Source: www.forum18.org
Date: August 20, 2024
https://www.forum18.org/archiv
By Felix Corley, Forum 18
Police arrived this morning, 20 August, at the home in Yerevan of
21-year-old Baptist conscientious objector Davit Nazaretyan. They arrested
him and took him initially to Nubarashen Prison in southern Yerevan. He has
now begun his two-year jail term, a month after the Cassation Court
rejected his final appeal. The Alternative Service Commission had rejected
his application in January 2023.
"Unfortunately we knew this would happen," Vardan Astsatryan of the
government's Department for Ethnic Minorities and Religious Affairs told
Forum 18. "The law gives two possibilities – go to the army or,
unfortunately, jail." The law also gives the possibility of alternative
civilian service, which Nazaretyan applied for and which the Alternative
Service Commission, on which Astsatryan sits, rejected (see below).
Nina Karapetyants of the Helsinki Association for Human Rights describes
Nubarashen as "the worst prison" in Armenia. "There are no proper
conditions for exercise or for taking a shower," she told Forum 18. The
Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment describes conditions there as "generally
very poor" and in some parts "unacceptable" (see below).
Maksim Telegin is a Molokan and the last known convicted conscientious
objector, jailed in 2021. He said the first seven days – when he was held
in quarantine on his own – were "very difficult". He was then taken to a
cell with several other prisoners before being transferred to a labour camp
near Sevan. It remains unclear whether Nazaretyan will remain in Nubarashen
or be transferred to another prison (see below).
Jailing conscientious objectors to military service and not respecting
their right to a genuinely civilian alternative service violate Armenia's
legally-binding international human rights obligations (see below).
The Eurasia Partnership Foundation is aware that lawyers for another
Armenian non-governmental organisation are preparing a case on Nazaretyan's
behalf to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg. "It
will not make much change to Davit's case because the Strasbourg court's
decisions are released quite late, but it might be a precedent," the
Eurasia Partnership Foundation told Forum 18 (see below).
The Court has issued many rulings in favour of individuals – including
from Armenia – who were denied the right not to serve in the armed forces
on grounds of conscience (see below).
Nazaretyan is the only conscientious objector known to be currently jailed
or facing jail under Criminal Code Article 461, Part 1 ("Avoidance of
mandatory military or alternative service or conscription"). At least two
Molokans have faced criminal prosecution in recent years for refusing to
serve in the armed forces on grounds of conscience (see below).
On 20 August, Forum 18 asked the office of Human Rights Defender Anahit
Manasyan:
- what she and her office have done to defend Nazaretyan's right not to
serve in the armed forces on grounds of conscience in accordance with the
law;
- what she and her office have done to protect him from punishment for
trying to exercise this right;
- and what she and her office will do or are doing now to protect his human
rights.
Forum 18 also asked Manasyan's office what are the "daily activities" to
protect the right not to serve in the armed forces on grounds of conscience
it wrote to Forum 18 about earlier.
Forum 18 had received no response by the end of the working day in Yerevan
of 20 August (see below).
For many years, Armenia jailed everyone 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, and a fully civilian
alternative service was created. The overwhelming majority of successful
applicants for civilian alternative service are Jehovah's Witnesses (see
below).
Yet the Alternative Service Commission still does not allow all
applications for alternative civilian service from conscientious objectors
to military service, who still – against Armenia's legally-binding
international human rights obligations - face the possibility of being
jailed for their beliefs. Officials have refused to explain why
non-Jehovah's Witness applicants for civilian alternative service are
normally refused (see below).
A typical rejection order signed by the Justice Minister (for example in
the case of Molokan conscientious objector Ivan Mikhailov in August 2018)
claims that "the applicant failed to justify that his duty to perform
mandatory military service is in serious and weighty conflict with his
conscience or with his deep and genuine religious faith or other beliefs".
Molokans are a traditionally pacifist Christian community which emerged in
the 18th century. Yet, "the Commission does not give alternative service to
Molokans", a member of the Molokan community told Forum 18 (see below).
Human rights defender Isabella Sargsyan of the Eurasia Partnership
Foundation, who has been following Nazaretyan's case, noted to Forum 18 in
November 2023 (https://www.forum18.org/archi
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."
Arrested to begin jail term
Police arrived on the morning of 20 August at the home in Yerevan of
Baptist conscientious objector Davit Tigrani Nazaretyan (born 23 July
2003). They arrested him and took him initially to Nubarashen prison in
southern Yerevan, his Pastor Mikhail Shubin told Forum 18 from Yerevan the
same day.
Nazaretyan has now begun his two-year jail term, a month after the
Cassation Court rejected his final appeal. He was able to take his Bible
with him, Pastor Shubin said. It remains unclear whether Nazaretyan will
remain in Nubarashen or be transferred to another prison. "There they will
decide where he is sent next."
"Unfortunately we knew this would happen," Vardan Astsatryan of the
government's Department for Ethnic Minorities and Religious Affairs told
Forum 18 on 20 August. "The law gives two possibilities – go to the army
or, unfortunately, jail." (The law also gives the possibility of
alternative civilian service, which Nazaretyan applied for unsuccessfully.)
Astsatryan is a member of the government's Alternative Service Commission
which rejected Nazaretyan's alternative service application
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
"We offered him alternative service within the army without weapons,"
Astsatryan insisted. "Had I found that his conscience was hurt through this
[serving in the military], I would have helped him. But I didn't see it.
The six members of the Commission didn't see it. We asked him many
questions and gave him the chance to answer."
Nina Karapetyants of the Helsinki Association for Human Rights described
Nubarashen as "the worst prison" in Armenia. "There are no proper
conditions for exercise or for taking a shower," she told Forum 18 from
Yerevan on 20 August. "Conditions are not even close to human rights
parameters. It is bad not only for prisoners but for staff also."
A delegation of the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of
Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) visited
prisons and other places of detention in Armenia in September 2023. It
noted in its preliminary observations on 1 March 2024
(https://www.coe.int/en/web/cp
that "conditions were generally very poor at Nubarashen Prison (and
unacceptable on the first floor of the main detention building and in Block
6)".
Maksim Telegin is a Molokan and the last known convicted conscientious
objector, jailed in 2021 (see below). He says other prisoners and even
staff treated him well in prison. "All of them asked me why I had been
jailed and they supported me," he told Forum 18 on 20 August 2024. "Even
the staff were surprised that I had been jailed."
Telegin said the first seven days – when he was held in quarantine on his
own – were "very difficult". He was then taken to a cell with several
other prisoners before being transferred to a labour camp near Sevan.
Conscientious objector Nazaretyan's address in prison:
Armenia
0094, Yerevan
Erebuni District
2 Nubarashen Road
Nubarashen Prison
Appeal to the European Court of Human Rights
The Eurasia Partnership Foundation in Yerevan is aware that lawyers for
another Armenian non-governmental organisation are preparing a case on
Davit Nazaretyan's behalf to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in
Strasbourg.
"It will not make much change to Davit's case because the Strasbourg
court's decisions are released quite late, but it might be a precedent,"
the Eurasia Partnership Foundation told Forum 18 on 20 August.
The Court has issued many rulings in favour of individuals – including
from Armenia – who were denied the right not to serve in the armed forces
on grounds of conscience (see below).
"Jesus Christ teaches us not to kill"
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.
"I am a Christian and I read the Bible," Nazaretyan told Forum 18 from
Yerevan in November 2023
(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."
The Alternative Service Commission rejected Nazaretyan's application in
January 2023. 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
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.
On 25 October 2023, Yerevan's Kentron District Court handed the then
20-year-old a two-year jail term
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Article 461, Part 1 ("Avoidance of mandatory military or alternative
service or conscription").
On 7 February 2024, a panel of three judges at Yerevan's Criminal Court of
Appeal rejected Nazaretyan's first appeal
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
On 10 July 2024, without a hearing, the Cassation Court rejected
Nazaretyan's final appeal
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
jail term. He received the Cassation Court's rejection of his appeal on 16
July 2024, one week before his 21st birthday. "I am very disappointed by
this decision," human rights defender Isabella Sargsyan of the Eurasia
Partnership Foundation told Forum 18 after his final appeal was rejected.
Jailing conscientious objectors to military service and not respecting
their right to a genuinely civilian alternative service violates Armenia's
legally-binding international human rights obligations (see below).
Other conscientious objectors
Davit Nazaretyan is the only conscientious objector known to be currently
jailed or facing jail under Criminal Code Article 461, Part 1 ("Avoidance
of mandatory military or alternative service or conscription").
At least two Molokans have faced criminal prosecution in recent years for
refusing to serve in the armed forces on grounds of conscience.
Conscientious objector Ivan Nikolai Mikhailov
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
a Molokan from Dilijan who had been refused alternative civilian service in
2018, was handed a two-year jail term by Tavush Regional Court on 11
November 2019. On 11 February 2021, the Criminal Court of Appeal rejected
his first appeal. However, on 5 April 2023, the Cassation Court overturned
the conviction (meaning that he was never sent to prison as the sentence
never came into force) and sent Mikhailov's case back to Tavush Regional
Court for a new trial. On 6 October 2023, a Judge closed the criminal case
because of the statute of limitations. The Judge finally removed the
restrictions on Mikhailov's movements.
The last known convicted conscientious objector, Maksim Mikhaili Telegin
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
1998), a Molokan from Yerevan who had been refused alternative civilian
service in 2016, was jailed for one year at Yerevan City Court on 23 March
2021. He was taken into custody to begin his prison term on 10 May 2021,
but was freed early from his jail term in August 2021 after an amnesty
reduced his prison term by nine months.
Does Human Rights Defender defend human rights?
Officials at the office of the Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan
earlier told Forum 18 that it could not speak to her directly, citing
"procedural rules".
On 20 August, Forum 18 asked the office of Human Rights Defender Manasyan:
- what she and her office have done to defend Nazaretyan's right not to
serve in the armed forces on grounds of conscience in accordance with the
law;
- what she and her office have done to protect him from punishment for
trying to exercise this right;
- and what she and her office will do or are doing now to protect his human
rights.
Forum 18 also asked Manasyan's office what are the "daily activities" to
protect the right not to serve in the armed forces on grounds of conscience
it wrote to Forum 18 about earlier.
Forum 18 had received no response from the Human Rights Defender's office
by the end of the working day in Yerevan of 20 August.
The Human Rights Defender's office had claimed to Forum 18 in February
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
"daily activities" to find solutions to "issues related to alternative
service".
In its reply, the Human Rights Defender's office did not specify what the
claimed "daily activities" were. "The Human Rights Defender conducts
discussions and cooperates with the competent state authorities related to
the issues of alternative military service," her office told Forum 18.
"Regarding written or oral applications addressed to the Defender,
appropriate actions are carried out within the scope of the Defender's
powers, which are summarised in the Annual Report or other reports of the
Human Rights Defender."
Asked what action (if any) Human Rights Defender Manasyan would take to
defend the rights of conscientious objector Davit Nazaretyan after the
Cassation Court rejected his final appeal against his two-year jail term,
her office noted that no one had appealed to her over his case. Her office
claimed (https://www.forum18.org/archi
conducted research into his case, and found that he had been sentenced to a
jail term and banned from leaving the country while appeals were pending.
Her office did not appear to know that the Cassation Court had already
rejected his final appeal.
The Human Rights Defender's office also did not explain what, if any,
action it is taking to end Armenia's repeated violations of its
legally-binding international human rights obligations by jailing
conscientious objectors to military service and not respecting their right
to a genuinely civilian alternative service.
The Human Rights Defender's office also insisted that Manasyan "refers to
the above-mentioned issues from systemic perspective, outlines the
importance of the proper realisation of the right to freedom of thought,
conscience, and religion". It claimed
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
conducting analysis of the mentioned issues".
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 Armenian men between the ages of 18 and 27 are subject to military
conscription. Call-ups take place twice a year, and deferments of service
are available in strictly limited circumstances. Military service lasts for
24 months.
Those subject to conscription who object to military service with weapons
can legally apply for either:
- alternative military service in the armed forces without weapons, having
sworn the military oath. This lasts for 30 months;
- or for alternative civilian service, which is not within or controlled by
the armed forces and does not involve swearing the military oath. This
lasts for 36 months.
Conscientious objectors who are refused alternative civilian service and
who refuse to do alternative military 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.
For many years, Armenia jailed everyone 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.
Alternative Service Commission
Young men's applications to be allowed to do alternative civilian service
are considered by the Alternative Service Commission
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
chaired by a Deputy Minister of Territorial Management and Infrastructure,
Vache Terteryan, and made up of deputy ministers from five other
ministries, as well as Vardan Astsatryan of the government's Department for
Ethnic Minorities and Religious Affairs.
The Alternative Service Commission meets twice a year, typically
considering the cases of about 20 applicants at each six-monthly session.
Applicants can be accompanied by a lawyer. The Commission appears to seek
information on applicants before the sessions, including by looking at
their social media accounts.
After each session, the Commission issues decisions, listing which
applicants have been accepted and which rejected. The Justice Ministry
published such decisions on its website in 2018 and 2019. Later decisions
do not appear to be public.
Jehovah's Witnesses told Forum 18 in February 2024
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
do not have problems opting for alternative civilian service. Since 2013,
hundreds of their young men have undertaken alternative civilian service.
However, applications for alternative civilian service from conscientious
objectors who are followers of other beliefs are only rarely accepted.
Molokans, for example, are a traditionally pacifist Christian religious
community which emerged in the 18th century. Like Jehovah's Witness young
men before 2013, Molokan young men were also jailed
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Civilian Service was introduced.
As noted above, Molokan conscientious objectors to military service still
– against Armenia's legally-binding international human rights
obligations - risk being jailed for their beliefs.
A typical rejection order signed by the Justice Minister (for example in
the case of Molokan conscientious objector Ivan Mikhailov
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
that "the applicant failed to justify that his duty to perform mandatory
military service is in serious and weighty conflict with his conscience or
with his deep and genuine religious faith or other beliefs".
"The Commission does not give alternative service to Molokans," a member of
the Molokan community told Forum 18 from Yerevan in July
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
be granted alternative service was in about 2015."
"A compromise not in accordance with the law"
Molokans whose alternative civilian service application is rejected by the
Alternative Service Commission are forced to choose between either being
prosecuted and possibly jailed, or doing a form of military service. Such
young men are normally forced to serve in the military for 24 months.
"Most of our young men therefore have to serve in the military, though
without weapons and without swearing the oath," the Molokan added
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
complain, but many would undertake alternative civilian service if they
could." The Molokan noted that allowing those who object to serving with
weapons and swearing the oath to serve without either is "a compromise not
in accordance with the [Armenian] law".
Such service within the military is also not, under Armenia's
legally-binding international human rights obligations, an adequate way of
allowing conscientious objectors to military service
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
right to a genuinely civilian alternative service.
The Molokan added that on some occasions, those who had applied for
alternative civilian service would be found not to be medically fit for
military service. "In those cases they would be given a deferment for five
years. We had once such case a month ago." Human rights defender Isabella
Sargsyan describes such instances as "a quick fix".
Some applicants given second chance, others not
The Alternative Service Commission approves applications from Jehovah's
Witness young men who can explain clearly their objection to serving in the
military. Some Jehovah's Witness young men, however, are not able to make
their case clearly, an individual close to the process told Forum 18
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
These Jehovah's Witness young men then come back to the Alternative Service
Commission six months later. Almost all are then able to present their case
to be exempted from military service on conscientious grounds clearly and
the Commission grants them alternative service.
Molokans whose applications are rejected are not allowed to present their
case to the Alternative Service Commission a second time. "The Commission
issues the decision once and for all," a Molokan told Forum 18. "Further
applications are rejected without being considered." (END)
More reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Armenia
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
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