TOTALITARIAN SECTS TAKING ROOT, NUMBER OF SUICIDES IN ARMENIA
INCREASED 10 TIMES DURING LAST TEN YEARS

YEREVAN, MAY 25. ARMINFO. Number of totalitarian sects and their
followers in Armenia increases year by year, which resulted in 10
times increase in the number of suicides for the last ten years, Head
of the Center for Rehabilitation of the sufferers from destructive
cults Alexander Amaryan informs ARMINFO.

Amaryan says that such popular totalitarian sects and New Generation,
Boston direction of Christ Church, Vedi Center Maharishi (transcendent
meditation), Federation of Families for Peace and Unity in the World
(sect Muna), Survival (or Dianetic or scientologists) are operating in
Armenia, Satanists have also occurred here. By the way, Vedi Center
Maharishi operates in Armenia as an educational fund, Munists and
Scientologists and some other sects are registered as public
organizations. Amaryan considers the sect Jehovah’s Witnesses
registered in Armenia last year as a totalitarian sect. The followers
of this sect refuse from military service, and the Armenian branch of
the sect bans blood transfusion, in spite of the fact that the sect in
the USA has revised the approach to this issue. v Starting from 2003
when the above Center for Rehabilitation was founded, dozens of people
have applied there, however only few of them could fully rehabilitate,
as the rehabilitation process requires some 2-8 years, Amaryan
says. “We deal with amputated souls as the victims of totalitarians
sects fully lose contacts with their relatives, surroundings and
public,” he says, adding that no specialists, lawyers or journalists
specializing in the sphere are trained in the sphere.

Lawyer Alexander Amaryan called the country’s authorities to pay much
attention to the list of totalitarian sects drafted by the Council of
Europe on the basis of examination and fulfill recommendations of
Brussels regarding the propaganda in Mass Media for exposure of these
organizations and legal protection of the sufferers. The only case of
legal proceedings of a totalitarian sect in Armenia, a trial on
Satanists, was, unfortunately, a result of a ritual murder, Amaryan
says. Amaryan says for conclusion.

It should be noted that in the first quarter of 2005, 93 cases of
suicides and attempted suicides were registered in Armenia instead of
87 for the same period of 2004. During the whole 2004, 55 cases
suicides were registered.