On October 10, in Yerevan an Armenian NGO "Center for Public Dialogue and Development" hosted a seminar "Freedom of Press in Armenia: Assessment by Council of Europe". The main subject for discussion was the report on the honoring of obligations and commitments by Armenia, presented at September 26 session of Parliamentary Assembly of CE, in particular, its section on freedom of expression in Armenia (see details in YPC Weekly Newsletter, September 21-27, 2002). The assessments of Armenian journalists and of the situation in general made in this section caused a negative response from media and the NGOs of the country.
According to some seminar participants, the situation of media freedom in Armenia was presented unobjectively by the PACE. Others thought the document gave a shallow and mild assessment of the Armenian authorities.
Natalia Voutova, CE Human Rights and Rule of Law Coordinator in Armenia, present at the seminar, noted that all delegations voted for the report, that is, it was actually approved by 44 parliamentary delegations of the CE member countries. At the same time she stressed that the assessments made in the documents that PACE adopts do not always coincide with the attitude of CE Committee of Ministers. The joint monitoring of these two structures on the honoring of obligations and commitments of Armenia continues, Natalia Voutova said.
