REGARDING RECENTLY EXECUTED EXECUTIVE ORDER N9 OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA (RA) MINISTER OF DEFENSE CONCERNING ACCESS TO INFORMATION ON NON-COMBAT DEATHS IN THE MILITARY.
In February of 2015 the RA Administrative Court proceeded with a lawsuit filed by Peace Dialogue NGO against the RA Ministry of Defense.
The lawsuit would require the Ministry of Defense to provide official information regarding the fatalities in the RA Armed Forces from 1994-2014 including the full names of all the deceased soldiers, the location of the incident, the date, unit number, unit commander’s full name and title, the cause of death and a brief description of the cases.
The Ministry of Defense recently filed objections to Judge K. Zarikyan and Peace Dialogue NGO regarding this lawsuit. An examination of the objections shows that according to the recently signed Executive Order N9 issued by the RA Minister of Defense and dated July 9, 2015 there is a new and expanded list of information that is considered classified (State Secrets) by the Ministry of Defense. According to Section 17 of the new order (“Information about the functions of the Military Police, as well as about illegalities and incidents”) the information requested by the organization is considered classified information. Point 42 and 43 of Section 17 of the same executive order state further that:
- The incidents in the Armed Forces, as well as the information revealing their causes are considered classified information, based on the level of their secrecy and given the changes in the political and operative situation of the country;
- Information revealing the investigation materials regarding the infringements in the Armed Forces is considered classified information, based on the level of their secrecy.
It should be noted that the RA Ministry of Defense has of this date not provided the organization with copies of all necessary documentation, which the organization requested in August 2015 that provides the basis for Executive Order N9. Comparing the new list of classified information to the provisions of the following laws:
- The RA Constitution,
- The Administrative Procedure Code,
- The RA Law on State and Official Secret,
- The RA Law on Legal Acts,
- The RA Law on Fundamentals of Administrative Action and Administrative Proceedings
We find that
- The information mentioned in Point 42 and Point 43 of N 9 executive order of the RA Minister of Defense is not included in the list of the encrypted information provided by the RA Law on State and Official Secret, does not fit into the formulations prescribed by law and does not ensure the implementation of the provisions of the law.
- The encryption of the information mentioned in Point 42 and Point 43 obviously does not aim at preventing possible arbitrariness of the law and does not guarantee the rights of the persons or the groups of people as it is provided by the RA Law on Fundamentals of Administrative Action and Administrative Proceedings.
- The access to the information mentioned in Point 42 and Point 43 cannot impede the interests of national security, public order, crime prevention, public health and morality, constitutional rights and freedoms, and the protection of honor and reputation of the others since, according the RA Constitution, the fundamental rights and freedoms of the citizens can be restricted only by the mentioned reasons.
We announce that
- The classification of the information mentioned in Section 17, Point 42 and point 43 of the list approved by Executive Order N 9 of the Minister of Defense, contradicts the RA Constitution, the RA Law and the principles of international agreements ratified by Armenia.
- Declaring that this material is classified severely restricts the abilities of the public to exercise oversight over the activities of the RA Ministry of Defense and clearly separates the Ministry of Defense from the policy of transparency of state bodies adopted by Armenia.
- Peace Dialogue NGO will challenge in court the legitimacy of the classification of secret the information mentioned in Section 17, Section 43 and 43 of the list provided by Executive Order N9 of the Minister of Defense and will submit a request to annul the provisions of the order and the list.
Therefore, we call upon all Armenian Human Rights organizations, media representatives, and civil groups not to stay indifferent and to do everything possible in order not to lose this opportunity to exercise civilian control over the Armed Forces in Armenia. More in-depth study of the other points in Executive Order N 9 of the RA Minister of Defense by the civil society, as well as the actions taken to dispute their relevance in law will be an invaluable contribution to us and all of our society. Peace Dialogue NGO has limited resources and is challenging the legitimacy of the classified information in Point 42 and Point 43 of Executive Order N9 only. We are concerned that there are a number of other areas of concern to a free and open society in the decree which present nefarious opportunities for additional arbitrary and capricious actions of the officials of the Ministry of Defense that may not comply with the law.
Peace Dialogue NGO
