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Armenian NGOs Concerned About the Draft Amendments to the Law on Public Organizations

The draft on making amendments and changes to the “Law on Public Organizations” was approved by the Government of Armenia in September of this year. The document was prepared by the RA Ministry of Justice and obliges the non-governmental organizations, in particular, to publish an annual financial report on the activities of NGO in the local print publication with a circulation of not less than 1000 copies.

Meanwhile, more than 90 public organizations of Armenia spoke against the changes. As said by the representatives of NGOs, the initiators of the bill achieved the document approval by the Government, without taking into account the interests of NGOs. On October 19 the action team has addressed a letter to the Prime Minister of Armenia, as well as the Minister of Justice, the head of the Commission on Human Rights of the National Assembly and the Ombudsman of Armenia with the request to withdraw the draft.

Lawyer of “Internews Armenia” Movses Hakobyan explained that the action team was in favor of reporting, but the problem, according to the lawyer, lies in the fact that the “transparency” of NGO activities and mechanisms for its implementation are conceived quite differently by the NGOs and the government.

“The Ministry of Justice has developed a project that was supposed to be aimed at improving conditions for NGOs. However, coming to an agreement for a general meeting is convened every four years, the Ministry of Justice raised concerns that problems related to the transparency of their activities might emerge. Thus such amendments are addressed to oblige the NGOs to annually publish a report,” explains lawyer Hakobyan.

The expert did not exclude that this way the government tries to exert pressure on NGOs, many of them working under difficult conditions. “The laws on “Freedom of Information” and “Public Organizations” intend an obligation for NGOs to provide information those who will ask. And on the list of the new report there are items provision of which needs additional work and resources. In addition, the draft stipulates that for errors in the report the organization would be liable in court,” says Hakobyan.

In turn, the spokeswoman for RA Minister of Justice Lana Mshetsyan asserts that the draft amendments had been agreed with representatives of some NGOs. “The Ministry of Justice held a number of meetings with representatives of public organizations, creative unions and other stakeholders, with whom we have tried to take into account their concerns as well as problems related to this sphere. Let me also note that with the support of OSCE Yerevan Office, this project is under examination of international experts,” said Mshetsyan.

In Armenia there are about 6000 registered NGOs which, in case the bill of entry into force, must manage to publish their last year reports in the newspapers for the first quarter of 2010. “It turns out that every day more than 100 NGO reports should be published in the newspapers. Such kind of report should reflect all the activities of the organization, changes in the board structure and funding sources for the year, this keeping the NGOs under control of the Government,” said the action team expert Arsen Stepanyan.

The average price of advertising in newspapers of Armenia is 200 drams for 1 square centimeter. “We had to at least calculate how much an NGO will cost: I think at least $ 1000 will be demanded for preparation and publication of such information. Everything depends on the scope of the project being implemented by the organization. For example “Mission of Armenia” organization instead of continuing to feed the old people, will have to fulfill the State requirement through its budget,” said lawyer Tachat Ter-Stepanyan.

The Ministry of Justice believe that great expenses are required to periodically hold a meeting and deliver a report on the activities of the organization rather, than to publish a report in the press. Thus, the government goes toward the NGOs, allowing them to convene a general meeting not every two years, but only once every four years.

“The report provided to the Revenue Service, is not always accessible to all members of NGOs. In addition, such kind of report contains various trade secrets and may not always be fully published. Thus, if the NGO has the opportunity to post the data on his Internet page in an accessible mode, so there is no problem with its publication in the press,” says Lana Mshetsyan.

Lawyer Tachat Ter-Stepanyan believes that the amendments involve items that are fraught with corruption. “By adopting these amendments, we move away a step backwards in the process of building civil society in Armenia. This will affect the development of capacities of non-governmental organizations,” considers Ter-Stepanyan.

Source: JNews.am, Caucasus Media News