US DEPARTMENT OF STATE CONSIDERS KARABAKH "OCCUPIED"

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[03:37 pm] 18 September, 2007

"The Armenian (Apostolic) Church, which has formal legal status as
the national church, enjoys some privileges not available to other
religious groups", says the US Department of State’s International
Religious Freedom Report. According to the report, "the law places
some restrictions on the religious freedom of adherents of minority
religious groups, and there were some restrictions in practice. In
general, societal attitudes toward some minority religious groups
were ambivalent, and there were reports of societal discrimination
directed against members of these groups.

During the reporting period, the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Seventh-day
Adventists reported that low-level government officials denied
them the use of public space for religious gatherings. However, the
Jehovah’s Witnesses noted that, in general, they were free to assemble
without harassment by police or other government entities. Jehovah’s
Witnesses reported that judges sentenced them to longer prison terms
for evasion of alternative military service than in the past, although
the sentences were still within the range allowed by law".

The report says that "a customs issue pertaining to the Jehovah’s
Witnesses ability to obtain shipments of religious literature was
not resolved at the end of the reporting period On March 29, 2007,
customs officials in Yerevan reevaluated a shipment of religious
periodicals received by the Jehovah’s Witnesses at a significantly
higher rate than the group expected, making it financially difficult
for them to arrange clearance of the shipment. Customs officials
maintained that the reevaluation complied with the customs code".

By the way at the end the report says: "The U.S. Government
discusses religious freedom issues with the Government as part of its
overall policy to promote human rights. During these discussions,
the U.S. Government emphasized to authorities that continued
eligibility for the $235 million (approximately 79 billion AMD)
Millennium Challenge Compact remained contingent upon the Government’s
performance in meeting good governance indicators, which include
standards of respect for religious freedom".

ABOUT KARABAKH IN THE UNIT ON AZERBAIJAN

The US State Department reflects on Karabakh in the unit referring
to Azerbaijan. Here it was mentioned that the Armenian Apoistolic
Church has a special status in Nagorno-Karabakh.

"In 1990s during the war with Armenia all ethnic Azerbaijanis
have fled, mainly Muslims, from Nagorno-Karabakh and occupied 7
territories and are unable to return", says the report . The US
Department of State uses "occupied" noting that "the occupied region
of Nagorno-Karabakh–a predominantly ethnic Armenian area over which
the Government of Azerbaijan had no control–officials reportedly
released jailed Baptist conscientious objector Gagik Mirzoyan and
transferred him to a military unit to complete the remainder of his
military service. Also in the occupied region of Nagorno-Karabakh,
Jehovah’s Witness and conscientious objector Areg Hovhanesyan remained
in jail after being sentenced in 2005 to 4 years in prison for evading
military service, a sentence he did not appeal".