Epress.am News from Armenia
May 3 was proclaimed World Press Freedom Day by the UN General Assembly in 1993, marking the anniversary of the Windhoek Declaration: Adopted in 1991 after a conference held in Windhoek (Namibia) on the development of a free African press, “this declaration emphasizes the importance of an independent press for the development and preservation of democracy and economic development,” according to the 2011 World Press Freedom Day official website.
World Press Freedom Day serves as an occasion to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press, to inform citizens of violations of press freedom, and to remind governments to respect their commitment to press freedom and their duty to uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The theme of this year’s World Press Freedom Day is “21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers”. The 2011 World Press Freedom Day conference will be taking place in Washington (the first time official events for the day are being held in the US) at the interactive museum dedicated to journalism, the Newseum. The conference will be available online via livestream, and updates will also be made available via Facebook and Twitter (hashtag #WPFD).
In a 2010 Freedom House report, Armenia was considered not free when it comes to freedom of the press. It ranked 146th place, along with Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Morocco and Qatar, in the world ranking list of 196 countries. In a Freedom of the Press 2011 Survey Release, Armenia is still considered not free and ranked at 146th place, however, sharing the spot only with Egypt.
International human rights organizations have also raised alarm bells when it comes to press freedom in Armenia. As recently as May 1, 2011, Reporters Without Borders issued a statement in which it said “there were 12 defamation actions during the first quarter of 2011 alone.” The US-based international organization particularly drew attention to the cases against local dailies Haykakan Jamanak (“Armenian Times”), Jamanak (“Times”), Hraparak and Yerkir (“Country”).
In 2009, Haykakan Jamanak chief editor Nikol Pashinyan was imprisoned for his political views. In the fall of 2010, there were reports that he had ben attacked in Kosh penitentiary were he was serving his sentence at the time. According to Pashinyan, he was occasionally threatened to stop writing articles. He further insists that after being moved to Artik penitentiary his right to correspondence has been violated — that he is not receiving mail and his articles are not getting to the Haykakan Jamanak editorial office.
Photo: UNESCO