U.S. and Armenia signed the 14th amendment to the Letter of Agreement

As Prosecutor General’s Official website informs on September 10, Ambassador John Heffern and Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan signed an amendment to the Letter of Agreement on Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement between the United States and Armenia. This is the fourteenth amendment to the original Letter of Agreement signed in 2001, underwriting about $2.5 million in U.S.-funded justice sector assistance to Armenia.
The assistance provided through the new agreement will help the Armenian Government fight transnational crime and augment Armenia’s law enforcement capacities, as well as support overall judicial and legislative reforms. Specific Armenian institutions and bilateral projects supported by this assistance will include the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative, the ZANG Armenia Legal Socialization project carried out by the PH International NGO, and the forensic laboratory of the National Academy of Sciences’ National Bureau of Expertise. The assistance will also strengthen Armenia’s anti-money laundering capacities as well as anti-human trafficking and anti- corruption efforts, and help in the development of a new corrections system. Since the signing of the original Letter of Agreement in 2001, the U.S. Government has provided over $18 million of justice sector assistance to Armenia through the U.S. Embassy’s International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Section to support development and capacity building of the National Bureau of Expertise and the Financial Monitoring Center, training of law enforcement to fight transnational crime, and judicial reforms.