Freedom of Information Center of Armenia.

On December 2, 2019, a draft law on additions to the RA Law on Freedom of Information was published on e-draft.am by the Ministry of Nature Protection. We, the undersigned organizations, express our concern at this initiative to make changes to the FOI law without having heard the opinions of professional organizations and experts.

The Law on Freedom of Information, adopted in 2003, requires complex, comprehensive and systematic reforms based on 16 years of advanced and exemplary law enforcement experience.

We urge the Ministry of the Environment to immediately abandon this initiative, take a responsible and systematic approach to the process of amending the FOI law, and consult with community-based NGOs and experts in the field before proposing any changes. Creating law drafts without open and transparent discussions, guiding individual parties appropriately, undermines CSO-state cooperation mechanisms and weakens public confidence in the state.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION CENTER OF ARMENIA
PUBLIC JOURNALISM CLUB
COMMITTEE ON FREEDOM OF SPEECH
YEREVAN PRESS CLUB
GORIS PRESS CLUB
MEDIA INITIATIVE CENTER
"JOURNALISTS FOR THE FUTURE" NGO
"ASPAREZ" JOURNALISTS' CLUB
PUBLIC INFORMATION AND MONITORING CENTER
"CLEAN GORIS" NGO
ASSOCIATION OF YOUNG JOURNALISTS
"ARMENIAN CAMP" NGO
"PARTNERSHIP AND TEACHING" NGO
"YOUTH IDEAS" NGO
"DALMA-SONA" FOUNDATION
NGO OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE "ASTGHATSOLK" NGO
"INFORMED AND PROTECTED CONSUMER" NGO