Armenia: Restrictive Religious Laws

Although Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity as its official State religion in 301 AD, and despite the role the Armenian Apostolic Church has taken upon itself in terms of shaping national identity, it had not been known for restricting other faiths as much as other post-Soviet republics. Indeed, allowing other religious groups such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons to operate in a virtually mono-ethnic country was one of the obligations Armenia took upon itself when it joined the Council of Europe.

However, with the power of the Orthodox Church alarming many in neighboring Georgia, there are concerns that attitudes towards religion might change, and specifically with the introduction of three new laws on religion in Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh which will restrict the activities of any group other than the Armenian Apostolic Church. Ringing even more alarm bells about religious freedom in the region, Forum 18 reports that the legislation was drawn up without consulting international monitoring bodies.

If two draft Laws which began passage through Armenia’s Parliament on 5 February are adopted, spreading one’s faith would be banned, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. Those who organise campaigns to spread their faith would face up to two years’ imprisonment, while those who engage in spreading their faith would face up to one year’s imprisonment or a fine of more than eight years’ minimum wages. Gaining legal status would require 1,000 adult members, while Christian communities which do not accept the doctrine of the Trinity would be barred from registering. “These proposed Laws contain violations of all human rights.” Russian Orthodox priest Fr David Abrahamyan told Forum 18. Religious affairs official Vardan Astsatryan told Forum 18 the government backs the draft Laws “in general”. He declined to explain why the government has not involved the OSCE in preparation of the draft Laws.

Armen Ashotyan, an MP from the governing Republican party responsible for the legislation, is already no stranger to controversy with one blogger expressing alarm at his plans to build a church in close proximity to the Armenian National Assembly in order to “bring the Armenian Apostolic Church closer to the official representative body.” What makes the situation even worse is the lack of tolerance which already defines much of society.

[…] it is not religion itself–religious doctrine, beliefs, or practice–that affects political outcomes. Rather, it is how different groups in transitioning countries use religion to gain power and influence outcomes. I argue that there is nothing peculiar to Eastern Christianity that requires that it oppose democracy. Rather, it is the confluence of Eastern Christian religious organizations with nationalist sentiments and movements that has made them at different times supporters of liberalization and opponents of it. […]

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Stiopa Safarian, policy analyst at the Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS) described the religious situation in Armenia as part of a bigger problem of not recognizing the rights of minorities in the country. But this attitude does not characterize the Armenians alone. A comparative study of public opinion polls taken in Baku, Tbilisi and Yerevan in 2004 found that people in the Caucasus are intolerant of other ethnic groups and have a limited understanding of the role of democracy in resolving conflicts.

[…]

Some claimed that the typical Armenian understands human rights to contain western, anti-national, and anti-traditional ideas such as the protection of the rights of homosexuals and other ideas that serve to erode Armenian culture. […]

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