Central Asian and Southern Caucasus Freedom of Expression Network
(CASCFEN), Azerbaijan
Jan 11 2005

Jewish community reports incidents of verbal harassment

ArmInfo, Yerevan, 11.01.2005 — The Jewish community reported several
incidents of verbal harassment during the reporting period [2004].
The director of ALM TV frequently made anti-Semitic remarks on the
air, and the Union of Armenian Aryans, a small, ultranationalist
group, called for the country to be ‘purified’ of Jews and Yezidis.

On September 17, offices of the Jewish community in Yerevan received
a message that vandals had damaged the local memorial to the victims
of the Holocaust. Several photographs of the memorial were taken and
the vandalism was immediately reported to the local police, the
Ministry of Religious Affairs, and the government-owned television
channel. A television crew arrived at the site together with an
official from the Jewish community in Yerevan and to their surprise
discovered that the memorial had been wiped clean, apparently by the
park guard.

In May, Jewish groups complained to several government authorities
about the distribution and importation of hate literature. Each
government agency they contacted responded that the literature was in
apparent violation of the “Law on Distributing Literature Inflaming
National Hatred” and suggested they press formal charges with the
Prosecutor General’s office. Jewish leaders have not yet decided
whether to press charges.