ArmInfo.Freedom House, undoubtedly, the organization is quite authoritative. Nevertheless, not all of her reports shine with objectivity. This was stated by the Minister of Justice David Atutiunian during the briefing for journalists on April 12, referring to the report of a human rights organization published on the eve of the report, in which Armenia is called a country slipping into authoritarianism.
According to the Minister, for the first time in the report of this organization he meets ideas, radically different from the adopted methodology. "When examining the report in detail, it is surprising to find contradictory provisions, for example, the report says that if Serzh Sargsyan is nominated as prime minister, this leads to authoritarianism," Harutyunyan said, adding that the organization at the same time predicts that if Sargsyan does not come forward, he will rule the country as a "gray cardinal".
David Harutyunyan is also surprised by another fact - having touched upon the theme of the group "Sasna Tsrer", the report does not say anywhere that the group committed an armed attack. The minister also did not meet with such a document in which "labels are labeled politicians". "Criticism is, yes, but never - no gluing of labels," he said.
Thus, as David Harutyunyan emphasized, he regretfully should note that for the first time in his report Freedom House deviated from the classical methodology adopted by the organization. "I admit that international structures can be to some extent biased, but not to the same degree, thereby completely devaluing the report," the Armenian Minister of Justice concluded.
On April 11, the human rights organization Freedom House published another report measuring the level of freedom in different countries of the "Transitional Countries 2018", in which she called Armenia a country "moving in a negative direction" towards authoritarianism. Thus, according to the report, Armenia regressed on the indicators of democracy and corruption "because of the deepening of systemic corruption as a result of the concentration of the executive, legislative and judicial authorities in the hands of the ruling Republican Party and the government's unwillingness to eradicate high-level abuses." Unlike previous reports, this time the possible extension of Serzh Sargsyan's management deserved special attention. For example, Armenia is one of the countries where the main political figure manages either from behind the scenes or has unwritten authorities that significantly exceed the powers conferred upon him by law. Moreover, the organization states that for the ten-year presidency of Serzh Sargsyan the index of democratization of Armenia has decreased. Analyzing last year's events, the authoritative organization notes that Armenia has not made progress either in providing transparent elections, in the fields of justice, freedom of the press or human rights. The worst result was recorded in the spheres of democratic governance and electoral processes. According to the research, the stability and independence of the governance system in Armenia, the balance between the legislative and executive bodies has been decreasing since 2008. Over the past decade, from year to year, the evaluation of electoral processes and the process of formation of a multiparty system also declined. The most satisfactory situation is observed in the field of civil society, but here since 2008 the situation has not improved, but deteriorated. Freedom House is an independent non-governmental organization based in the United States, which for more than 75 years around the world has been fighting for human rights and democracy. The organization's ratings are highly trusted in the West. It is on the basis of these assessments, for example, that the American Millennium Challenge Corporation decides to provide financial assistance to countries that need it, while taking into account the commitment of these countries to the principles of democracy and the rule of law.