Why Religious Sects Are Proliferating?

[Aram.Garabedian2]

Look at the protector.

The US Government's main priority, is to force the Armenian Government, originally leading virtually a Monoreligious country, to have a total religious chaos, with hundreds of 'exotic' sects, most originally from the US, like :

- The Jeyova's Witnesses: a hegemonic group endangering our National security, and 'restricted' even in Europe, labeled as a dangerous sect..

- The Protestant/Evangelical sects, led by a supra Proselytist named 'Rene Levonian', who's number 1 objective is to use Diaspora money to transform the orphelin's of Artzakh into Gospel singers in his 'camp' in the Gargar valley... Hewas given the post of Adviser of the President in religious affairs!

- All the illuminated sects of '7 th day witness', etc....

- The Krishnas, etc....

- The Mormons, a huge sect, virtually state level in the US, South Lake City being its capital...

- .....

If enybody from the police, dares to tuch one of these foreign Proselyters, or their local agents, the State Department of the US will call Kocharian, as you can read in the bellow document:

( Of course, No one will ask the same freedom for the more than 2 Million Islamised Armenians of Turkey, or the Javakhetians, Tifflissahays..)

__________________________________________________________________

All American Patriots (press release), Sweden

World : Armenia: International Religious Freedom

Report 2006

Posted by Patriot on 2006/9/16 14:23:01 (42 reads)

Armenia: International Religious Freedom Report 2006

Released by the US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor

This report is submitted to the Congress by the Department of State in

compliance with Section 102(b) of the International Religious Freedom

Act (IRFA) of 1998. The law provides that the secretary of state, with

the assistance of the ambassador at large for international religious

freedom, shall transmit to Congress "an Annual Report on International

Religious Freedom supplementing the most recent Human Rights Reports

by providing additional detailed information with respect to matters

involving international religious freedom."

Armenia: The constitution, as amended December 8, 2005, provides for

freedom of religion; however, the law places some restrictions on the

religious freedom of adherents of minority faiths, and there were some

restrictions in practice. The Armenian Apostolic Church, which has

formal legal status as the national church, enjoys some privileges not

available to other religious groups.

There was no overall change in the status of respect for religious

freedom during the period covered by this report. Some denominations

reported occasional acts of discrimination by mid- or low-level

government officials and isolated incidents of police harassment. An

amendment to the 2004 law on alternative military service took effect

on January 26, 2006, criminalizing evasion of alternative labor

service. Conscientious objectors maintained, however, that military

control of the alternative labor service amounted to unacceptable

military service.

The generally amicable relationship among religious groups in society

contributed to religious freedom; however, societal attitudes toward

some minority religious groups were ambivalent.

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 emphasizes to

authorities that continued eligibility for the $235 million Millennium

Challenge Compact remains contingent upon the Government's performance

in meeting good governance indicators, which include standards of

respect for religious freedom.

Section I. Religious Demography

The country has an area of 11,500 square miles and a population of 3

million.

The country is ethnically homogeneous; approximately 98 percent of the

population was ethnically Armenian. Many Azeris left the country

during the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh from 1988 to 1994,

increasing the country's religious and ethnic homogeneity. Religious

observance was strongly discouraged in the Soviet era, leading to a

sharp decline in the number of active churches and priests, the

closure of virtually all monasteries, and the nearly complete absence

of religious education. As a result, the number of active religious

practitioners was relatively low. For many citizens, Christian

identity was an ethnic trait, with only a loose connection to

religious belief. An estimated 90 percent of citizens nominally

belonged to the Armenian Apostolic Church, an Eastern Christian

denomination with its spiritual center at the Etchmiadzin cathedral

and monastery. The head of the church, Catholicos Garegin II

(alternate spelling Karekin), was elected in 1999 at Etchmiadzin with

the participation of Armenian delegates from around the world.

There were comparatively small communities of other religious

groups. There was no reliable census data on religious minorities, and

reports from congregants themselves varied significantly. The

Government does not provide official figures for numbers of religious

adherents, but congregants offered the following unconfirmed

estimates: Catholic, both Roman and Mekhitarist (Armenian Uniate)

(120,000); Yezidi, an ethnically Kurdish cultural group whose religion

includes elements derived from Zoroastrianism, Islam, and animism

(40,000 nominal adherents); unspecified "charismatic" Christian

(10,000); Jehovah's Witnesses (8,750); Armenian Evangelical Church

(8,000); Molokan, an ethnically Russian pacifist Christian group that

split from the Russian Orthodox Church in the 17th century (5,000);

Baptist (2,000); the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

(Mormons) (2,000); Greek Orthodox (1,200); Seventh-day Adventist

(950); Pentecostal (700); Jewish (600); and Baha'i (200). There was

no estimate of the number of atheists.

Yezidis were concentrated primarily in agricultural areas around Mount

Aragats, northwest of the capital, Yerevan. Armenian Catholic and

Greek Orthodox Christians were concentrated in the northern region,

while most Jews, Mormons, and Baha'is were located in Yerevan. In

Yerevan there was also a small community of Muslims, including Kurds,

Iranians, Indians, and temporary residents from the Middle East.

Several minority religious groups sponsor missionary programs in the

country, including both expatriate and local participants. Levels of

membership in minority religious groups remained relatively unchanged.

Section II. Status of Religious Freedom

Legal/Policy Framework

The constitution, as amended on December 8, 2005, provides for freedom

of religion and "the exclusive mission of the Armenian Apostolic Holy

Church as a national church in the spiritual life, development of the

national culture and preservation of the national identity of the

people of Armenia." The law stipulates some restrictions on the

religious freedom of adherents of faiths other than the Armenian

Apostolic Church. The constitution also provides for freedom of

conscience, including the right either to believe or to adhere to

atheism. The 1991 Law on Freedom of Conscience, amended in 1997 and

again in 2001, establishes the separation of church and state but

grants the Armenian Apostolic Church official status as the national

church.

Extended negotiations between the Government and the Armenian

Apostolic Church resulted in a 2000 memorandum providing a framework

for the two sides to negotiate a concordat. Although they had not

concluded negotiations by the end of the period covered by this

report, the Government and the church used the memorandum as a basis

for dispute resolution and policy agreements.

The law requires all religious denominations and organizations to

register in order to operate without restrictions. There were no

reports of the Government refusing registration to religious groups

that were qualified for registration under the law. The Department of

Religious Affairs and National Minorities, which replaced the former

Council on Religious Affairs (CRA), oversees religious affairs and

coordinates activities with the cabinet's chief of staff. A

high-ranking official from the former CRA serves as the prime

minister's advisor on religious affairs. The Office of the State

Registrar registers religious entities, and the Department of

Religious Affairs and National Minorities performs a consultative role

in the registration process. To qualify for registration, petitioning

organizations must "be free from materialism and of a purely spiritual

nature," and must subscribe to a doctrine based on "historically

recognized holy scriptures." A religious organization must have at

least 200 adult members. Religious groups are not required to

register, but unregistered religious organizations may not publish

newspapers or magazines, rent meeting places, broadcast programs on

television or radio, or officially sponsor the visas of visitors. By

the end of the period covered by this report, the Government had

registered fifty-six religious organizations, some of which were

individual congregations within the same denomination.

Yerevan's one surviving eighteenth-century mosque, which was restored

with Iranian funding, was open for regular Friday prayers. Although

not registered as a religious facility, the Government did not

restrict Muslims from praying there.

The law permits religious education in state schools. Only personnel

authorized and trained by the Government may teach in schools. The

history of the Armenian Apostolic Church forms the basis of this

curriculum; many schools cover global religions in elementary school

and the history of the Armenian Apostolic Church in middle

school. Students may choose not to attend religious education

classes. Religious groups are not allowed to provide religious

instruction in schools, although registered groups may do so in

private homes to children of their members. On occasion, priests from

the Armenian Apostolic Church teach classes in religious history;

however, the use of public school buildings for religious

"indoctrination" is illegal.

The military employs Armenian Apostolic chaplains for each division,

but no other religious groups are represented in the chaplaincy.

The Government's human rights ombudsman and the head of the Department

of Religious Affairs and National Minorities met with many minority

religious organizations during the period covered by this report.

Restrictions on Religious Freedom

During the period covered by this report, most registered religious

groups reported no serious legal impediments to their

activities. However, the 1991 freedom of conscience law prohibits

"proselytizing" (undefined in the law) and restricts unregistered

groups from publishing, broadcasting, or inviting official visitors to

the country. The prohibition on proselytizing applies to all groups,

including the Armenian Apostolic Church; however, the term used for

proselytizing implies that someone has been taken away from a "true"

faith, and the prohibition effectively restricts only minority

religious groups.

According to the head of the Department of Religious Affairs and

National Minorities, some minority religious groups, including the

Molokans and some Yezidi groups, have not sought registration.

Although the law prohibits foreign funding of foreign-based

denominations, the Government has not enforced the ban and considers

it unenforceable. A 1991 law required all religious organizations,

except the Armenian Apostolic Church, to obtain prior permission to

engage in public religious activities, travel abroad, or invite

foreign guests to the country. In 2001 this law was rescinded by

presidential order and, in practice, no travel restrictions were

imposed on any religious denomination.

On July 13, 2005, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon)

officials reported that police officers briefly detained, harassed,

and threatened two foreign missionaries. The missionaries said that

one of the officers, after warning them to leave the country, placed

the barrel of his unloaded gun against one missionary's head and

pulled the trigger. Church officials filed a police report, and the

Government opened an investigation. According to the Department of

Religious Affairs and National Minorities, Armenian Apostolic Church

officials filed a counter-complaint against the Mormons within a week

of the incident, alleging the missionaries were illegally

proselytizing on church grounds. Police officials claimed the officers

questioned the missionaries and asked them to stay away from the

church but denied that the questioning constituted harassment. On

October 4, 2005, a police inspector sent Mormon representatives a

letter informing members that the national police intended to drop the

investigation and leave the incident unresolved. Other religious

groups reported isolated events involving police officials questioning

missionaries and their acquaintances about their activities.

Abuses of Religious Freedom

The law on alternative military service took effect in 2004 and

allowed conscientious objectors, subject to government panel approval,

to perform either noncombatant military or civil service duties rather

than serve as conscripted military personnel. The law was applied to

subsequent draftees and those serving prison terms for draft

evasion. Conscientious objectors maintained, however, that military

control of the alternative labor service amounted to unacceptable

military service. An amendment to the law, which took effect on

January 26, 2006, criminalized evasion of alternative labor service.

According to leaders of Jehovah's Witnesses in Yerevan, twenty-five

members of their religious group remained in prison for refusal, on

conscientious and religious grounds, to perform military service or

alternative labor service. An additional eighteen members signed

statements saying they would not leave the country pending the

completion of preliminary investigations, and six more were assigned

conditional punishment ranging from one to three years.

Representatives of the Jehovah's Witnesses stated that all of the

prisoners were given the opportunity to serve an alternative to

military service rather than prison time, but that all refused because

the military retained administrative control of alternative

service. Twelve of those in prison reportedly received two-year

sentences.

There were reports that hazing of new conscripts was more severe for

minority group members such as Yezidis and Jehovah's Witnesses. Some

Yezidi leaders reported that police and local authorities subjected

their religious community to discrimination. Other Yezidi leaders

denied the allegations.

There was no officially sponsored violence reported against minority

religious groups during the period covered by this report. Other than

Jehovah's Witnesses who were conscientious objectors, there were no

reports of religious prisoners or detainees.

Forced Religious Conversion

There were no reports of forced religious conversion, including of

minor U.S. citizens who had been abducted or illegally removed from

the United States, or of the refusal to allow such citizens to be

returned to the United States.

Section III. Societal Abuses and Discrimination

The generally amicable relationship among religious groups in society

contributed to religious freedom; however, societal attitudes toward

some minority religious groups were ambivalent.

The Armenian Apostolic Church is a member of the World Council of

Churches and, despite doctrinal differences, has friendly official

relations with major Christian denominations, including the Eastern

Orthodox churches, the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, and

some Protestant churches.

Suppressed through seventy years of Soviet rule, the Armenian

Apostolic Church has trained priests and committed material resources

to fill the spiritual void created by the demise of communist

ideology. Nontraditional religious organizations are viewed with

suspicion. Representatives of foreign?based denominations frequently

cited as evidence statements including "one God, one country, one

church," noting they had been warned against "stealing souls" from the

Armenian Apostolic Church.

Societal attitudes toward most minority religious groups were

ambivalent. Many citizens were not religiously observant, but the link

between religion and Armenian ethnicity is strong.

According to some observers, the general population expressed negative

attitudes about Jehovah's Witnesses, because the latter refused to

serve in the military, engaged in little understood proselytizing

practices, and because of a widespread but unsubstantiated belief that

they pay the desperately poor to convert. Jehovah's Witnesses

continued to be targets of hostile sermons by some Armenian Apostolic

Church clerics and experienced occasional societal discrimination. The

press reported a number of complaints for allegedly illegal

proselytizing lodged by citizens against members of Jehovah's

Witnesses.

Some members of the press stoked suspicion of nontraditional religious

organizations. On April 4, 2006, an opposition newspaper published a

short editorial alleging that "a top police official" had information

that "religious sects" including Mormons and Pentecostals had enlisted

well-known criminals to protect the "sects'" interests against the

Government. The paper's publishers claimed the unnamed source of the

article was "credible" and that the allegations were factual, but

despite repeated requests, they declined to elaborate on them.

On April 5, 2006, a pro-government tabloid published a short editorial

entitled, "Is the American University of Armenia being Mormonized?"

The writer claimed that the newspaper had learned from sources that "a

Mormon" would be appointed vice rector of the American

University. According to the authors, if the rumors were true, the

country would have taken a serious step, negative in the tabloid's

view, toward "Mormonization."

Flanked by Armenian Apostolic priests during an April 19, 2006, press

conference, Armenian Center for Rehabilitation and Assistance to

Victims of Destructive Cults Director Alexander Amaryan continued his

public assertions that the presence of nontraditional religious

institutions "threatens the spiritual life of Armenia." Armenian

Apostolic priests alleged "religious sects," which they identified as

Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons, "conquered members of our flock" by

"abducting children and church members, and criticizing national

traditions."

Unlike in previous years, the Jewish community reported no incidents

of verbal harassment during the period covered by this report. On

March 18, 2005, a court issued a three-year suspended sentence to the

leader of the Union of Armenian Aryans, in response to his conviction

on charges of public hostility for calling for the country to be

"purified" of Jews and Yezidis.

Section IV. U.S. Government Policy

The U.S. government discusses religious freedom issues with the

Government as part of its overall policy to promote human rights. The

U.S. ambassador and embassy officials maintain close contact with the

Catholicos at Etchmiadzin and with leaders of other religious and

ecumenical groups in the country. During the period covered by this

report, U.S. officials consistently raised the issue of alternatives

to military service with government officials. The embassy also

maintained regular contact with resident and visiting regional

representatives of foreign-based religious groups such as the Mormons

and raised their concerns with the Government. Embassy officials

closely monitor trials related to issues of religious freedom and take

an active role in policy fora and nongovernmental organization

roundtables regarding religious freedom.

The U.S. embassy hosted several roundtable meetings and receptions in

honor of U.S. representatives of religious organizations. Leaders of

local minority religious groups were regularly welcomed at these

events.

Released on September 15, 2006

Source: US State Dept.