Both the International Donors and the Government have the same list of selected CSOs, and these individuals always benefit from different support programs: Tevan Poghosyan

There is no shortage of real specialists in the Republic of Armenia. There are specialists in the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia who can really provide the right professional advice and proposals.

Tevan Poghosyan, a member of the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia, Head of the International Center for Human Development NGO, told Iravaban.net.

Speaking about the study on “Integrity Checking and Responsibility of Judges under the extraordinary conditions (of transitional justice): International experience and mechanisms for implementation in Armenia”, Tevan Poghosyan said:

“It is not the first document that the Coalition prepares and presents as an alternative. Unfortunately, based on previous experiences, those ideas are taken, used incompletely, or they are continued with a completely different approach and in the end we have what we have.

The hole problem is this: when an alternative proposal is submitted and a few points of that proposal seem important, it does not mean that those few points should be taken and the rest should be forgotten, because the professional, complete proposal offers a systemic approach, and if you use only one part with the wrong approach, you do not use the other part, naturally no recovery problem will be solved.” He also mentioned that this can be characterized in all spheres.

The head of the organization also spoke about the differentiated approach of the Ministry of Justice towards civil society organizations.

“In reality, unfortunately, the hopes that real changes will take place in Armenia, which were formed in May 2018 and began to live in the perceptions and hopes of people all over Armenia, have probably failed since September of the same year.

Let’s not forget that one of the first cases was when the current government said, “Oh, how good it is, let’s use the of civil society institutes, for example, to visit Artsakh, to observe the elections there. Concrete approaches without open statements, without anything…”

It should be reminded that Iravaban.net had touched upon the topic in 2019, stating that at the 22 August sitting, the Government decided to allocate 33 million 680 thousand drams from the reserve fund to two non-governmental organizations to observe the local self-government elections to be held in Artsakh on 8 September, 2019.

16 million 200 thousand drams were allocated without a tender to the Stepanakert office of the “Union of Informed Citizens”, and 17 million 480 thousand drams to the “Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center”.

It should be added that these two organizations have another thing in common: both been funded for many years have from one source – “Open Society Foundations – Armenia” (popularly known as the George Soros Foundation). 

Continuing the topic, Tevan Poghosyan mentions, “If in the past we used to complain, see several favorites receive support in the public sector, however along with that there were also various international resources provided by the international donors and the civil society in Armenia was able to show several alternative approaches in one way or another, but to this day it is not so. Both the International Donors and the Government have the same list of selected CSOs, and these individuals always benefit from different support programs, which is a painful phenomenon, but we have what we have.”

According to him, the civil society in Armenia is in a very difficult situation now. Neither Armenian Sovereign Funds nor Trust Funds, which could form some independent financial means, were formed; or a state program that would inspire confidence, and when the state would announced grants for implementation of necessary programs, and the participants would know that a fair selection would be held. It is a pity, but due to the lack of such development, there is no hope that some of the ideas will eventually come to life. “But let me say that the role and quality of the civil society, in my opinion, is less perceived by the current government and nothing contributes to its rise. In fact, at a time, when there was an opportunity, various institutions were formed, which today, due to political perceptions or other reasons, as soon as they voice an alternative opinion, they are accepted as oppositional approaches and working with them acquires a negative approach. This will not lead to the formation of a civil society,” Tevan Poghosyan said.

He also mentioned that we should not forget “one of the laws of nature”, according to which the one who pays he orders. “No matter how much donors try to say that they are fair, they will always move according to their interests and preferences, and it will not be the case that we can be sure that their interests and preferences will always correspond to Armenia’s real interests,” the Head of the International Center for Human Development said.

Tevan Poghosyan noted that recently he has not received an invitation from the Ministry of Justice or any other state institution as a member of the CSO Anti-Corruption Coalition of Armenia to participate in any discussion. He also said that maybe his person is politicized, but as a citizen of the Republic of Armenia he will always be free to express his own opinion, which is based on the value system he carries. Invitations have not been sent to other members of the center he heads on the same principle, as it may seem to those who invites that if they work in the same organization, everyone should be of the same opinion, while this is not the case.