IS FREEDOM OF RELIGION TO BE RESTRICTED?

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
22 July 05

On July 16 a round-table meeting on religious minorities was held at
Masrop Mashtots University in Stepanakert. The meeting was organized
by the Civic Action Centre NGO with the support of Mesrop Mashtots
University. The representatives of all the religious minorities of
Karabakh participated in the round-table meeting except the
Jehovah’s Witnesses who refused to be present at the debate
because their belief prohibits participating in similar meetings.
Besides, there were also representatives of the government, the
Armenian Apostolic Church, the mass media, NGOs. Recently this topic
has been often touched upon in AA. Seven Day Adventists, Evangelists,
Jehovah’s Witnesses, Baptists… We have already got used to
these words. Under the Soviet rule the sects and religious
communities were illegal, whereas now the attitude of the society
towards minorities, including the religious ones, has definitely
changed, although it cannot be characterized as absolutely positive.
Since the beginning of the Movement the Artsakh Diocese was
established in Karabakh by the Armenian Apostolic Church, and people
sought for spiritual freedom, turning their faces to God. At the same
time religious sects began to appear in Karabakh. In 1991 the
Declaration of National Independence of NKR was adopted, and on March
16, 1997 the Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations
was passed. Both documents provide for freedom of conscience and
religion of the citizens of our republic. However, the dogmas of
certain religious sects prohibit arms and military service, and it is
not surprising that the aspiration of these religious sects to
operate in Karabakh was perceived as an attempt to divide the society
which had united against the external danger. Therefore many of these
preferred to operate illegally. Starting from this the Committee for
National Defence then made a decision prohibiting the operation of
not registered religious organizations. In the past tens years much
has changed in the world and in our republic. The recognized states
of the region (Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan), entering the Council of
Europe, committed to register the abovementioned and other religious
organizations whose belief is different from the Orthodox. In this
context the states commit to tolerance, and particularly introduce
alternative military service for the believers who do not believe in
military service for some reason or another. In his address the
director of the Civic Action Centre Albert Voskanian said, “… it
is not our aim to find out which religious branch is “right” or
“wrong”. The aim of the round-table meeting is to discover the
attitude of our society towards religious minorities. It is not
accidental that we discuss this topic, because one of the directions
in the activity of the Civic Action Centre is promotion of civil
society and democracy, integration in the European community.” The
religious organizations operating in NKR are: the Artsakh Diocese of
the Armenian Apostolic Church; Jehovah’s Witnesses, appeared in
NKR in 1993, counts 200 members; Christian Evangelists, operates
since 1999, counts over 350 members; Evangelist Christian Baptists,
operates since 2000, has about 20 members; Evangelist Church, we
could not find out exact information; Seven Day Adventists, appeared
in Karabakh in 2000, counts about 40 members. As it could be
expected, a heated debate began between the participants. Their main
problem turned out to be their registration as a religious
organization, caused by intolerance towards religious minorities in
Karabakh. In answer to the question whether they feel pressure on
behalf of the authorities or the society was “no”. “The creation of
the institution of alternative military service in NK is one of the
essential issues raised by the Civic Action Centre,” said Mr.
Voskanian, adding that there have already been three cases when
Jehovah’s Witnesses refused to serve in the army and were taken
to court. Areg Avanessian, born 1986, Stepanakert, was sentenced to 4
years of imprisonment (punishment of 4-8 years) under art. 327, sec.
3 of the NKR Criminal Code (Avoidance of Military Service at Martial
Law) in February 2005; Armen Grigorian born 1986, Yerevan, sentenced
to 2 years of imprisonment of minimum security under the art. 362,
sec. 1 of the NKR Criminal Code (Desertion) and art. 364, sec. 1
(Desertion of Duties during the Military Service) in June 2005; NKR
Defence Army serviceman Gagik Mirzoyan, citizen of NKR, in July 2005
was sentenced by HAdrut district court to 2 years of imprisonment
under the art. 364, sec. 1 (Desertion of Duties during the Military
Service) and one year’s probation under art. 70 of the NKR
Criminal Code. During the discussion of this issue diverse opinions
were expressed but the participants agreed to one point: it is early
to consider alternative military service unless the issue of Nagorno
Karabakh is settled. The director of the Civic Action Centre,
however, objected to this, saying, “as we are building a democratic
state, follow the democratic principles, as our country has abolished
capital punishment by its own will, it is high time for the issue of
the alternative military service to be considered.” In support to
this he added, “The government daily spends 739 drams on each
prisoner, on a yearly basis it mounts to an immense sum. Wouldn’t
it be much better if we introduced alternative military service like
Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan did, which means that instead of
serving in the army the conscript, follower of Jehovah’s
Witnesses could work for the national economy without remuneration
and for a longer term than the 2 two years of military service.”
During the meeting the representative of the Armenian Apostolic
Church was asked why in many villages people have not seen a priest
for years on. Father Hakob said because there are very few priests,
and if a person wants to pray God, they can go to the nearby church.
“It is the patient who goes to doctor, and not the doctor to the
patient,” added Father Hakob. It is commendable that there are places
for praying in all the divisions of the NKR Defence Army. Summing up
the round-table meeting, Albert Voskanian said, “I think we achieved
our aim to bring together the representatives of different religious
organizations, listen to their points of view on this or that
question, listen to the opinion of the Armenian Apostolic Church.”

EVIKA BABAYAN.
22-07-2005