They fear that proposed amendments to religious legislation could makes things worse.<\/p>\n
By Gita Elibekian and Seda Muradian in Yerevan (CRS No. 480, 13-Feb-09)<\/p>\n
Armenian Jehovah\u2019s Witness Margarita Hovhannisian said she has not seen her son since he was taken away from her by her husband a year ago.<\/p>\n
Two legal appeals have failed, and she is beginning to suspect the legal system is biased against her because of her faith.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy husband kidnapped our child, justifying this by saying he did not want to leave him with a mother who was a Jehovah\u2019s Witness,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
While Armenia technically guarantees freedom of worship to all faiths, Hovhannisian says that this is not her experience.<\/p>\n
She cited a court document issued to her, which she claims effectively states that it would not be in the child\u2019s interests to be returned to his mother.<\/p>\n
Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses, who are a tiny minority in Armenia, say they are facing increasing prejudice as a result of their beliefs.<\/p>\n
The group, which emerged from a 19th century American Bible study group and now claims seven million members worldwide, is controversial for its members\u2019 refusal to serve in armies or to undergo blood transfusions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Armenia, the negative approach towards the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses is becoming ever more intolerable, especially since 2004, when the organisation granted us permission to operate here,\u201d said Tigran Harutiunian, spokesperson for the faith.<\/p>\n
But things may about to become harder for his co-religionists in Armenia, where most people belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church \u2013 an ancient form of Christianity that dates back to 301 AD.<\/p>\n
Amendments to the country\u2019s laws on religious freedom currently before parliament would restrict faiths\u2019 rights to evangelise \u2013 or to \u201chunt for souls\u201d as the officials behind the proposals put it.<\/p>\n
Armen Ashotian, chairman of the parliamentary commission on science, education, culture, youth and sport, who presented the draft changes to parliament on February 5, explained the terminology used.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe tried to create a definition of the hunt for souls and came up with the following \u2013 in means preaching among a religious population or among people who do not belong to any religious confession, when this is conducted with material incentives, or with the use of physical, moral, psychological or material compulsion, and creating distrust or hate of other religious organisations and their followers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The co-authors of the amendments have also suggested changing the minimum number of members that a faith can have before it gains registration from 200 to 1,000 members, which could cause problems for small groups.<\/p>\n
If the proposals are passed into law, faiths would have three months to re-register.<\/p>\n
Proselytising Christian groups of western origin began operating openly in Armenia and other states in the more liberal atmosphere created after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.<\/p>\n
Many Armenians dislike having their doorbells rung on a regular basis by small religious groups seeking to convert them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always slam the door on these sect members,\u201d said Hasmik Qosian, a resident of Yerevan.<\/p>\n
Vardan Asatrian, the head of the office for national minorities and religions in the government office, said this was a commonly-held opinion.<\/p>\n
He said people were tired of being approached in this way, and argued that a law which restricts proselytising was long overdue.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat there aren\u2019t specific laws controlling this\u2026 is an omission. This situation has been neglected, and it seems we spend more time protecting the rights of religious minorities than those of the majority,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to create equality.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses say they do not force people to join their organisation or pester them with demands,<\/p>\n
Religious minorities report that discrimination comes from official sources in the country and is a constant blight on their lives.<\/p>\n
Hasmik Mkhitarian, who is trained as an English teacher, said she cannot get a job in her home town of Vanadzor because she is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter-Day Saints, also known as the Mormons.<\/p>\n
\u201cI studied our faith for a year and a half in London, and noted that in my CV. The problem is that when people read that, they don\u2019t even invite me to an interview,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I ask what\u2019s wrong, they directly tell me that I belong to a sect, and that people like me should not be teaching in schools.\u201d<\/p>\n
She blamed the Armenian Apostolic Church for discouraging any alternative forms of worship.<\/p>\n
Shmavon Ghevondian, a cleric from the Armenian church, told IWPR that any religious group that did not follow its canons counted as a \u201csect\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cReligion is dividing the nation, and if ethnic differences are added to this, then we have a far from attractive future for our three-million strong nation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said he thought the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses were the most dangerous of the religious groups to appear in post-Soviet Armenia. He added that he thought religious freedom in the country was unnecessary and had been introduced solely to obey the rules of European institutions.<\/p>\n
Armenia has had to adopt certain laws to satisfy the Council of Europe, a continent-wide body that insists that its member states respect human rights.<\/p>\n
This legislation included a measure under which conscientious objectors are allowed to avoid military service and undergo alternative forms of service instead.<\/p>\n
The council\u2019s criteria state that genuine alternative civilian service which is not under the control, auspices, or supervision of the military must be provided to conscientious objectors.<\/p>\n
But Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses in Armenia say that even with new legislation in place, they still have to serve in a militarised atmosphere, obey military orders and work under the military police.<\/p>\n
Hayk Khachatrian, in his mid twenties, refused to serve in such a climate and, as a result, received a two-year jail sentence in 2005.<\/p>\n
Eight-seven other Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses are in Armenian prisons for their refusal to do alternative service.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow can I follow our precepts if my brothers in faith and I \u2013 Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses in Azerbaijan \u2013 start to shoot at each other?\u201d asked Hayk.<\/p>\n
Human rights activists say Armenia has not tried hard enough to accommodate the wishes of the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses, despite pressure from the Council of Europe.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey all refuse to do alternative service because of its great similarity to military service,\u201d said Avetiq Ishkhanian, chairman of the Helsinki Committee of Armenia.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn its resolution 1532 adopted on January 23, 2007, the Council of Europe called on the Armenian authorities to re-examine the law on alternative service, but this has not happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet even if legal changes are made to accommodate the beliefs of Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses, they are still likely to face widespread prejudice.<\/p>\n
Hovhannisian\u2019s husband Arthur Torosian said he will not allow her access to her child as long as she follows this faith.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe went completely mad after she joined this sect. She took him all the time to these meetings; she even held his birthday party there. My son told me these things,\u201d he told IWPR.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou cannot bring up a child in endless meetings which will turn him into a Jehovah\u2019s Witness. I will bring him up myself, and when he grows up he can decide for himself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gita Elibekian is a correspondent for Armenia\u2019s RadioLur social radio. Seda Muradian is IWPR\u2019s Armenia director.<\/p>\n
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