh during the
blockade of Artsakh. The report also reviewed the activities of several
political parties in Armenia. ==Partnerships==