NGOs addressed a letter to RA President Vahagn Khachaturyan, Speaker of National Assembly Alen Simonyan, Chair of NA Standing Committee on Territorial Administration, Local Self-Government, Agriculture and Environment Vahe Ghalumyan demanding to prevent RA NA adoption of RA draft law “On Making Amendments and Addenda to Mining Code”. Attached to the letter was the second statement of 41 non-governmental organizations on revoking and amending the draft law from the National Assembly.
The letter addressed to RA President says: "On April 12, at the regular meeting of RA National Assembly, RA draft law RA draft law “On Making Amendments and Addenda to Mining Code” must be put to a vote. Civil society organizations have issued a statement against this anti-democratic, anti-constitutional bill, which violates human rights.
None of the proposals of the civil society was accepted by the authors of the draft law. We call on you, as the President of the Republic of Armenia, the guarantor of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, in case the controversial draft law is adopted by the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, not to sign it and to send it back for amendment.”
The NGOs demand from Alen Simonyan and Vahe Ghalumyan to intervene in not sending the controversial draft law to a vote, to send it to RA Government for amendment.
The announcement of non-governmental organizations says:
On April 6 2022, RA National Assembly Standing Committee on Economic Affairs issued a positive conclusion to RA draft law "On Making Amendments to Mining Code" and suggested NA Council to include it in the agenda of the regular meeting to be held on 12 April.
This draft law proposes to supplement Mining Code with a new Article 55.1, which provides for the extension of soil management right on the basis of force majeure. Among a number of reasons, including explosions, war, terrorism, civil war, mass civil disobedience will be considered an insurmountable force, which is, in fact, a form of public outcry, as a result of which it was not possible to organize soil management at the mine.
According to the draft, the terms of the existing soil management right will be extended for the maximum period of those circumstances without conducting a new examination. The legal regulations on the extension of soil management right on the basis of force majeure shall apply to the soil managers who have received the right of soil management before the entry into force of this law, if the force majeure arose during the four years preceding the day this law enters into force.
The statement of about 60 NGOs on the withdrawal of the draft law from the National Assembly was not heard by the executive and legislative authorities. The public was accused of not submitting a timely opinion on the draft law on the joint platform for publishing draft legal acts - www.e-draft.am, while the draft law posted on this platform lacks the notion of "civil disobedience", as well as the fact that the law will have a retroactive effect for 4 years:
On April 4, the author of the draft law, RA Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, in response to the proposal made by NGOs on April 3 to have a dialogue with civil society, invited civil society representatives to discuss the draft law on April 5 on its Facebook page.
Although such a discussion is a violation of the requirements of the Aarhus Convention and the conduct of public hearings approved by the Government of the Republic of Armenia, representatives of civil society Oleg Dulgaryan, President of Center for Community Consolidation and Support Center, and President of EcoLur Informational NGO Inga Zarafyan, Director of "Forests of Armenia" NGO Nazeli Vardanyan participated in the discussion, who presented the contradictions of the draft law with the provisions and requirements of RA Constitution, RA Civil Code, as well as the requirements of the Aarhus Convention and the Convention on the Protection of Fundamental Freedoms.
The representatives of the civil society suggested the Deputy Minister Hovhannes Harutyunyan to withdraw the draft law, to form a working group with the involvement of the ministry and civil society representatives, who will amend the draft law. Hovhannes Harutyunyan promised to present the position on that proposal after the relevant internal departmental consultations.
Nevertheless, the next day, he introduced the bill in the National Assembly Standing Committee on Economic Affairs, referring to the term "civil disobedience" in the amended version of the draft law. It is not clear how the term was interpreted, as the amended version of the draft law has not been published.
It should be noted that Zemfira Hovasapyan, Head of State and Legal Expertise Division of RA NA Expert and Analytical Department, gave a conclusion on the draft law, according to which the regulations laid down in the draft can be problematic from the point of view of legal certainty. It was noted that the concept of "mass civil disobedience" is vague and is not applied in the legislation of the Republic of Armenia.
Thus, NA Standing Committee on Economic Affairs issued a positive conclusion to a bill where the concept of "mass civil disobedience" is not applied in the legislation of the Republic of Armenia. Soil managers are going to be met even if their own people are against their activities.
Even the National Assembly committee did not respond to the call of the society and did not discuss their concerns with the representatives of the civil society before reaching a decision.
Distinguished representatives of the executive and legislative bodies of the Republic of Armenia, do not forget that the Republic of Armenia is a democratic country, and not listening to the voice of its own people, ignoring the opinion, is a step back from democratic values.
We call on RA National Assembly to be constructive and not to vote for this controversial bill, to send it back to RA Government for revision. Otherwise, the gap between the power and the society will deepen.
1 ․ "EcoLur" Informational NGO
2 ․ " Center for Community Consolidation and Support " NGO
3. "Cinemart" Youth NGO
4. Sexual Violence Crisis Center
5. "Educational Center for Equal Rights" NGO
6. "Article 3" Human Rights Club
7. "New Generation" Humanitarian NGO
8. Anti-Discrimination Coalition for Equality
9. Vanadzor office of Helsinki Citizens' Assembly
10. "Martuni Women's Community Council" NGO
11. Public Journalism Club
12 ․ "Ecological Public Union" NGO
13 ․ "Spitak Helsinki Group" NGO
14 ․ "Green Armenia" Environmental NGO
15 ․ "Civic Youth Center" NGO
16 ․ “Youth for Change” NGO
17 ․ "Women's Support Center" NGO
18 ․ "Women's Resource Center" NGO
19 ․ "Just Democracy" NGO
20 ․ "Gyumri Progress" CC NGO
21 ․ "Protection of Rights without Borders" NGO
22 ․ Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center NGO
23 ․ Freedom of Information Center
24 ․ Yerevan Press Club
25 ․ "Armenian Environmental Front" Volunteer Initiative
26 ․ "Perspective Development Center" NGO
27 ․ "Peace Dialogue" NGO
28 ․ Center for Media Initiatives
29 ․ Anti-Discrimination and Coalition for Equality
30. "Helsinki Association for Human Rights" NGO
31 ․ "Center for Human Rights Research" NGO
32 ․ "Pink" Human Rights NGO
33 ․ "Women's Rights House" NGO
34 ․ Goris Press Club NGO
35. Open Society Foundations - Armenia
36. Policy Research Center
36. "Tabernacle Intellectual Center" NGO
37. "Real World, Real People" NGO
38. "Just Democracy" NGO
39 ․ "Perspective Development Center" NGO
40. Dalma-Sona Foundation NGO
41․ "Forests of Armenia" NGO
42 ․ "New Horizons" NGO "
April 11, 2022 at 14:23