Thursday, June 27 2024 12:12

ArmInfo. The constitution states that everyone has freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. It recognizes the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) as the national church and preserver of national identity but also establishes separation of religious organizations and the state.

The law prohibits but does not define proselytism, which may be  interpreted as forced conversion. It prohibits "obstruction of the  right to exercise freedom of religion" as well as hate speech or  inciting violence against an individual or group based on religion;  punishments include fines, community service, and imprisonment, reads  the U.S. Department of State's Report on International Religious  Freedom. 

Despite suspending the trial of Yezidi human rights activist Sashik  Sultanyan in 2022, the government continued to press charges of  "inciting enmity" against him and his arrest warrant remained active.  In October, a Yerevan court sentenced a Baptist, Davit Nazaretyan, to  two years in prison for avoiding military or alternative service or  conscription, despite his repeated requests for alternative civilian  service; the court said he failed to prove military service  conflicted with his religious beliefs. The government investigator in  the case asked the Theology Faculty of Yerevan State University to  review Nazaretyan's religious beliefs, a step that one human rights  defender criticized because the Theology Faculty "is mostly of the  Armenian Apostolic Church" and, therefore not impartial, she said.

On April 11, responding to the ombudsperson's 2022 case disputing the  constitutionality of the prohibition against National Security  Service (NSS) employees being members of religious groups as well as  the constitutionality of the absolute ban on military personnel  establishing religious organizations, the Constitutional Court ruled  those prohibitions to be in accordance with the constitution.

During the 2023 school year, authorities began to gradually remove  the course on the history of the AAC from the mandatory school  curriculum, instead incorporating the relevant historical content in  the broader curriculum on Armenian studies. This was despite the  AAC's objections. Representatives of the Yezidi community welcomed  the removal of the course, as they said Yezidi children were  indoctrinated into the AAC when the course was mandatory. Government  and AAC officials, including AAC leader Catholicos Karekin II and  Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, made public statements critical of  each other concerning the government's handling of the  Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the AAC's involvement in politics.

In October and November, unknown individuals vandalized the only  Jewish synagogue in Yerevan; at year's end, the government continued  to investigate possible foreign involvement in the incidents.   Jehovah's Witnesses reported several instances of verbal and physical  abuse and attacks on public stands displaying their religious  materials. 

On November 9, the Norway-based human rights NGO Forum 18 reported  that on October 25, Yerevan trial court judge Gagik Poghosyan  sentenced Davit Nazaretyan, a member of an unregistered Council of  Churches Baptist congregation in Arinj, to two years in prison for  avoiding military or alternative service or conscription, despite his  repeated requests for alternative civilian service.  According to  Forum 18, on January 23, the Alternative Service Commission rejected  Nazaretyan's appeal for alternative civilian service because "the  applicant failed to prove that his duty to perform mandatory military  service is in serious conflict with his conscience or deep and real  religious belief or other beliefs." Forum 18 said the government  investigator in Nazaretyan's case, Arsen Topchyan, asked the Theology  Faculty of Yerevan State University, led by AAC Bishop Anushavan  Jamkochyan, to review Nazaretyan's religious beliefs, a step the  local human rights nongovernmental organization Eurasia Partnership  Foundation (EPF) in Yerevan criticized because the theology taught by  the Theology Faculty "is mostly of the Armenian Apostolic Church.  Obviously, it can't be impartial." On April 17, the Theology Faculty  concluded the case materials on Nazaretyan's religious affiliation  were "contradictory." Despite admitting that Nazeretyan regularly  attended a Baptist church with his family, the Theological Faculty  stated, "We conclude from all this that Nazaretyan's religious  worldview is either not clearly formed, or he himself does not  clearly know what religious affiliation he has..The creed of the  Baptist Church and the analysis of the presented case materials allow  us to state that Nazaretyan's freedom of thought, conscience and  religion would not be restricted by military service." According to  the pastor of Nazaretyan's Baptist congregation, however, the Church  took the position that whether to serve in the military was "a  personal decision for each Church member based on their conscience."  At year's end, Nazaretyan remained at liberty pending his appeal.

According to religious experts, while mainstream media was mostly  neutral or less discriminatory towards religious organizations during  the year, social media and tabloid press continued to publish pieces  that religious groups described as hate speech. According to some  Jewish community representatives, antisemitic conspiracy theories  spread among domestic fringe groups as well as online in connection  with Azerbaijan's September 19-20 military operation in  Nagorno-Karabakh, during which Azerbaijan used Israeli weapons. Some  AAC clergy members reportedly continued to distribute social media  videos and gave interviews in which they called religious minority  groups "sects" (i.e., cults) and described them as national security  threats. According to one targeted evangelical group, while these  actions reflected the attitudes of individual clergy members and not  the AAC as an institution, the ongoing occurrence of such social  media posts and interviews indicated that AAC leadership was turning  a blind eye to those actions. Anonymous social media users continued  to vilify the evangelical Word of Life Church online.

The U.S. Ambassador and other embassy officials continued to promote  religious tolerance, respect for religious minorities, and interfaith  dialogue during meetings with government officials, including from  the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ambassador and other embassy  officials regularly met with the AAC and minority religious groups to  discuss the state of religious freedom in the country. In March, the  Ambassador met with AAC Catholicos Karekin II to discuss the  preservation of religious and cultural sites in Nagorno-Karabakh.  Embassy officials continued to discuss with civil society  representatives the impact of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on  religious groups and religious sites of significance to Armenian  communities and engaged with Yerevan's Jewish community leaders about  the impact of attacks on the Mordachay Navi Synagogue on the  community.

During the year, AAC officials continued to participate in civic  discourse without restrictions.  According to media reports, the  relationship between the government and the AAC continued to be  "confrontational" and marked by negative public rhetoric on both  sides. Church officials made statements in the media that reflected  AAC discontent over the government's handling of the Nagorno-  Karabakh conflict, as well as the government's decision to remove the  AAC history course from public schools. Catholicos Karekin II  continued to call for Prime Minister Pashinyan's resignation.  According to media reports, on May 19, Pashinyan said, "Nothing  prevents [the AAC] from creating a party and carrying out political  activities within the framework of that party, which will be more  honest, and they will be on the same level both before the voters and  with other political competitors. But the church cannot be higher  than the state." Following Azerbaijan's military operation in  Nagorno-Karabakh on September 19-20 and the exodus of nearly all  ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, the Episcopal Council of the  AAC issued a statement on October 3 criticizing the Armenian  government's handling of the situation.

During the 2023 school year, authorities began to gradually remove  the course on the history of the AAC from the mandatory school  curriculum, instead incorporating the relevant historical content in  the broader curriculum on Armenian studies. This was despite the  AAC's objections. Representatives of the Yezidi community welcomed  the removal of the course, as they said Yezidi children were  indoctrinated into the AAC when the course was mandatory. Government  and AAC officials, including AAC leader Catholicos Karekin II and  Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, made public statements critical of  each other concerning the government's handling of the  Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the AAC's involvement in politics.

For details follow link: 

https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-report-on-international-religious-  freedom/armenia/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3kigAWQ6kyaj2LEKWhlKczIhiI76lsNDFZ MWKw5nrDUSsW2leZG0hdZs4_aem_vsGsd_ha-vh2ycHrdmru5w