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UN-INFORMED: CENTER NAMES PARTIES FAILING TO PROVIDE PUBLIC INFORMATION
By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow
11.07.12 | 13:22
The Armenian Center for Freedom of Information has made public
names of political parties which have violated people's right to
be informed and which have been put on "black list" for this year's
second quarter. The list names the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA),
the Prosperous Armenian Party (PAP), the Armenian National Congress
(ANC), and the Democratic Party of Armenia (DPA) for having refused
to respond to the Centre's enquiries.
"These parties have been put on a 'black list' because of not
responding to the written enquiry on the funds spent during the
election campaign. The Center has filed lawsuits against two parties
only - PAP and DPA - for not providing information. ANC as a respondent
is not a legal entity because of being a bloc," says the Center's
lawyer Gevorg Hayrapetyan.
He says that although RPA has responded to one enquiry, it has left
another one unanswered - in regard to the balloon blast accident at
the Republic Square during the Republican campaign meeting with voters.
"How many balloons did you purchase for the May 4 event at the Republic
Square, how much did you pay for the purchase and which companies did
you buy them from?" Hayrapetyan gives the details of the questions
sent to RPA.
The Center regards it as failure to provide information when it
does not receive answers. The questionnaire is sent twice to the
same official or structure, the second time as an insured letter,
guaranteeing that it would either be received or returned.
RPA press secretary Eduard Sharmazanov said in reference to the "black
list", that their party had not received any letter from the Center.
PAP speaker Tigran Urikhanyan said the head of PAP office had responded
orally. DPA speaker Ruben Bakhshyan said they had not received a
letter. ANC speaker Arman Mousinyan did not answer the phone.
"I have PAP's, DPA's enquiry letters with postal service stamps;
they were sent as insured letters. I am not going to try to find out
whether the letter reach the addressee or not. I represent an NGO,
I have sent the letter and it hasn't returned, and we have had such
cases before. The problem might be technical, etc, but I can't take
assumptions for facts," says Hayrapetyan.
The "black list" is not final, meaning that if the respondent changes
its mind and decides to respond, it is taken off of the list. Oral
answers are not satisfactory; enquiries should receive a written
response.
The lawyer says that not all cases of unanswered enquiry become lawsuit
issues, because the Center is implementing projects, has limited
resources, and is developing strategic approaches to solve the issue.
"When information is refused or an enquiry is left unanswered by
bodies that have never possessed that information, it can be appealed.
We have sued ANC and have been rejected on this basis, since ANC is
not registered as an organization, there was a legislative issue:
a bloc has rights, liabilities, certain functions, but it cannot be
a respondent in a civil lawsuit," he explains.
A lawsuit will not be filed against the RPA, which has duly responded
to the Center's enquiry regarding campaign spending.
"They informed that 77,706,146 drams (around $200,000), 15 million
(around $38,500) out of which was their personal funds, and the rest
was donation. This was as of April 27," says the lawyer.
The "black list" also includes city halls of Vardenis and Yeghegnadzor.
From: A. Papazian
By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow
11.07.12 | 13:22
The Armenian Center for Freedom of Information has made public
names of political parties which have violated people's right to
be informed and which have been put on "black list" for this year's
second quarter. The list names the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA),
the Prosperous Armenian Party (PAP), the Armenian National Congress
(ANC), and the Democratic Party of Armenia (DPA) for having refused
to respond to the Centre's enquiries.
"These parties have been put on a 'black list' because of not
responding to the written enquiry on the funds spent during the
election campaign. The Center has filed lawsuits against two parties
only - PAP and DPA - for not providing information. ANC as a respondent
is not a legal entity because of being a bloc," says the Center's
lawyer Gevorg Hayrapetyan.
He says that although RPA has responded to one enquiry, it has left
another one unanswered - in regard to the balloon blast accident at
the Republic Square during the Republican campaign meeting with voters.
"How many balloons did you purchase for the May 4 event at the Republic
Square, how much did you pay for the purchase and which companies did
you buy them from?" Hayrapetyan gives the details of the questions
sent to RPA.
The Center regards it as failure to provide information when it
does not receive answers. The questionnaire is sent twice to the
same official or structure, the second time as an insured letter,
guaranteeing that it would either be received or returned.
RPA press secretary Eduard Sharmazanov said in reference to the "black
list", that their party had not received any letter from the Center.
PAP speaker Tigran Urikhanyan said the head of PAP office had responded
orally. DPA speaker Ruben Bakhshyan said they had not received a
letter. ANC speaker Arman Mousinyan did not answer the phone.
"I have PAP's, DPA's enquiry letters with postal service stamps;
they were sent as insured letters. I am not going to try to find out
whether the letter reach the addressee or not. I represent an NGO,
I have sent the letter and it hasn't returned, and we have had such
cases before. The problem might be technical, etc, but I can't take
assumptions for facts," says Hayrapetyan.
The "black list" is not final, meaning that if the respondent changes
its mind and decides to respond, it is taken off of the list. Oral
answers are not satisfactory; enquiries should receive a written
response.
The lawyer says that not all cases of unanswered enquiry become lawsuit
issues, because the Center is implementing projects, has limited
resources, and is developing strategic approaches to solve the issue.
"When information is refused or an enquiry is left unanswered by
bodies that have never possessed that information, it can be appealed.
We have sued ANC and have been rejected on this basis, since ANC is
not registered as an organization, there was a legislative issue:
a bloc has rights, liabilities, certain functions, but it cannot be
a respondent in a civil lawsuit," he explains.
A lawsuit will not be filed against the RPA, which has duly responded
to the Center's enquiry regarding campaign spending.
"They informed that 77,706,146 drams (around $200,000), 15 million
(around $38,500) out of which was their personal funds, and the rest
was donation. This was as of April 27," says the lawyer.
The "black list" also includes city halls of Vardenis and Yeghegnadzor.
From: A. Papazian