May 19, the Republic of Artsakh National Assembly regular sitting of the fifth session of the seventh convocation was convened under the chairmanship of Artur Tovmasyan.

30 parliamentarians were present at the sitting.

Before starting the sitting, the head of the parliament made a presentation, by which he appealed to the government of the Artsakh Republic with a statement to recognize the decision of the government of the Artsakh Republic as invalid. By that, from July 1, the process of paying the idleness of the displaced persons working in the state institutions of the occupied settlements should be stopped.

After approving the agendas of the session and the sitting, the parliament proceeded to the work of the May 19 sitting.

The first issue on the agenda was the annual report "On the 2021 activities of the Human Rights Defender of the Artsakh Republic, as well as the state of protection of human rights and freedoms."

According to the ombudsman of Artsakh, Gegham Stepanyan, in 2021, the Defender's activity was to study and discuss complaints about alleged violations of human rights and freedoms, prevention of torture, protection of the rights of persons with disabilities, children, forcibly displaced persons, those belonging to vulnerable groups in society, improving the legislation, fact-finding work on the gross violations of the rights of the people of Artsakh due to the criminal actions of Azerbaijan, preparation of special reports, public awareness of human rights and freedoms.

During the reporting period, the Defender's Office received 430 applications from 510 persons which have increased by 20% compared to 2020.

In the year 2021 Human Rights Defender's staff continues collection of data on missing persons, captives related to the Azeri-Turkish aggression unleashed against Artsakh people in autumn 2020 and regular updates of lists and works on providing them to the state bodies of the Republic of Artsakh, the Republic of Armenia, and international organizations.

In the current year extraordinary, interim reports released by the Human Rights Defender have been circulated to the United Nations as an official document.

"One of the most important directions of the ombudsman's activity was the cooperation with the Diaspora and international organizations, including the offices of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun Armenian National Committees, the Center for Truth and Justice, the Armenian Bar Association of America, the Nagorno-Karabakh Mission of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the European Ombudsman Institute, and a number of other organizations. "Azerbaijan's anti-Armenian policy against the peaceful population of Artsakh and its consequences to the international community have been and continue to be at the core of the cooperation," the ombudsman stressed.

The following drafts "On Making Amendments and Addenda to the Law "On Social Guarantees for Persons Holding State Positions"", "On Making Amendments to the Law "On Taxes"", "On Making Amendments to the Law "On Value Added Tax"" and "On Border Troops" have been improved by the Head Committee.

The parliament unanimously voted for the draft laws submitted for discussion.