Source: www.forum18.org
Date: July 18, 2024
On 16 July, one week before his 21st birthday, Baptist conscientious
objector Davit Nazaretyan received the Cassation Court's rejection of his
final appeal against his two-year jail term. His application for
alternative service had been rejected. "Davit could be taken to jail at any
time," his pastor, Mikhail Shubin, told Forum 18 from Yerevan. "I am very
disappointed by this decision," human rights defender Isabella Sargsyan of
the Eurasia Partnership Foundation told Forum 18. "It is important to
follow this particular case as well as the system more generally."
ARMENIA: Conscientious objector "could be taken to jail at any time"
https://www.forum18.org/archiv
By Felix Corley, Forum 18
On 16 July, just a week before his 21st birthday, Baptist conscientious
objector Davit Nazaretyan received by post the Cassation Court's rejection
of his final appeal against his two-year jail term. The decision is now
final, so the authorities can enforce the prison sentence. "Davit could be
taken to jail at any time," his pastor, Mikhail Shubin, told Forum 18 from
the capital Yerevan.
"It is bad of course that he has to go to jail," Vardan Astsatryan of the
government's Department for Ethnic Minorities and Religious Affairs told
Forum 18. "But laws must be observed." Astsatryan is a member of the
government's Alternative Service Commission which rejected Nazaretyan's
alternative service application in January 2023 (see below).
The last known jailed conscientious objector, Maksim Telegin (a Molokan who
had been refused alternative civilian service), was freed from a one-year
jail term in 2021. In 2013, Armenia introduced a genuinely civilian service
for conscientious objectors to military service. Yet conscientious
objectors to military service, including Molokan young men, are still in
2024 being denied their right to alternative civilian service (see
forthcoming F18News article).
As of 18 July 2024, Nazaretyan had not yet received the enforcement act
which the Cassation Court is due to issue and which would lead to arrest
and jailing, Pastor Shubin added (see below).
Human rights defender Tatevik Gharibyan of the Eurasia Partnership
Foundation notes that "as soon as the court sends the enforcement act
related to the decision, police will attend the convict's place of
residence and transport them to the penitentiary institution". She says
courts generally issue such enforcement acts soon after issuing their
decisions (see below).
Arsen Topchyan, the Investigator who initiated criminal proceedings against
Nazaretyan in August 2022, refused to comment to Forum 18 on Nazaretyan's
jail sentence becoming final (see below).
"I am very disappointed by this decision on Davit Nazaretyan," human rights
defender Isabella Sargsyan of the Eurasia Partnership Foundation told Forum
18. "It is important to follow this particular case as well as the system
more generally. We need a holistic advocacy campaign on the issue of
alternative civilian service" (see below).
The office of the Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan refused to put
Forum 18 through to her on 18 July. Other officials in her office insisted
that the alternative service system is working well. Forum 18 asked in
writing about Nazaretyan's case and what it is doing (if anything) to
support him and others who cannot perform military service on grounds of
conscience. Officials promised to respond (see below).
International standards
The United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee has stated in its General
Comment 22 (https://www.refworld.org/lega
conscientious objection to military service comes under International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Article 18 ("Freedom of
thought, conscience and religion"). General Comment 22 notes that if a
religion or belief is official or followed by a majority of the population
this "shall not result in any impairment of the enjoyment of any of the
rights under the Covenant .. nor in any discrimination against adherents to
other religions or non-believers."
In relation to conscientious objection to military service, General Comment
22 also states among other things: "there shall be no differentiation among
conscientious objectors on the basis of the nature of their particular
beliefs; likewise, there shall be no discrimination against conscientious
objectors because they have failed to perform military service."
This has been reinforced by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights (OHCHR) recognising
(https://www.ohchr.org/en/cons
to have conscientious objection to military service as a legitimate
exercise of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion". The
OHCHR has also noted in its Conscientious Objection to Military Service
guide
(https://www.ohchr.org/en/publ
that ICCPR Article 18 is "a non-derogable right .. even during times of a
public emergency threatening the life of the nation".
In 2022 the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention stated (WGAD-HRC50
(https://www.ohchr.org/sites/d
"the right to conscientious objection to military service is part of the
absolutely protected right to hold a belief under article 18 (1) of the
Covenant, which cannot be restricted by States". The Working Group also
stated: "States should refrain from imprisoning individuals solely on the
basis of their conscientious objection to military service, and should
release those that have been so imprisoned."
Various judgments (including against Armenia) of the European Court of
Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg have also defined states' obligations to
respect and implement the right to conscientious objection to military
service
(https://www.echr.coe.int/docu
as part of the right to freedom of religion or belief.
Military service, alternative civilian service
All men in Armenia are subject to conscription between the ages of 18 and
27. Deferments are available in strictly limited circumstances. Military
service lasts for 24 months. Those subject to conscription can apply for
service without weapons within the armed forces, which lasts 30 months, or
for alternative civilian service, which lasts 36 months.
For many years, Armenia jailed those unable to perform military service on
grounds of conscience, despite a commitment to the Council of Europe to
introduce a civilian alternative to military service by January 2004. In
May 2013, amendments to the 2003 Alternative Service Law and to the 2003
Law on Implementing the Criminal Code were passed
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
alternative service was created. By November 2013, the authorities had
freed all the then-jailed conscientious objectors
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Witnesses.
Yet some conscientious objectors to military service, including Molokan
young men, have been jailed since 2013 and are still in 2024 being denied
their right to alternative civilian service (see forthcoming F18News
article).
Conscientious objectors who are refused alternative civilian service can be
prosecuted under Criminal Code Article 461, Part 1 ("Avoidance of mandatory
military or alternative service or conscription"). This carries a jail term
of two to five years.
Final appeal rejected
Davit Tigrani Nazaretyan (born 23 July 2003) submitted his final appeal
against his two-year jail term - imposed in October 2023
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
service on grounds of conscience - to the Cassation Court in Yerevan. His
Baptist Church also submitted an appeal in his support.
On 10 July 2024, without a hearing, the Cassation Court rejected
Nazaretyan's appeal. The five-page decision – seen by Forum 18 – is
signed by Hamlet Asatryan, Chair of the Cassation Court's Criminal
Division, and three other judges from the same Division.
The Cassation Court used standard wording in refusing to consider
Nazaretyan's appeal. It stated that cases the Court takes up cover issues
such as inconsistencies in the application of the law or the need for the
Court to issue a precedent that would clarify how laws should be
implemented.
"This was a standard rejection and was to be expected," human rights
defender Tatevik Gharibyan of the Eurasia Partnership Foundation – who
has studied the decision - told Forum 18 from Yerevan on 17 July. "The
Court accepts cases and takes them up only in very rare and exceptional
cases, with 99 per cent of cases rejected. This is one of the systematic
problems with the Cassation Court."
On 5 April 2023, the Cassation Court overturned the conviction of Molokan
conscientious objector Ivan Mikhailov and sent the case back to the lower
court (https://www.forum18.org/archi
described the Court's decision to take up the Mikhailov case as "an
exception" (see forthcoming F18News article).
The Cassation Court mailed the written decision to Nazaretyan on 12 July
2024 and he received it on 16 July.
"I am very disappointed by this decision on Davit Nazaretyan," human rights
defender Isabella Sargsyan of the Eurasia Partnership Foundation in Yerevan
told Forum 18. "It is important to follow this particular case as well as
the system more generally. We need a holistic advocacy campaign on the
issue of alternative civilian service."
The office of the Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan refused to put
Forum 18 through to her on 18 July. Other officials in her office insisted
that the alternative service system is working well. Forum 18 asked in
writing about Nazaretyan's case and what it is doing (if anything) to
support him and others who cannot perform military service on grounds of
conscience. Officials promised to respond.
The Public Relations Department of the Human Rights Defender told Forum 18
in February (https://www.forum18.org/archi
Law On the Human Rights Defender states that "the Defender does not have
the right to intervene in judicial proceedings or the exercise of judges'
powers in a specific case. Therefore, discussing the legality of the
rendered judgment falls outside the scope of the powers assigned to the
Human Rights Defender by law."
The Public Relations Department insisted in February
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
stresses the importance of exercising the right to freedom of conscience
and religion properly", including "issues related to alternative service".
Despite talking of "daily activities" to resolve problems, it gave no
information about any specific measures to defend the rights of all
conscientious objectors to access alternative civilian service.
Article 388 of the Criminal Procedure Code specifies that Cassation Court
decisions are final on publication.
"Without a hearing, there was no opportunity to lodge arguments"
Arsen Topchyan, Acting Investigator of the Fourth Garrison Investigation
Department of the Main Military Investigation Department of the
Investigative Committee, initiated criminal proceedings against Davit
Nazaretyan (https://www.forum18.org/archi
2022.
Topchyan refused to comment to Forum 18 on 18 July 2024 on Nazaretyan's
jail sentence becoming final.
"Without a hearing [in July 2024 in the Cassation Court], there was no
opportunity to lodge arguments," Nazaretyan's pastor Mikhail Shubin told
Forum 18 from Yerevan on 17 July.
"It is bad of course that he has to go to jail," Vardan Astsatryan of the
government's Department for Ethnic Minorities and Religious Affairs told
Forum 18 from Yerevan on 17 July. "But laws must be observed."
Astsatryan is a member of the Alternative Service Commission which rejected
conscientious objector Nazaretyan's application for alternative civilian
service (https://www.forum18.org/archi
2023. In November 2023 he claimed to Forum 18
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
strange about him not being given alternative service. But he had the right
to challenge the refusal in court. He should have gone to court to defend
his right."
Human rights defender Isabella Sargsyan of the Eurasia Partnership
Foundation in November 2023 questioned whether the Commission is competent
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
should or should not be given alternative civilian service. "It is meant to
be a public body, but in reality it is a fully government body, staffed
mainly with deputy ministers not always knowledgeable or sensitive to human
rights and minority issues," she told Forum 18.
Sargsyan noted that Vardan Astsatryan of the government's Department for
Ethnic Minorities and Religious Affairs is the only Commission member with
expertise in the area of freedom of religion or belief.
"So the Commission seems to follow his recommendation in each case. My
experience suggests that government officials - except those who deal with
human rights professionally - are not well educated in human rights issues,
and often lead by their own perceptions and biases when dealing with
matters related to minority rights," Sargsyan maintained
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Nazaretyan is considering an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights
(ECtHR) in Strasbourg. "Given how long decisions from there take, it will
not help Davit," Pastor Shubin told Forum 18. "But it could help others in
the same situation."
"Davit could be taken to jail at any time"
The Cassation Court decision in Davit Nazaretyan's case was final when it
was issued. This means the authorities can now arrest and jail him in
accordance with the two-year jail sentence
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
"Davit could be taken to jail at any time," his pastor, Mikhail Shubin,
told Forum 18. He said there is no indication so far of when that might be.
There are no specific terms on when a sentenced individual is transported
to prison. "However, as soon as the court sends the enforcement act related
to the decision, police will attend the convict's place of residence and
transport them to the penitentiary institution," human rights defender
Tatevik Gharibyan told Forum 18. She says courts generally issue such
enforcement acts soon after issuing their decisions.
Pastor Shubin said Nazaretyan had not yet received the enforcement act as
of 18 July.
"My religion does not allow me to carry weapons"
Davit Nazaretyan lives in the capital Yerevan and is a member of a Council
of Churches Baptist congregation in Arinj, a town next to Yerevan. The
congregation – which chooses not to seek state registration - is led by
Pastor Mikhail Shubin.
Despite his repeated requests for alternative civilian service
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Conscription Service and of the Alternative Service Commission refused
Nazaretyan's application. On 25 October 2023, Judge Gagik Pogosyan of
Yerevan's Kentron District Court handed him a two-year jail term for
"Avoidance of mandatory military or alternative service or conscription".
Judge Pogosyan's assistant refused to put Forum 18 through to the Judge to
find out why he jailed an individual who could not serve in the military on
grounds of conscience (https://www.forum18.org/archi
and who is ready to perform alternative civilian service.
"Davit asked for alternative civilian service," Baptist Pastor Shubin –
who attended the trial and the appeal hearing with other Baptists - told
Forum 18 (https://www.forum18.org/archi
allows this, why didn't they give it to him? If an individual's
conscientious views do not allow him to carry weapons or swear the oath,
why didn't they give him alternative service?"
"I am a Christian and I read the Bible," Nazaretyan told Forum 18
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
teaches us not to kill and he followed this also. We have to love one
another, even our enemies, and not kill people." He added that Jesus Christ
also instructed his followers not to swear oaths. "If I was given
alternative civilian service now, I would do it."
In early 2023, while the criminal investigation was already underway,
officials summoned Nazaretyan to the Alternative Service Commission
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
accepted all the Jehovah's Witnesses' applications for alternative civilian
service, but rejected Nazaretyan's.
Vardan Astsatryan of the government's Department for Ethnic Minorities and
Religious Affairs, who is part of the Alternative Service Commission,
claimed to Forum 18 (https://www.forum18.org/archi
that the Commission rejected Nazaretyan's application as it had not been
convinced by his case. "Why couldn't he present his views convincingly?"
Forum 18 told Astsatryan that in November 2023, Nazaretyan had clearly and
logically explained his conscientious reasons
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
serve in the military and his readiness to perform alternative civilian
service. Yet Astsatryan claimed again that Nazaretyan had not been able to
explain this to the Commission.
Investigator Arsen Topchyan handed documents on Nazaretyan's case to the
Theology Faculty of Yerevan State University and asked it to review his
religious views (https://www.forum18.org/archi
Theology Faculty is led by Bishop Anushavan Jamkochyan of the Armenian
Apostolic Church.
On 17 April 2023 the Faculty claimed that the case materials on
Nazaretyan's religious affiliation were allegedly "contradictory". Despite
admitting that Nazaretyan regularly attends a Baptist Church with his
family, the Theological Faculty claimed: "We conclude from all this that
Nazaretyan's religious worldview is either not clearly formed, or he
himself does not clearly know what religious affiliation he has. We also do
not rule out that his statements are opportunistic."
The Theology Faculty also claimed
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Baptist Church and the analysis of the presented case materials allow us to
state that Nazaretyan's freedom of thought, conscience and religion would
not be restricted by military service."
However, Pastor Shubin says that he and his Church think that decisions on
whether or not church members should serve in the military are "a personal
decision for each church member based on their conscience", he told Forum
18 in November 2023 (https://www.forum18.org/archi
"We support Davit in his decision."
Bishop Anushavan and a lecturer at the Theology Faculty repeatedly did not
respond to Forum 18's requests for comment. So Forum 18 was unable to find
out why they offer views on beliefs they do not understand
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
offer views on a legally binding human rights obligation – the freedom of
thought, conscience and belief – which they also do not understand.
Investigator Topchyan confirmed to Forum 18 that he had been the
investigator in Nazaretyan's case. But he refused to explain why he handed
case materials to and asked for an assessment of Nazaretyan's religious
beliefs from the Theology Faculty, which is led by a member of another
religious community. It also remains unclear why he sought views on the
implementation of Armenia's legally binding human rights obligations
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
does not understand Armenia's obligations.
Anna Barsegyan of Yerevan Garrison Military Prosecutor's Office, who led
the case, including in court, did not in November 2023 answer Forum 18's
questions about why she brought the criminal case against Nazaretyan
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
in the armed forces because of his conscientious beliefs.
On 7 February 2024, a panel of three judges at Yerevan's Criminal Court of
Appeal rejected conscientious objector Nazaretyan's appeal
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
jail term imposed in October 2023 for refusing military service on grounds
of conscience.
Human rights defender Sargsyan of the Eurasia Partnership Foundation
attended the appeal hearing. "This is very, very sad," she told Forum 18
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
was announced. She said Nazaretyan was "very sincere" in setting out his
position in court. "Davit set out very clearly that he does not consider
himself guilty of any crime, that he has been in the church since childhood
and that he is ready to perform alternative service."
"The court didn't take into consideration any of Davit's arguments about
his right to alternative service, the decisions in similar cases of the
European Court of Human Rights
(https://www.echr.coe.int/docu
(ECtHR) or anything else."
Sargsyan noted that the prosecution did not attend the 7 February 2024
hearing (https://www.forum18.org/archi
in its questioning of Davit stressed the expert opinion of the Theology
Faculty of Yerevan State University, treating its opinion with some
respect."
The Theology Faculty, led by an Armenian Apostolic Church Bishop, claimed
that: "The creed of the Baptist Church and the analysis of the presented
case materials allow us to state that Nazaretyan's freedom of thought,
conscience and religion would not be restricted by military service".
Nazaretyan's Baptist pastor strongly disputes this claim
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
community about his and his Church's beliefs.
The Theology Faculty has not replied to Forum 18's questions. So Forum 18
was unable to find out why they offer views on beliefs they do not
understand (https://www.forum18.org/archi
they also offer views on a legally binding human rights obligation – the
freedom of thought, conscience and belief – which they also do not
understand. (END)
More reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Armenia
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
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