Armenian Religious News‏

"LEDRA PALACE" ARMENIAN CEMETERY SET FOR COMPLETION IN APRIL 2009
Gibrahayer e-magazine
9 February, 2009
Nicosia

In an announcement by the Secretariat of the Armenian Church of
Cyprus, the completion of the restoration of the Armenian cemetery
at "Ledra Palace" was announced. The press release of the Armenian
Church reads: "It is with great pleasure that we wish to inform our
community that the old Armenian Cemetery is to be completely restored
at a cost of about â~B¬300.000. The Government of the Republic of
Cyprus has generously undertaken to provide us with â~B¬153.000 for
this project and the target date for the completion of the works is
April - May 2009.

Work on the renovation of the chapel, the restoration of the outer
walls, the preservation of existing tombstones is already in progress
and provision is also being made for the cemetery to be supplied with
electricity and water. A monument will also be erected on the site
in memory of those buried there.

It is also planned to celebrate holy mass followed by a memorial
service in the chapel of the cemetery on the Sunday after Easter
every year.

To meet its financial obligations for the completion of this project,
the Armenian Church of Cyprus would welcome contributions from members
of our community and in particular those that have relatives buried
there.

We extend in advance our grateful thanks to all those who respond to
our call."

ARMENIAN RELIGIOUS MINORITIES COMPLAIN OF DISCRIMINATION
They fear that proposed amendments to religious legislation could makes things worse.
By Gita Elibekian and Seda Muradian in Yerevan

Armenian Jehovah's Witness Margarita Hovhannisian said she has not seen her son since he was

taken away from her by her husband a year ago.

Two legal appeals have failed, and she is beginning to suspect the legal system is biased against

her because of her faith.

"My husband kidnapped our child, justifying this by saying he did not want to leave him with a mother

who was a Jehovah's Witness," she said.

While Armenia technically guarantees freedom of worship to all faiths, Hovhannisian says that this

is not her experience.

She cited a court document issued to her, which she claims effectively states that it would not be in

the child's interests to be returned to his mother.

Jehovah's Witnesses, who are a tiny minority in Armenia, say they are facing increasing prejudice

as a result of their beliefs.

The group, which emerged from a 19th century American Bible study group and now claims seven

million members worldwide, is controversial for its members' refusal to serve in armies or to undergo

blood transfusions.

"In Armenia, the negative approach towards the Jehovah's Witnesses is becoming ever more

intolerable, especially since 2004, when the organisation granted us permission to operate here,"

said Tigran Harutiunian, spokesperson for the faith.

But things may about to become harder for his co-religionists in Armenia, where most people belong

to the Armenian Apostolic Church - an ancient form of Christianity that dates back to 301 AD.

Amendments to the country's laws on religious freedom currently before parliament would restrict

faiths' rights to evangelise - or to "hunt for souls" as the officials behind the proposals put it.

Armen Ashotian, chairman of the parliamentary commission on science, education, culture, youth

and sport, who presented the draft changes to parliament on February 5, explained the terminology

used.

"We tried to create a definition of the hunt for souls and came up with the following - in means

preaching among a religious population or among people who do not belong to any religious confession,

when this is conducted with material incentives, or with the use of physical, moral, psychological or

material compulsion, and creating distrust or hate of other religious organisations and their followers,"

he said.

The co-authors of the amendments have also suggested changing the minimum number of members

that a faith can have before it gains registration from 200 to 1,000 members, which could cause problems

for small groups.

If the proposals are passed into law, faiths would have three months to re-register.

Proselytising Christian groups of western origin began operating openly in Armenia and other states in

the more liberal atmosphere created after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Many Armenians dislike having their doorbells rung on a regular basis by small religious groups seeking

to convert them.

"I always slam the door on these sect members," said Hasmik Qosian, a resident of Yerevan.

Vardan Asatrian, the head of the office for national minorities and religions in the government office,

said this was a commonly-held opinion.

He said people were tired of being approached in this way, and argued that a law which restricts

proselytising was long overdue.

"That there aren't specific laws controlling this. is an omission. This situation has been neglected, and

it seems we spend more time protecting the rights of religious minorities than those of the majority,"

he

said.

"We need to create equality."

The Jehovah's Witnesses say they do not force people to join their organisation or pester them with

demands,

Religious minorities report that discrimination comes from official sources in the country and is a

constant blight on their lives.

Hasmik Mkhitarian, who is trained as an English teacher, said she cannot get a job in her home town

of Vanadzor because she is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter-Day Saints, also

known as the Mormons.

"I studied our faith for a year and a half in London, and noted that in my CV. The problem is that when

people read that, they don't even invite me to an interview," she said.

"When I ask what's wrong, they directly tell me that I belong to a sect, and that people like me should

not be teaching in schools."

She blamed the Armenian Apostolic Church for discouraging any alternative forms of worship.

Shmavon Ghevondian, a cleric from the Armenian church, told IWPR that any religious group that did

not follow its canons counted as a "sect".

"Religion is dividing the nation, and if ethnic differences are added to this, then we have a far from

attractive future for our three-million strong nation," he said.

He said he thought the Jehovah's Witnesses were the most dangerous of the religious groups to appear

in post-Soviet Armenia. He added that he thought religious freedom in the country was unnecessary and

had been introduced solely to obey the rules of European institutions.

Armenia has had to adopt certain laws to satisfy the Council of Europe, a continent-wide body that insists

that its member states respect human rights.

This legislation included a measure under which conscientious objectors are allowed to avoid military

service and undergo alternative forms of service instead.

The council's criteria state that genuine alternative civilian service which is not under the control, auspices,

or supervision of the military must be provided to conscientious objectors.

But Jehovah's Witnesses in Armenia say that even with new legislation in place, they still have to serve in

a militarised atmosphere, obey military orders and work under the military police.

Hayk Khachatrian, in his mid twenties, refused to serve in such a climate and, as a result, received a two-year

jail sentence in 2005.

Eight-seven other Jehovah's Witnesses are in Armenian prisons for their refusal to do alternative service.

"How can I follow our precepts if my brothers in faith and I - Jehovah's Witnesses in Azerbaijan - start to

shoot at each other?" asked Hayk.

Human rights activists say Armenia has not tried hard enough to accommodate the wishes of the Jehovah's

Witnesses, despite pressure from the Council of Europe.

"They all refuse to do alternative service because of its great similarity to military service," said Avetiq Ishkhanian,

chairman of the Helsinki Committee of Armenia.

"In its resolution 1532 adopted on January 23, 2007, the Council of Europe called on the Armenian authorities

to re-examine the law on alternative service, but this has not happened."

Yet even if legal changes are made to accommodate the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses, they are still likely to

face widespread prejudice.

Hovhannisian's husband Arthur Torosian said he will not allow her access to her child as long as she follows this

faith.

"She went completely mad after she joined this sect. She took him all the time to these meetings; she even held

his birthday party there. My son told me these things," he told IWPR.

"You cannot bring up a child in endless meetings which will turn him into a Jehovah's Witness. I will bring him up

myself, and when he grows up he can decide for himself."

Gita Elibekian is a correspondent for Armenia's RadioLur social radio. Seda Muradian is IWPR's Armenia director.


KARABAKH FAITHS DECRY STATE CONTROLS
Minority religions protest over new law that puts them under supervision of authorities.
By Lusine Musaelian in Stepanakert

Fears the Nagorny-Karabakh authorities are trying to restrict freedom of worship have been raised by a new law

forcing religious groups to get approval from the authorities before they can invite colleagues to the self-declared

republic.

Officials justified the legislation, which was adopted in November last year, by citing concerns over national security,

but smaller religious communities like the Jehovah's Witnesses have been struggling to come to terms with its

demands.

Under the provisions of the law, religions have to ask the government's department for religions and national

minorities for permission to invite visitors such as foreign preachers.

"This means that the representative of a religious organisation has to appeal to our organisation in advance and

tell us, for example, that someone is going to a seminar or a meeting. They can only invite their guests via us," said

Asot Sarkisian, head of the department.

The smaller faiths say this is unfair, since the Armenian Apostolic Church, which counts the overwhelming majority

of Karabakh's 140,000 residents among its flock, is exempt from the legislation.

"Such measures restrict the rights of religious organisations. They amount to state censorship," said Araik

Khachatrian, a Jehovah's Witness.

He said the law also restricted the rights of communities to rent halls for meetings, saying they could only do so if

the government department approved.

And other faiths have also felt oppressed by the law. Levon Sardarian, the dean of the small Fire of Awakening church,

a Christian group with 350 members that has been active in Nagorny-Karabakh for a decade, said under the law their

activities also had to be assessed by a state official.

"The number of restrictions can rise or fall depending on how [officials] relate to the particular organisation in

question," said Sardarian.

Aren Baghdasarian, representative of the small Baptist Evangelical Church, agreed.

"We live in a free, independent country. If visits by my brothers in faith could help our work, then we must do it, and

no one has the right to interfere," he said.

Karabakh, which is an unrecognised republic ruled by Armenians, has been largely peaceful since 1994, when a

ceasefire was signed with Baku.

But Sarkisian, of the government's religion department, said it was important to remember that a peace deal had

still not been signed, and that preserving national unity was important.

"We often forget that we live in a state of war. Therefore the religious organisations have to account for the arrival

and departure of people they invite. Besides the activities of some religious organisations have not been fully

investigated," he said.

In Nagorny-Karabakh, the refusal of Jehovah's Witnesses to serve in the army is particularly contentious, and members

of the faith have been imprisoned for four years for their conscientious objection. Officials see such opinions as

undermining Karabakh's de facto independence.

The Armenian Apostolic Church said it understood the state's concerns, and welcomed the new law's insistence

on ensuring rival faiths did not undermine security.

"It would be wonderful if the law was working fully, and all religious organisations trying to encroach on national security

were under the control of the state. The main aim of the promulgation of this law is to restrict the work of those organisations,

which oppose compulsory military service," said Father Hakob Andreasian.

He said the Apostolic Church aimed to preserve the identity of the Armenian people whereas foreign groups had

no such concerns.

"Karabakh is unrecognised by the world community. However, every religious organisation, financed from external

sources, opens a representative office in Karabakh. They exchange information, make studies, invite guests and

so on," he said.

Many residents of Karabakh have a similar viewpoint, though often they are more liberal than the church priests.

"I am not opposed to these organisations existing in general. But I would prefer it if they returned to the true path,"

said Karen Galstian, a 28-year-old follower of the Apostolic Church.

Lusine Musaelian is Radio Liberty correspondent in Stepanakert.
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