AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE
AI Index: EUR 54/000/2007 (Public)
News Service No: ?
20 December 2007
Embargo Date: 20 December 2007 00:01 GMT
Armenia: There can be no exemptions to the right to freedom of
conscience and religion
Not Published
People in Armenia are beaten and imprisoned because of their beliefs.
Members of the religious organization Jehovah’s Witnesses are
increasingly becoming victms of the violation of their rights to
freedom of conscience, Amnesty International said in a report
published today.
Amnesty International’s report, Armenia: Fear of the freedom of
conscience and religion: violations of the rights of Jehovah’s
Witnesses, outlines the organization’s concerns regarding the
discrimination against Jehovah’s Witnesses, of whom there are an
estimated 9,000 in the country. Central to these concerns are the
issues of conscientious objection and reports of impunity relating to
physical assaults on Jehovah’s Witnesses.
As a Council of Europe member Armenia has undertaken the obligation
to provide a genuinely civilian alternative to compulsory military
service for those whose beliefs do not allow them to take up arms.
However, Armenia’s alternative service appears to still be under the
control of the military, making it incompatible with the pacifist
convictions of Jehovah’s Witnesses and others. As of 26 September
2007 there were 82 Jehovah’s Witnesses imprisoned as conscientious
objectors in Armenia.
"Young male Jehovah’s Witnesses continue to be imprisoned in ever
larger numbers and for longer periods because their beliefs prohibit
them from performing military service. Since there is no genuinely
civilian alternative service in Armenia at present, Amnesty
International considers them prisoners of conscience and calls for
their immediate and unconditional release," said Laurence Broers,
Amnesty International’s researcher on Armenia.
"All those wrongly imprisoned must receive adequate compensation and
the Armenian authorities must ensure they suffer no further human
rights violations through the denial of documentation necessary for
them to enjoy full rights as civilians – including the securing
passports and visas, entry into public sector employment or
marriage."
As the Jehovah’s Witnesses have increased their activities after
registration as a religious organization in 2004 hostility against
them has also seemingly increased, taking the form of physical
assaults. Amnesty International is concerned that the reported
failure of the police to investigate and, where appropriate,
prosecute physical assaults sends the signal that assaults and wider
discrimination are permissible.
"There is a pattern of physical assaults on Jehovah’s Witnesses,
including by representatives of the Armenian Apostolic Church. We are
concerned that the Armenian authorities are failing to consider that
Jehovah’s Witnesses are being specifically targeted and therefore
discriminated against. Acknowledging the discriminatory aspect to
these assaults is a necessary step toward countering discrimination
and impunity," said Laurence Broers.
Amnesty International urges the Armenian authorities to:
– introduce a genuinely civilian and non-punitive alternative to
compulsory military service;
– ensure through the investigation of prosecution of physical attacks
that there is no impunity with regard to physical assaults against
Jehovah’s Witnesses;
– ensure that the Jehovah’s Witnesses and other registered religious
groups can exercise their rights without discrimination or hindrance.
Background
Jehovah’s Witnesses have been active in Armenia since 1975. They
first requested legal registration as a religious organization in
1995 and after some 15 rejections, they were finally registered in
2004.
Aspects of the organization’s activities in Armenia have become a
source of friction with the Armenian Apostolic Church, the leading
religious denomination in the country. Some 90 per cent of the
population are members, at least formally, of the Armenian Apostolic
Church.
The Constitution as amended by referendum in 2005 recognizes `the
exclusive historical mission of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church as
a national church…’, while the 1991 Law on Freedom of Conscience
and Religious Organizations grants the Armenian Apostolic Church
official status as the national church. Human rights activists have
expressed concern that other religious denominations do not enjoy the
same rights and privileges as the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Public Document
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For more information please call Amnesty International’s press office
in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566
Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW. web:
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
