OSCE Office in Yerevan

The OSCE Office in Yerevan closely follows the state of media freedom and developments in media legislation in Armenia. At the request of the national authorities, it facilitates expert reviews of amendments to the Law on Radio and TV to assess their compliance with European best practices, in co-operation with Armenian civil society.

The Office also works closely with the Armenian Government and civil society to improve governmental transparency and accountability by providing greater access to information. It supports the establishment of a media self-regulation mechanism and aims to promote this through workshops and seminars, while avoiding unnecessary government regulation of media affairs.

Media freedom

In June 2006, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Miklos Haraszti, visited Armenia and, following his visit, issued a report on The State of Media Freedom in Armenia. Having met with high-level government officials and media representatives, Haraszti concluded that Armenia had made significant progress in improving media legislation. He also made it clear that media pluralism remains limited to the independent, but financially weak and less influential, print media. As a first step, the report recommended that the Government prepare legislative changes to be publicly discussed and passed in Parliament as soon as possible. The report's key recommendations include: amending legislation to make licensing tender procedures clearer and more transparent, adopting sub-legal acts to the Freedom of Information Law, amending the Law on Postal Communication and decriminalizing libel. The Office is working to support the implementation of the report's recommendations.

Violence against journalists

The Office follows cases of violence against journalists. It urges law-enforcement bodies to ensure thorough investigation of such cases against journalists, as well as cases of interference in their professional activities. The Office also requests updates on the status of related criminal cases and follows up on their progress.

Access to information

The Office's activities in support of improving governmental transparency and accountability include holding training workshops for civil servants on access to information. As a result of these workshops, a training module is being developed which will be included in the curriculum of the Civil Service Council. The Office also assists the Council in developing passports for civil service information officers that will clearly specify their functions and responsibilities in the freedom of information.