Freedom of Information Center of Armenia.

On August 6, the FOI Center was in the Ararat marz. The purpose of the visit was to organize a working discussion for 43 representatives of the marzpetaran and local self-governance bodies.

FOI expert M. Hakobyan first talked about the advantages of being informed, presented the FOI law and described in detail why should local self-governance bodies and civil servants work in an open fashion. Like in other marzes, the participants of the working discussion were particularly interested in the procedures and forms of denying requests for information, as well as in mechanisms of responsibility. It was surprising that the community leaders present at the meeting agreed with the FOI Center representatives that any official, who denies requests for information without any grounds, should be held responsible. The FOI Center’s expert informed that even if requests for information are denied, “they should be denied in a proper way.” At the end of the discussion, the participants noted that such meetings were very effective and said: “after learning about the law, we have become more invulnerable.”

The law was also discussed with 21 representatives of civil society in the Ararat marz. M. Hakobyan described how to send requests for information and when to expect replies. M. Martirosyan, the president of the Ararat branch of “Haytur” non-governmental organization complained that “there are many unanswered requests for information that continue to be ignored, because letters are sent without being returned.”