Epress.am News from Armenia
In 2014, Government actions affecting minority religious groups in Armenia included pressuring new military conscripts to undergo baptism together into the Armenian Apostolic faith, discrimination in the army on religious grounds, obstacles to obtaining places of worship, and discrimination against religious minorities in the school system and in public sector employment, the U.S. Department of State said in the 2014 International Religious Freedom Report released on Thursday, October 15.
“Religious groups reported that in several cases the Armenian Apostolic Church pressured military conscripts to undergo baptism together into the Armenian Apostolic faith. According to observers, in some cases new conscripts were reluctant to refuse to be baptized out of fear of being isolated and singled out. In other cases, army chaplains of the Armenian Apostolic Church and some, but not all, commanders were reportedly inquiring about the religious affiliation of conscripts and putting pressure on adherents of religions other than the Armenian Apostolic Church and on atheists to pray with Armenian Apostolic Church chaplains and attend religion classes. The government reportedly did not allow chaplains from other religious groups to visit the army,” the report reads.
Referring to the “Scientific-Practical Conference on Destructive Sects and Vicious Street Habits as Threats to Defense Capacity” hosted on April 26 by the Armenian Defense Ministry, the authors stress that in his opening remarks, Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan said for the protection of Armenia it was important that everyone believe in the same values, including in the Armenian Apostolic Church. In his concluding remarks, the minister thanked the participants for joining the struggle against “destructive sects.”
Throughout the year, as stated in the report, multiple religious groups in Armenia reported difficulties with renting space for gatherings and building places of worship. According to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, representatives from local governments obstructed the group’s attempts to obtain approvals of the required architectural planning studies and building and occupancy permits for land they owned.
Citing local human rights observers, the report points out that the presence of the Armenian Apostolic Church in public education continued to grow throughout the year: “The nongovernmental organization (NGO) Collaboration for Democracy was denied permission to observe pilot classes of a new course on the ‘History of the Armenian Church/Christian Education’ developed for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders by the National Institute of Education of the Ministry of Education and Science and beginning in the 2012-2013 academic year. According to a ministry official, the pilot course was an ‘ethics class with spiritual direction’.”
Local observers, however, viewed the course as a religious instruction class with subjects including, but not limited to, the divine creation of the world, study of the Bible, the teachings of Jesus, and prayers.
The authors found it noteworthy that while addressing the National Assembly on May 21, Armenian Minister of Education Armen Ashotyan said the government had no intention of following the 2013 recommendation by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to revise school curricula to reflect freedom of religion and eliminate the compulsory “History of the Armenian Church” course. The government, Ashotyan added, planned to begin new programs to strengthen the “patriotic upbringing component in the education system” and that 3,000 students in elementary classes had already taken the new Christian education course.
Commenting on the local mass media’s approach to minority religious groups, the authors say that in 2014 many outlets continued to label them as “sects” and broadcast discussions and news stories in which members of the Armenian Apostolic Church clergy characterized minority religious groups as “enemies of the state.”
“Some media outlets continued to publish articles portraying religious minorities as criminals and spies. Most such statements did not specify a particular religious group. Most religious groups, however, reported the situation had improved in comparison with previous years, with journalists portraying their activities more accurately and objectively.”
Read the report in its entirety here.