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ARMENIA MOVES TO CONTROL NGOS
Institute for War and Peace Reporting
IWPR Caucasus Reporting #665
Nov 20 2012
UK
Civil society leaders believe the state intends to restrict their
activities.
By Naira Melkumyan - Caucasus
The Armenian authorities say they want to encourage civil society to
grow and flourish, but many non-government groups are suspicious of
what they believe is a new plan to control them.
A strategy for developing the NGO sector was published earlier this
month by the Public Council, an advisory body which, although set up
by the president, claims to be non-partisan.
Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, who is in charge of civil society development
at the Public Council and led the group that drafted the document,
said the real aim was to help NGOs raise money in Armenia rather than
having to rely on foreign funding.
"The plan sets out a National Fund for Civil Society Assistance,
through which [government] budget money can be allocated to
organisations," he said.
Hovhannisyan said Armenia needed a development plan for the NGO
sector just as much as for areas like education, agriculture or
national security.
"The world is changing and the laws have to change with it. The
council has discovered more than 400 contradictions in the structure
of civil society, including legal ones, so why shouldn't we remove
them?" he asked.
Armenia's highest-profile NGOs, however, have rejected the plan as
both worrying and illogical.
"This plan is part of a whole process of controlling civil society
which began long ago, but which lacked the easy control mechanisms that
this plan provides," said Larisa Minasyan, director of Open Society
Institute Armenia, which gives grants to support democracy and the
rule of law. "Of course there have been changes in civil society -
some organisations have grown stronger and gained greater importance
both domestically and internationally.
"Hence these attempts to set the boundaries within which civil
organisations can operate."
Others questioned the idea of a quasi-governmental organisation
defining the limits of freedom.
"The preamble [to the plan] says that the state provides freedoms
to society - a formulation characteristic of authoritarian systems,
since democracy presupposes freedom," Avetik Ishkhanyan, head of the
Armenian Helsinki Committee, said.
Artur Sakunts, head of the Vanadzor office of the Helsinki Civil
Assembly, said the plan's suggestion of an "interpenetration" between
state and civil society was nonsensical.
"What's this 'interpenetration'? Civil society is a sphere where the
authorities have no role, it is self-regulating and self-organising,
and citizens themselves decide when, how and which issues to raise,"
he said.
The Armenian state already funds some NGOs, and has allocated five
million US dollars so far this year, although it is unclear what
criteria it uses to select beneficiaries.
Ishkhanyan said the proposed civil society fund was likely to become
another channel for supporting government-friendly NGOs.
He also expressed concern at the lack of a consultation process on
the plan.
"If the government is drafting a paper to describe its cooperation
with civil society, then it needs to organise serious discussions
rather than just summoning some people to sign off on it and calling
that a discussion," he said.
The Public Council, set up on 2008 and modelled on a similar Russian
institution, is supposed to allow the NGO world to transmit its
concerns to the government. Activists say it works the other way round,
passing on government instructions to supposedly independent groups.
"It has no legitimacy in defending the interests of civic
organisations, and this is shown by the fact that we weren't even
invited to discuss this new plan," Minasyan said. "We received it by
post, although some organisations which are part of the Council took
part in closed discussions."
Hovhannisyan said he was happy to listen to any constructive
criticisms, but added that "if they're telling us not to do this,
they should say what they would do instead".
In any case, he said that President Serzh Sargsyan had already signed
off on the plan. The plan will be brought into force via changes to
the law.
Minasyan warned that these new legal regulations could make it easier
for the authorities to shut down NGOs, a process that currently
requires a court order.
Armenia has a vibrant NGO sector, which international studies put
on a par with those in Ukraine and Georgia. As of October, Armenia
had over 3,400 registered NGOs, of which the Public Council says it
represents more than 1,200.
http://iwpr.net/report-news/armenia-moves-control-ngos
Institute for War and Peace Reporting
IWPR Caucasus Reporting #665
Nov 20 2012
UK
Civil society leaders believe the state intends to restrict their
activities.
By Naira Melkumyan - Caucasus
The Armenian authorities say they want to encourage civil society to
grow and flourish, but many non-government groups are suspicious of
what they believe is a new plan to control them.
A strategy for developing the NGO sector was published earlier this
month by the Public Council, an advisory body which, although set up
by the president, claims to be non-partisan.
Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, who is in charge of civil society development
at the Public Council and led the group that drafted the document,
said the real aim was to help NGOs raise money in Armenia rather than
having to rely on foreign funding.
"The plan sets out a National Fund for Civil Society Assistance,
through which [government] budget money can be allocated to
organisations," he said.
Hovhannisyan said Armenia needed a development plan for the NGO
sector just as much as for areas like education, agriculture or
national security.
"The world is changing and the laws have to change with it. The
council has discovered more than 400 contradictions in the structure
of civil society, including legal ones, so why shouldn't we remove
them?" he asked.
Armenia's highest-profile NGOs, however, have rejected the plan as
both worrying and illogical.
"This plan is part of a whole process of controlling civil society
which began long ago, but which lacked the easy control mechanisms that
this plan provides," said Larisa Minasyan, director of Open Society
Institute Armenia, which gives grants to support democracy and the
rule of law. "Of course there have been changes in civil society -
some organisations have grown stronger and gained greater importance
both domestically and internationally.
"Hence these attempts to set the boundaries within which civil
organisations can operate."
Others questioned the idea of a quasi-governmental organisation
defining the limits of freedom.
"The preamble [to the plan] says that the state provides freedoms
to society - a formulation characteristic of authoritarian systems,
since democracy presupposes freedom," Avetik Ishkhanyan, head of the
Armenian Helsinki Committee, said.
Artur Sakunts, head of the Vanadzor office of the Helsinki Civil
Assembly, said the plan's suggestion of an "interpenetration" between
state and civil society was nonsensical.
"What's this 'interpenetration'? Civil society is a sphere where the
authorities have no role, it is self-regulating and self-organising,
and citizens themselves decide when, how and which issues to raise,"
he said.
The Armenian state already funds some NGOs, and has allocated five
million US dollars so far this year, although it is unclear what
criteria it uses to select beneficiaries.
Ishkhanyan said the proposed civil society fund was likely to become
another channel for supporting government-friendly NGOs.
He also expressed concern at the lack of a consultation process on
the plan.
"If the government is drafting a paper to describe its cooperation
with civil society, then it needs to organise serious discussions
rather than just summoning some people to sign off on it and calling
that a discussion," he said.
The Public Council, set up on 2008 and modelled on a similar Russian
institution, is supposed to allow the NGO world to transmit its
concerns to the government. Activists say it works the other way round,
passing on government instructions to supposedly independent groups.
"It has no legitimacy in defending the interests of civic
organisations, and this is shown by the fact that we weren't even
invited to discuss this new plan," Minasyan said. "We received it by
post, although some organisations which are part of the Council took
part in closed discussions."
Hovhannisyan said he was happy to listen to any constructive
criticisms, but added that "if they're telling us not to do this,
they should say what they would do instead".
In any case, he said that President Serzh Sargsyan had already signed
off on the plan. The plan will be brought into force via changes to
the law.
Minasyan warned that these new legal regulations could make it easier
for the authorities to shut down NGOs, a process that currently
requires a court order.
Armenia has a vibrant NGO sector, which international studies put
on a par with those in Ukraine and Georgia. As of October, Armenia
had over 3,400 registered NGOs, of which the Public Council says it
represents more than 1,200.
http://iwpr.net/report-news/armenia-moves-control-ngos