Jehovah's Witnesses in Armenia

January 1, 2003, to December 31, 2003

Background: When Armenia joined the Council of Europe on January 17, 2001, it acknowledged its obligation to "ensure that all churches, in particular those referred to as non-traditional, may practice their religion without discrimination." All the attempts of Jehovah's Witnesses to secure registration since 1991 have been officially ignored or denied. Since registration is required according to Armenia's law "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations," the continuing denial of registration and current delay tactics effectively place the 8,000 citizens of Armenia who are Jehovah's Witnesses outside the law. For over ten years now, Jehovah's Witnesses have been without the ability to exercise their constitutional rights to print or import literature or to hold conventions, among other things.

Legal Registration

• On August 18, 2003, Jehovah's Witnesses sent a request by certified mail to the Government Apparatus for the required expert opinion, enclosing supporting documentation. Acquiring an expert opinion from the Government Apparatus is a necessary preliminary step before applying for registration with the State Registry.
• On August 29, 2003, the Government Apparatus responded to Jehovah's Witnesses, rejecting their application. In their official letter, they stated: "It is necessary to present documents that show the following as specified in Article 5 of the RA Law of Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations: b) based on any historically canonized book; c) affiliated with a modern-day worldwide religious community; d) free of materialism and deeply spiritual; e) made up of over 200 believing members." This is the third time that Jehovah's Witnesses have applied to the Government Apparatus for an expert opinion only to be rejected for alleged inadequate documentation.
• On November 7, 2003, Jehovah's Witnesses directly applied to the State Registry for registration, stating that the Government Apparatus refused to consider their requests for an expert opinion, in spite of extensive supporting documentation.
• On December 1, 2003, the local OSCE office in Yerevan mediated an informal meeting between representatives of the Armenian Department for Expert Studies of the Government Apparatus, Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Council of Europe, several local human rights organizations, and Jehovah's Witnesses regarding the problem of registering Jehovah's Witnesses. The governmental officials promised to explain their requirements in further meetings with representatives of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Employment Discrimination

• On February 20, 2003, Zemfira Voskanyan, who is one of Jehovah's Witnesses, was dismissed from her position as chief financial officer at the Stepanavan Police Department. She had worked there for 18 years and at the time was on vacation. On February 26, 2003, the day after she learned of her dismissal, she filed a suit for reinstatement with the Court of First Instance of Lory Region.

  Having reviewed her personnel file and spoken with the responsible officer, it was clear that she was dismissed entirely because of her religion. Among the legal grounds cited in writing was a decree issued by the Minister of the Interior (Ministerial Order No. 551-A of December 3, 2002), which prohibits members of "sects" from working for the Police Department. Other documents in the personnel file include an MNS (former KGB) investigation of her religious activities and approval for the dismissal from the central ministry level.

  The purely discriminatory nature of Voskanyan's dismissal was highlighted during the testimony of Chief Budaghyan of the Personnel Department on April 9, 2003. Budaghyan admitted in open court that the only thing ‘disqualifying' Voskanyan from work at the Police Department is that she ‘is a member of a religious sectarian organization.' He also admitted that there were no complaints against her work, she does not use work time to preach to co-workers, and that the problem is that she "systematically attends sectarian gatherings."

  On April 22, 2003, at the court hearing in Vanadzor, the representative for the Lory Region Police Department, Arshaluis Budaghyan, produced a new order unilaterally revoking Voskanyan's earlier dismissal and reinstating her at her job with back pay (the order does not comment on the discriminatory Order No. 551-A; it only cites a technical error). Judge Harutyunyan immediately terminated the proceedings on his own initiative, ruling that ‘the dispute no longer exists.' In a separate ruling issued simultaneously, he found that he had no jurisdiction to decide on the legality of Ministerial Order No. 551-A and recommended that Voskanyan file a separate action in Yerevan if she wished to dispute it.

Imprisonment of Conscientious Objectors

Armenia agreed to adopt, within three years of accession to the Council of Europe, a law on alternative military service and, in the meantime, to release all imprisoned conscientious objectors.

• As of December 31, 2003, there were 14 young men who are Jehovah's Witnesses in prison for their conscientious refusal of military service on religious grounds. Their sentences range from one to two years' imprisonment for violation of Article 327I of the Criminal Code, which deals with evasion of military recruitment. Ten other Witnesses have been arrested since October and are awaiting trial.

  Toward the end of 2002, the Prosecutor's Office began appealing trial court sentences of one year's imprisonment for conscientious objection, claiming that the sentences are too lenient and asking for harsher ones. On January 24, 2003, Armenia's Court of Cassation affirmed the appeal court decision that had increased the sentence for Vahan Bayatyan from 1½ to 2½ years in prison.

• The prosecutor had appealed the first decision regarding another Witness, Ambartsum Odabashyan. As a result, on April 1, 2003, Odabashyan's prison term was doubled, from 1½ to 3 years (the maximum term for this "crime" of conscientious objection).