The Human Rights Defender of
Armenia has published an Ad hoc Report (available in Armenian) on the
restrictions on the professional work of journalists in the National Assembly
and the inadmissible acts of public officials against journalists.
Firstly, the Report presents the
fundamental approach of the Human Rights Defender that public officials be
guided by the presumption of good faith and legitimacy of journalists.
This concretely refers to the
legality of restricting the activities of journalists under the actin security
measures of the area and building of the National Assembly.
The Report highlights the
importance of the highly professional activities of journalists under the rules
of responsible journalism. Without professional journalistic work it is
impossible to ensure full protection of journalists.
The Human Rights Defender
regularly organizes discussions and workshops for journalists in various
professional fields (women's rights, labor rights, etc.) to improve the highly
professional work of journalists.
This Ad-Hoc Report aims at
recording the importance of the professional activity of journalists, and to
demonstrate the limits of the state's discretion to interfere in those
activities.
The report registers the lack of
concrete and clear legal regulations which, or on the basis of which, the
peculiarities of the activities of the journalists accredited in the area and
building of the National Assembly can be fixed.
The negative consequences for the
journalists accredited in the National Assembly are problematic, the measures
of responsibility have no legal ground, they have not been fixed by law, and
are not clear to the journalists themselves.
Journalists have not been
informed about their rights and the restrictions on their professional activities,
including the limits of the restrictions, as well as the negative consequences
of not following those restrictions.
Moreover, the Human Rights
Defender of the fact that due to uncertain regulations and legislative gaps, a
situation has arisen where various public figures, including high-ranking
government and National Assembly officials, while substantiating the
restrictions on the professional work of journalists during discussions,
provide justifications used for combatting against crime. It is unacceptable
that when talking about accredited journalists in the National Assembly,
comparisons are made, for example, with people who have committed serious
crimes (such as terrorism) or mercenaries, thus further contributing to the
formation or deepening of stereotypes on the professional activities of
journalists in the society and other bodies.
The Reports also analyzes in
detail the inadmissible behavior and acts of the security servicemen of the
National Assembly against the journalists, including making unlawful demands
from journalists under threats (demands to delete journalistic materials
without substantiation, threats of deprivation of accreditation, etc.)
The activities of a journalist
accredited in the National Assembly should be regulated not from the viewpoint
of combating crime or ensuring the security of the National Assembly in that
manner, but from the point of view of the normal activity of a specific body,
respecting its professional activities and without creating obstacles.
The Human Rights Defender
specifically states that ensuring the security of the National Assembly is of
fundamental importance, but restrictions on the activities of journalists
should not be hidden behind security rules.
In relation to the compatibility
of the restriction of the professional activities of journalists with the
Constitution, the Human Rights Defender has applied to the Constitutional
Court: The compatibility of Articles 5(2), 14(7), 54(4) of the Constitutional
Law on Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly with Articles 42, 51, 75,
78, 79, and 81 of the Constitution of Armenia is disputed.
Thus, taking into consideration
the restrictions on the professional activities of journalists on the National
Assembly (and the application of the Human Rights Defender to the
Constitutional Court on this matter), and the fact that the uncertain
regulations in the National Assembly are contributing to restrictions on the
rights of journalists, the Human Rights has published an Ad-Hoc Report, in
which issues related to the legality of the restrictions applied on the basis
of the disputed regulations, and the rules for ensuring the professional
activities of journalist are presented.
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