On April 26 at “Yerevan” Hotel the first Human Rights Defender of Armenia Larisa
Alaverdian presented her annual report on the activities of the Ombudsman and
the violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms in 2005 to public. According
to the amendments to the RA Constitution, adopted at the referendum of November
27, 2005, the term of service of the first Human Rights Defender ended on January
5, 2006. The activities of the Ombudsman’s Office were stopped until the election
of the new Defender by the Parliament. Nevertheless, Larisa Alaverdian addressed
the National Assembly with request to present her report for 2005 at the spring
session. The report was included into the session agenda, but Larisa Alaverdian
was only given an opportunity to speak during the debate. The report itself
was read out to the deputies on April 13 by the newly elected Ombudsman Armen
Harutiunian. At the presentation of April 26 Larisa Alaverdian noted that she
would like to make a personal account to the public for her activities as the
Ombudsman, which is the reason for the event.
One of the sections of the report of the first RA Human Rights Defender dealt
with the freedom of expression and information. It listed the laws and provisions,
regulating the media system of the country. Generally, in the opinion of the
first Ombudsman, “if the existing laws are strictly followed, the obstacles
to the freedom of information can be overcome”. The report lists specific cases
of obstructing access to information, restrictions on the free expression, violence
against journalists and media in 2005. It is emphasized, that the constitutional
reform did not take into account most of the proposals by journalistic associations
and the Human Rights Defender. As a result, the amended Constitution refers
to only one body, regulating the broadcasting sphere (instead of two); its mission,
status and function are not duly specified. Among other legislative shortcomings
the report also mentions the RA Law “On Fight against Terrorism” that “endangers
the rights of journalists, accessibility and dissemination of information on
terrorism”.
“While the number of violations of journalists’ rights, attacks on media representatives
in 2005 reduced, in the opinion of independent experts, Armenia displays a trend
towards deterioration in terms of freedom of expression and access to information.
This is witnessed by the assessments of domestic and international journalistic
associations”, the report of the first RA Ombudsman notes. The results of the
TV channel monitorings, made by NGOs, show that “the broadcast sphere of Armenia
is excessively influenced and controlled by oligarchic groups, closely related
to power structures”, resulting “in the dependence of TV companies on the authorities
and penetration of censorship into Armenian TV air”. “Public Television of Armenia
does not comply with its direct function – to reflect the interests of the public
at large, provide impartial information to the population – and is influenced
by the higher authorities and related oligarchic groups”, Larisa Alaverdian
believes. As an objective parameter, proving the dependence of the TV channels,
the first RA Human Rights Defender refers to the findings of media monitorings
on constitutional referendum coverage, made by NGOs, including Yerevan Press
Club.
In the opinion of Larisa Alaverdian, the freedom of expression situation in
broadcast media (less so in print media) remains vulnerable. The main reasons
for that include the economic dependence of the media and the mechanism for
the formation of regulatory bodies – the Council of Public TV and Radio Company,
and the National Commission on Television and Radio. The constitutional reform
had much room for the improvement of the NCTR formation procedures; however,
the amendments adopted give little chance to hope that the broadcast licensing
process will become more objective and professional, the section on freedom
of expression and information of the report of RA Human Rights Defender concludes.
