PRESS RELEASE
Jehovah’s Witnesses
Office of Public Information
25 Columbia Heights
Brooklyn NY 11201
Contact: David Semonian
Tel: 718-560-5600
Fax: 718-560-5619
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
November 14, 2006
Armenia acquits 19 conscientious objectors, but issue remains unresolved
YEREVAN, Armenia-Nineteen conscientious objectors who left alternative
labor service have been informed by the Armenian Prosecutor General’s
Office that they have been acquitted and that the criminal proceedings
against them have been terminated. The ruling opens the way for them
to apply for compensation for their illegal prosecution and
imprisonment.
Although the government of Armenia has organized nonmilitary work
assignments, they are under military control and supervision. Thus the
law providing for alternative labor service, as well as its
implementation, fails to meet the criteria laid down by the Council of
Europe, which calls for genuine and nonpunitive civilian alternative
service. In a series of videotaped interviews posted on the Web site
, four young Jehovah’s Witnesses describe in their own
words why Armenia’s alternative service was not an acceptable option
for them.
In a separate development, on September 12, 2006, Hayk Avetisyan was
sentenced to two years in prison for his conscientious refusal of
military service or alternative labor service. On September 25, 2006,
Assistant Prosecutor A. Manukyan appealed the decision, asking for a
stricter sentence. The October 18, 2006, decision of the Court of
Appeal granted the prosecuter’s appeal and increased Avetisyan’s
sentence from 24 to 30 months in prison. Despite the progress implied
in the latest acquittals, Avetisyan is one of nearly 50 conscientious
objectors who are Jehovah’s Witnesses currently in prison for their
conscientious refusal of military service. From their study of the
Bible, they learned that Christ’s followers should love their
neighbors and that Christians are bound together in an international
brotherhood. (Matthew 22:39; Acts 15:22) As such, they do not resort
to weapons of warfare or learn war anymore.-Isaiah 2:4; Matthew
26:52.
Until Armenia complies with its commitments to the Council of Europe
to adopt genuine civilian alternative service and release
conscientious objectors from prison, the issue of conscientious
objection to military service remains unresolved.
Contacts
Paul Gillies Phone +44 7775 833880
David Semonian Phone +1 718 560 5600
