Will ECHR Ruling in Jehovah’s Witness’ Favor Oblige Armenia to Consider Non-Compulsory Military Service?

The European Court of Human Rights’ ruling on the case of Vahan Bayatyan, a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Armenia, in which ECHR has mandated Armenia to pay the plaintiff 20,000 euros, can lead to very interesting developments — at the level of various discussions in the very least, head of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor office Artur Sakunts told Epress.am, adding that this precedent will have a favorable effect on a few factors.

“The first is that it will have a certain impact on the Armenian judicial system and finally they will realize that you cannot imprison a man for freedom of conscience,” he said.

As a second factor, Sakunts noted that the Republic of Armenia will resurrect the “dead” law on the alternative to compulsory military service — it will become a law on alternative service that is actually enforced and not something simply written on paper.

“As well as the fact that it can become a precedent for the Republic of Armenia to begin to think about creating a non-compulsory, professional army. The experience of the Karabakh war at least showed that [large] numbers weren’t the guarantor of victory. You need to understand that what’s important in the issue of national security is not numbers, but professional military equipment and the professional military training,” he said.

The human rights activist, however, expressed concern that considering the ECHR’s ruling on the A1+ case, it’s possible that in this case too, the Republic of Armenia won’t fully comply and fulfill its obligations.

“Of course, there is this concern, but we have to do everything so that the European Court’s rulings are binding for Armenia,” he said.

As previously reported, on Jul. 7, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) concluded by an overwhelming majority (16 in favor, 1 against) that Armenia violated the right of freedom of conscience of Vahan Bayatyan, a Jehovah’s Witness in Armenia convicted and imprisoned for his conscientious objection to military service. The court ruled that the Republic of Armenia must pay Bayatyan 20,000 euros (10,000 for “non-pecuniary damage” and 10,000 for costs and expenses).