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ANSWER THIS: MEDIA WATCHDOG SAYS FOI REQUESTS NOT BEING MET ACCORDING TO LAW
By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow reporter
15.12.11 | 12:32
Many officials in Armenia still remain reluctant to work openly and
transparently when it comes to providing public information to media,
according to data of a recent monitoring conducted by a local media
watchdog.
Enlarge Photo
The Freedom of Information Center of Armenia (FOICA) presented
on Wednesday a large-scale analytical report called "Freedom of
Information in the Republic of Armenia: 2011 Monitoring", which gives
the general picture in the field in Armenia.
FOICA lawyer Gevorg Hayrapetyan says that the monitoring enabled them
to establish the current state of freedom of information in Armenia
and reveal the existing problems.
"The biggest problem is the absence of culture among many officials
to work openly and transparently, as most of them are still not used
to responding to public demands for information and do not consider
giving information to be one of their main duties," he says.
FOICA expert Liana Doydoyan says that in May-June 2011 ten applicants
sent a total of 250 requests for information to 50 bodies possessing
information in written, oral and electronic forms. Among these bodies
were 10 central government bodies, 10 provincial administrations,
10 municipalities, 10 village administrations and 10 organizations
of public significance.
"In 56 percent of cases complete answers were provided, 30 percent
of requests were left unanswered, 8 percent were turned down, with
only one lawfully. Among the 50 bodies the best results were shown by
provincial administrations and the worse by organizations of public
significance," says the expert.
The monitoring shows that provincial authorities gave complete
information in response to about 75 percent of 50 requests, while
organizations of public significance provided complete answers to
only less than 45 percent of such requests, leaving as many of them
totally unanswered.
The best result shown in all 50 sample requests is by the
administration of the village of Oshakan. The worst results are
shown by the administration of the village of Aygedzor, Clinical
Hospital CJSC and Ketrin Group Ltd. Doydoyan says that these bodies
left unanswered all five requests for information sent to them.
According to the monitoring results, among the provincial
administrations Kotayk, Shirak and Syunik authorities worked
particularly well in terms of providing information, as did the
ministries of education and science and justice among central
government agencies.
The National Assembly is listed among those working poorly when
it comes to answering requests for information. The legislative
body answered only two of five requests for information completely,
but that was done only a month and 16 days after the request was
submitted, in one case it provided an incomplete answer, one answer
was ungrounded and one request was not answered at all.
Lawyer Hayrapetyan says that meeting the requirement of the law that
information be provided within five days is also a challenge for
central and local government bodies in Armenia.
"While the number of met requests for information grows [compared to
previous such surveys] the five-day period for providing information
is still not observed," says Hayrapetyan, adding that incomplete
answers and groundless rejections also remain a challenge.
The data were published by the FOICA in a book within the framework
of the Freedom of Information Law Implementation project co-financed
by USAID and the OSCE Office in Yerevan.
Head of the OSCE Yerevan Office's democracy department Oliver McCoy
praised the professionalism with which he said the book had been
prepared.
From: Baghdasarian
By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow reporter
15.12.11 | 12:32
Many officials in Armenia still remain reluctant to work openly and
transparently when it comes to providing public information to media,
according to data of a recent monitoring conducted by a local media
watchdog.
Enlarge Photo
The Freedom of Information Center of Armenia (FOICA) presented
on Wednesday a large-scale analytical report called "Freedom of
Information in the Republic of Armenia: 2011 Monitoring", which gives
the general picture in the field in Armenia.
FOICA lawyer Gevorg Hayrapetyan says that the monitoring enabled them
to establish the current state of freedom of information in Armenia
and reveal the existing problems.
"The biggest problem is the absence of culture among many officials
to work openly and transparently, as most of them are still not used
to responding to public demands for information and do not consider
giving information to be one of their main duties," he says.
FOICA expert Liana Doydoyan says that in May-June 2011 ten applicants
sent a total of 250 requests for information to 50 bodies possessing
information in written, oral and electronic forms. Among these bodies
were 10 central government bodies, 10 provincial administrations,
10 municipalities, 10 village administrations and 10 organizations
of public significance.
"In 56 percent of cases complete answers were provided, 30 percent
of requests were left unanswered, 8 percent were turned down, with
only one lawfully. Among the 50 bodies the best results were shown by
provincial administrations and the worse by organizations of public
significance," says the expert.
The monitoring shows that provincial authorities gave complete
information in response to about 75 percent of 50 requests, while
organizations of public significance provided complete answers to
only less than 45 percent of such requests, leaving as many of them
totally unanswered.
The best result shown in all 50 sample requests is by the
administration of the village of Oshakan. The worst results are
shown by the administration of the village of Aygedzor, Clinical
Hospital CJSC and Ketrin Group Ltd. Doydoyan says that these bodies
left unanswered all five requests for information sent to them.
According to the monitoring results, among the provincial
administrations Kotayk, Shirak and Syunik authorities worked
particularly well in terms of providing information, as did the
ministries of education and science and justice among central
government agencies.
The National Assembly is listed among those working poorly when
it comes to answering requests for information. The legislative
body answered only two of five requests for information completely,
but that was done only a month and 16 days after the request was
submitted, in one case it provided an incomplete answer, one answer
was ungrounded and one request was not answered at all.
Lawyer Hayrapetyan says that meeting the requirement of the law that
information be provided within five days is also a challenge for
central and local government bodies in Armenia.
"While the number of met requests for information grows [compared to
previous such surveys] the five-day period for providing information
is still not observed," says Hayrapetyan, adding that incomplete
answers and groundless rejections also remain a challenge.
The data were published by the FOICA in a book within the framework
of the Freedom of Information Law Implementation project co-financed
by USAID and the OSCE Office in Yerevan.
Head of the OSCE Yerevan Office's democracy department Oliver McCoy
praised the professionalism with which he said the book had been
prepared.
From: Baghdasarian