Attack on RFE/RL’s Armenia Service
Hot on the trial of a previous post which outlined Freedom House’s concerns about tendencies to limit media freedom in Russia and the CIS comes news that Armenia is following a path already being followed in other republics where media freedom and levels of democracy had been worse than here.
According to RFE/RL, a new bill aimed at restricting foreign broadcasting appears to be targeted specifically at them.
The National Assembly is due debate on Thursday government bills that could end the Armenian-language broadcasts of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a key source of information for a considerable part of Armenia’s population.
The two bills sent to the parliament late on Tuesday were swiftly condemned by local media rights groups and top opposition leaders as an attempt to muzzle what they regard as the only electronic media outlet not controlled by the administration of President Robert Kocharian.
[…]
The opposition minority in the parliament was quick to condemn the bills, with Raffi Hovannisian, leader of the Zharangutyun (Heritage) party, saying that he fears that they are a prelude to ending RFE/RL broadcasts in Armenia.
“The prime minister and the government must be mindful of the goals and consequences of their legislative initiatives,” said Hovannisian. “Zharangutyun will vote against them. We consider this a blow to the interests of the Republic of Armenia and the rights of our citizens.”
The condemnation was echoed by virtually all other major opposition groups not represented in the recently elected legislature. “Radio Liberty is the only free broadcaster operating in Armenia,” said Vazgen Manukian of the National Democratic Union. “Shutting it down would mean shutting down Armenia. This would be the greatest disgrace of recent years.”
Interestingly, RFE/RL reports that it was allowed to operate briefly after independence until it was forced off the air in 1994 under former President Levon Ter Petrosian. It resumed broadcasting when the present head of state, Robert Kocharian, came to power in 1998. However, according to sources close to Oneworld Multimedia, Kocharian personally attacked the station’s journalists when they attended a special dinner staged for the media by the presidential palace before the new year.
Kocharian was reported to be deeply unhappy with the station’s coverage of his administration and almost certainly during elections which until recently fell far short of international standards. As RFE/RL has become the most reliable and trustworthy source of news and information it isn’t hard to see why Kocharian and his government might want to force the station off the air once more as next year’s presidential election approaches.
Recently, the new Prime Minister and Kocharian’s heir apparent has also been highly critical of the station.
Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian, who intends to succeed Kocharian in next year’s presidential election, has likewise criticized RFE/RL’s news reporting and coverage of last month’s parliamentary elections in particular. During the election campaign he specifically faulted the Prague-headquartered broadcaster for quoting participants of rallies held by his Republican Party as saying that they were forced to attend the gatherings by government officials.
By contrast, RFE/RL’s election coverage has always been praised not only by opposition politicians but also Western election observers. The latter have been far more critical of the Armenian TV and radio stations, virtually all of them loyal to the country’s leadership.
Armenia’s leading media associations take a similar view. Their representatives expressed serious concern at the government bills, saying that their main target is RFE/RL.
“They should have officially called it a bill on discontinuing retransmission of the Radio Liberty programs,” said Mesrop Harutiunian of the Yerevan Press Club.
“I believe that both bills are directed against Radio Liberty,” agreed David Sandukhchian, a lawyer at the media support group Internews Armenia. “Their purpose is to at least complicate its work.”
Meanwhile, RFE/RL also reports on Freedom’s House’s latest report which once again lists Armenia as “partly free.” Although ahead of some other former Soviet Republics, Armenia falls far short of continued progress registered in the neighboring Republic of Georgia. Of course, Georgia was always considered more democratic and free compared to Armenia even before the November 2003 Rose Revolution, but now the gap appears to be widening even more.
Armenia’s average score of 4.5 put it into the category of 58 “partly free” independent states. Freedom House pointed, among other things, to the country’s post-Soviet history of electoral fraud and accused its government of continuing to abuse human rights and limit civil liberties.
“Armenia is not an electoral democracy,” it said in its latest Freedom in the World survey.
[…]
Freedom House again found “considerable limits on press freedom” in Armenia, citing the government’s tight grip on electronic media. It also deplored a lack of judicial independence and widespread ill-treatment of suspects in custody.
“Police make arbitrary arrests without warrants, beat detainees during arrest and interrogation, and use torture to extract confessions,” reads the report. “Cases of abuse go unreported out of fear of retribution.”
Freedom House also faulted the government in Yerevan for restricting freedom of assembly. “The authorities’ violent response to spring 2004 protests [by the opposition] represented a low point for freedom of assembly in Armenia,” it said.
Also designated as “partly free” were three other CIS countries, including neighboring Georgia. With an average score of 3, Georgia moved close to being rated “free” by Freedom House. The human rights watchdog singled out it as one of the few “relatively bright spots” in the CIS, citing the Georgian government’s extensive reform agenda.
Armenia’s other ex-Soviet neighbor, Azerbaijan, was again found to be “not free” along with Russia and five other ex-Soviet republics.
The Armenian Observer also has a post on what appears to be this unexpected attack on RFE/RL. Speaking as a journalist and also as someone who relies heavily on RFE/RL’s reporting for what I consider to be largely impartial and objective news in a country that sorely needs such a service, I’d only add that I’d join any protests staged to protect what little media freedom exists in Armenia.
Simply put, I can’t stress how much I value its work in the country.
I would guess this is more an attempt to “extort” money — in the form of increased broadcast fees — than a true effort to shut down the service.
Comment by Vahe — June 28, 2007 @ 3:52 am
Hovik, quite easily thanks
Vahe, attempts to limit media freedoms have not been blatant, but rather more sophisticated legislative measures that achieve the same thing.
Complacency is a killer, and after Freedom House’s warning about attempts to control the media in the former Soviet space, I’d say that this is the case here.
Anyway, we shall see what happens to this bill, I suppose. For now, it is quite clear his bill WILL force RFE/RL off national airwaves:
The fees are instead intended for private broadcasters who probably have more limited budgets anyway, especially in the regions, so one guesses the same result will follow.
Let’s see. Maybe the bill will be amended or rejected. I won’t be holding my breath in anticipation, however.
Comment by Onnik — June 28, 2007 @ 1:35 pm
My comment this morning seems to have been lost. but anyway - i was writing to say, that although not perfect, RFE / RL is one of the best and most objective news source in Armenia.
I also want to add, that this bill won’t pass, but the fact it was put in the NA agenda leaves much room for speculation.
Comment by Observer — June 28, 2007 @ 4:57 pm
Artur, did you get as far as having to enter a anti-spam number in a page that would have appeared after you submitted the comment? There’s certainly nothing in the moderation queue if for some reason the comment ended up there, but basically it didn’t.
Yesterday, this blog was done for a long time, but I assume that if you could enter a comment it should have gotten through. However, if you didn’t enter an anti-spam number which would then have returned you to the original post then it wouldn’t have gotten through at all.
Comment by Onnik — June 28, 2007 @ 5:21 pm
Incidentally, you say that the bill won’t pass. For me, that’s great news and even that it was put through doesn’t concern me. It’s up to parliament to pass or reject bills whoever puts them forwards and whatever they seek to do. If in this case the bill won’t be accepted I’m kind of optimistic that something positive has happened and something is changing compared to a time when pretty much any such bill would be effectively rubber stamped by a less than independent and free-thinking National Assembly. Here’s hoping.
Comment by Onnik — June 28, 2007 @ 5:24 pm
You can say that with a straight face, can you, Onnik?
RFE was created to help the CIA propagandize against the Soviet Union and for the so-called “Free World.” It spun stories, planted stories, and omitted stories right up to its collapse. At which point, in the mid-late nineties, after Yeltsin–bombed–the Russian parliament and the country’s economy was hemorrhaging under his “reforms” (read, selling the country’s vital assets to mafia bosses), RFE was right there broadcasting about what a fantastic guy that drunken country bumpkin was and how the country was on the “right path.”
They said it with a straight face, too, just like you. As a journalist, you ought to know that saying something with a straight face doesn’t mean a damn thing if you don’t have facts to back you up.
If RFE hasn’t shown its true colors with regard to Armenia, the only reason is that it hasn’t had a reason to, yet. And when all is said and done, the fact remains that RFE is not an organic Armenian institution, and its interests are not the interests of the people of Armenia. That’s just a simple, easily provable, obvious–fact. Please remember that.
Comment by Armen Filadelfiatsi — June 29, 2007 @ 4:37 am
RFE/RL’s journalists are all local Armenians and as I know some of them, work to the best of their own professional abilities and don’t appear to be directed by editorial control from Prague or even Washington.
No, I don’t listen to the radio broadcasts, but the loss of its English language text news service would be a great loss to Armenia, I think. Anyway, closing down any media outlet ro preventing them from functioning is not justifiable regardless of why they were initially set up.
If they were to pump out false information and so on, there are always the courts and so far you don’t appear to have any concrete cases in this regard on RFE/RL in Armenia. It’s as simple as that.
Anyway, that’s my take on the matter.
Comment by Onnik — June 29, 2007 @ 10:07 am
I agree that the RFE was and still is a mouthpiece for the CIA and the establishment in Washington and that under the guise of “independent journalism” it has sought to integrate itself into a host of developing societies around the world.
But, I do believe the sponsors of this bill couldn’t care less about the RFE in terms of its ideological influence in Armenia and are merely looking at ways to garner more income for their private coffers.
Finally, any such blatant attempt by the authorities to limit the “free press” should be criticized as a violation of the law and the first step down a possible slippery slope of greater constraints on the media, whether that media has a political agenda or not.
Comment by chello — June 29, 2007 @ 3:47 pm
All media outlets here are funded by organizations and parties with agendas. This also includes organizations in the Diaspora who secretly fund some online news outlets to cover their activities or issues they’re involved with. RFE/RL is perhaps one of the few media outlets which is quite open about where it’s money comes from. That can’t be said about any other media outlet in Armenia. Nevertheless, it’s English language web site beats all of the other English language sources of news and information hands down with it’s professionalism.
Ultimately, however, whether RFE/RL receives it’s money from the U.S. Government and for whatever reason it was established, it’s news is the best that I have access to and I think most people here would agree. Any restrictions on its activities here would be a loss for Armenia and anyone who wants reliable and timely information. Of course, that’s just my opinion, but almost everyone I know who follows events here agree. Besides, if the ulterior motive for RFE/RL is to promote democracy by covering issues that other outlets don’t, who can argue against that?
Comment by Onnik — June 30, 2007 @ 2:31 pm
I told you the bill won’t pass - didn’t I?
Comment by Observer — July 3, 2007 @ 4:12 pm
Yeah, you did, but I don’t believe in complacency. It’s dangerous and perhaps it’s because virtually everyone wasn’t complacent or apathetic on this issue that it didn’t. All in all, a great result which should encourage people to engage in the process of nation building. I’m very happy.
Comment by Onnik — July 4, 2007 @ 9:35 am