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  • Armenia - New legal amendments to end conscientious objector jailing

    FORUM 18 NEWS SERVICE, Oslo, Norway
    http://www.forum18.org/

    The right to believe, to worship and witness
    The right to change one's belief or religion
    The right to join together and express one's belief

    ===============================================
    Thursday 6 June 2013
    ARMENIA: NEW LEGAL AMENDMENTS TO END CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR JAILINGS?

    Nine and a half years, and about 275 prisoners of conscience, after Armenia
    should have by January 2004 introduced a civilian alternative to compulsory
    military service, human rights defenders and conscientious objectors are
    hoping this Council of Europe commitment will be met. The change comes in
    new amendments to the Alternative Service Law, and to the Law on
    Implementing the Criminal Code, which come into force on 8 June. "Our main
    concern was that alternative civilian service should not be under military
    control," Jehovah's Witness lawyer Artur Ispiryan told Forum 18 News
    Service. "This appears to have been resolved." Ispiryan and human rights
    defenders Stepan Danielyan of Collaboration for Democracy and Avetik
    Ishkhanyan of the Armenian Helsinki Committee stress that how the legal
    changes are implemented will be crucial. "This will need close monitoring",
    Ishkhanyan told Forum 18. Concerns include the Defence Ministry's role in
    decisions on applications for alternative service, unclear wording of some
    articles, and the length of alternative service.

    ARMENIA: NEW LEGAL AMENDMENTS TO END CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR JAILINGS?

    By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service

    Nine and a half years, and about 275 prisoners of conscience, after Armenia
    should have by January 2004 introduced a civilian alternative to compulsory
    military service, human rights defenders and conscientious objectors are
    hoping this Council of Europe commitment will finally be met. The change
    comes in new amendments to the 2003 Alternative Service Law and to the 2003
    Law on Implementing the Criminal Code. "Our main concern was that
    alternative civilian service should not be under military control,"
    Jehovah's Witness lawyer Artur Ispiryan told Forum 18 News Service from the
    Armenian capital Yerevan on 5 June. "This appears to have been resolved."

    But both he and human rights defenders Stepan Danielyan of Collaboration
    for Democracy and Avetik Ishkhanyan of the Armenian Helsinki Committee
    point to other possible concerns. These include the Defence Ministry's role
    in decisions on applications for alternative service, unclear wording of
    some articles, and the length of alternative service.

    All three stress that how the legal changes are implemented will be
    crucial. "All will depend on where young conscientious objectors are sent
    to serve, and how they will react to the provisions on offer," Ishkhanyan
    told Forum 18 from Yerevan on 5 June. "This will need close monitoring."

    The amendments to the Law on Implementing the Criminal Code should allow
    the 33 young men imprisoned for refusing military service, the six more who
    have been convicted and await imprisonment, the further six whose trials
    have begun and the 29 young men who are being investigated for prosecution
    to apply to be transferred to alternative civilian service, Forum 18 notes.

    What are the changes?

    The main changes introduced by the amendments to the Alternative Service
    Law and the Law on Implementing the Criminal Code are:

    - Two types of alternative service

    The Alternative Service Law in Article 5, as previously, allows two types
    of alternative service. Both apply only to young men:

    a.) "Alternative military service" for 30 months which is not connected
    with bearing, keeping, maintaining or using weapons;

    and b.) "Alternative labour service" for 36 months not connected with the
    armed forces.

    Article 3.1 makes alternative labour service open to all young men with a
    conscientious objection to military service, whether they are religious or
    not, Ishkhanyan of the Armenian Helsinki Committee told Forum 18.

    Armenia previously required all young men to perform two years' military
    service. Since the Alternative Service Law entered into force in 2004,
    those called up could instead apply for alternative service under military
    control, which lasted up to 42 months. This did not meet Council of Europe
    commitments or satisfy many conscientious objectors (see F18News 3 December
    2012 ).

    The reduction in length from 42 months of alternative service under
    military control to the 36 months of alternative labour service is welcomed
    by Danielyan of Collaboration for Democracy, Ishkhanyan of the Armenian
    Helsinki Committee and Ispiryan of the Jehovah's Witnesses. But they note
    that this is 50 per cent longer than military service. "I believe this
    should be at most six months more than military service," Ishkhanyan told
    Forum 18.

    - Applications

    To apply for alternative service, an applicant must in person go to their
    local Military Commissariat and submit a written application within a
    specified time period. Within 30 days of the application being registered,
    the Regional Military Commissariat shall ascertain under the Conscription
    Law whether the applicant can be either exempted from military service or
    given deferred military service. If not, the application must be sent to
    the Republican Committee.

    Article 3.2, as previously, does not allow individuals once they are
    performing either military or alternative service to change their minds and
    transfer to the other. "We haven't had such a case of an individual
    performing military service changing their views and wanting to transfer to
    alternative service," Jehovah's Witness lawyer Ispiryan told Forum 18. "But
    this could be an issue."

    - Decisions

    Decisions on alternative service applications are made by the "Republican
    Committee". Under Article 4 this is a standing committee made up of one
    representative each from: the Territorial Administration Ministry; the
    Healthcare Ministry; the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry; the Education
    and Science Ministry; the Police; the Defence Ministry; and the Department
    for Ethnic Minorities and Religious Affairs.

    Danielyan of Collaboration for Democracy, Ishkhanyan of the Armenian
    Helsinki Committee and Ispiryan of the Jehovah's Witnesses raise questions
    over the composition of the Republican Committee and the vagueness over the
    way it is supposed to operate. "What if the Defence Ministry representative
    ends up having the decisive voice?" Danielyan pointed out.

    Article 8 states that applicants must be notified in advance of the time
    and location of the meeting at which their application will be decided on,
    and they can attend this meeting. The Republican Committee can require the
    applicant to be present.

    "Religious studies experts, psychologists and other professionals,
    representatives of the locations where alternative service is performed,
    religious and social organisations, and others persons can", under Article
    18.2, "be invited to the Republican Committee's meeting." However, there is
    no indication of the basis on which such invitations shall be issued. For
    example, Article 18.2 might allow a religious leader of one faith to have
    an input into a decision on the application of someone from a different
    faith. "The role of such individuals and what input they might give remains
    unclear," Ispiryan notes.

    Applications must under Article 8.1 be decided upon by the Republican
    Committee within one month. Decisions are valid if voted for by two thirds
    of participating members, if more than half of the seven Committee members
    are present. Such decisions must be sent to the applicant and the relevant
    Regional Military Commissariat within 10 days.

    The Republican Committee also decides on the type of alternative labour
    service to be performed by successful applicants. Possible types of work
    are decided on by the government, but no indication is given of which part
    of the government makes this decision.

    - Grounds for decisions

    The Republican Committee can under Article 9 reject alternative service
    applications if:

    "1) The citizen who applied for alternative service has been invited twice
    to the meeting of the Regional Conscription Committee and failed to appear
    for unjustifiable reasons, or;

    2) The applicant has submitted false information;

    3) The application is obviously groundless."

    "It remains unclear on what basis the Republican Committee will take its
    decisions," Danielyan of Collaboration for Democracy told Forum 18. "It is
    difficult to foresee how this provision will be applied," Jehovah's Witness
    lawyer Ispiryan told Forum 18. "Conscientious convictions are hard to
    prove."

    - Appeals

    The amendments to the Alternative Service Law do not lay down any appeal
    procedure or conditions. They merely state in Article 8.1.4 that "if the
    Republican Committee makes a decision to reject the application, it must
    state the basis for doing so and the procedure for appealing against the
    decision".

    - Alternative labour service conditions

    Article 14 states that alternative labour service is performed in state
    agencies, Article 14.3 stating that there will be "no military
    supervision", Article 14.2 indicating that "supervision of the performance
    and organisation of alternative labour service is carried out by state
    agencies".

    Jehovah's Witness lawyer Ispiryan particularly welcomes the declaration
    that there can be no military supervision of alternative labour service,
    which was introduced into the Alternative Service Law amendments between
    the first and second readings.

    However, Article 17.1 states that under Article 13 alternative labour
    service workers "appear before the Military Commissariat to depart for
    alternative service", travelling to the alternative service location at
    their own expense. The location of this should, under Article 17.4, be no
    more than 30 kilometres (19 miles) away or expenses will be reimbursed.

    But Article 14.2 states that "the head of the organisation where the
    alternative labour service is carried out .. decides his type of work, the
    regulations and conditions, and within three days notifies this in writing
    to the Military Commissariat". Article 14.3 states that "an alternative
    labour worker can be transferred to another organisation or another place
    of service upon agreement or initiative of the Republican Committee".

    Article 18.1 lays down that: "the Director of the place of alternative
    labour service familiarises the worker with the rules of internal
    discipline of the organisation and the details of the work to be
    performed". Article 18.2 requires the Director "to ensure the same working
    conditions for the alternative labour worker, as they would be required to
    provide for a contracted or employed worker who does the same kind of
    work."

    Article 21.3 states that: "Alternative labour workers shall be held
    responsible for unauthorised leave of absence from the place of service in
    the same way prescribed by law for compulsory military service servicemen".

    - Current prisoners of conscience allowed to apply for transfer

    Changes to the Law on Implementing the Criminal Code allow people convicted
    of conscientious objection who are serving their sentence, or have been
    paroled, or whose sentence was not applied conditionally, to apply before 1
    August 2013 to perform alternative service. If this is granted their
    criminal records will be removed.

    Prisoners must apply to the administration of their prison. Time they have
    already served counts towards the total required length of alternative
    service. "The prison administration tells them within seven days if the
    transfer is approved or not," Jehovah's Witness lawyer Ispiryan told Forum
    18. "But it does not make clear who takes the decision."

    He also notes that a prisoner nearing the end of a two-year sentence might
    choose not to apply for alternative service, as they would then have to
    conduct just over a year of alternative civilian service to reach the new
    specified length of such service of three years.

    "It is a bit unfair that prison time counts exactly the same as alternative
    service time," Ispiryan told Forum 18. "But each individual will decide for
    themselves whether to apply for a transfer. This is of course a personal
    decision."

    - Past criminal records removed

    The amendments to the Law on Implementing the Criminal Code allow
    individuals convicted for conscientious objection to military service to
    apply to have their criminal records expunged.

    Compensation?

    The amendments do not address the issue of compensation for conscientious
    objectors who have been imprisoned. Twenty former imprisoned conscientious
    objectors have gained compensation from the government, though only after
    securing findings in their favour in four separate cases at the European
    Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg (see below).

    A further 26 Jehovah's Witness conscientious objectors - 23 of them still
    in prison - lodged their own cases to the ECtHR between December 2011 and
    December 2012, Jehovah's Witnesses told Forum 18.

    Amendments approved

    After delaying since joining the Council of Europe in January 2001,
    Armenia's Justice Ministry finally prepared amendments to provide
    alternative civilian service in 2012. These were then presented to
    Parliament (see F18News 3 December 2012
    ). Justice Minister
    Hrair Tovmasyan presented the two sets of amendments to Parliament on 27
    February 2013. On 18 March, deputies approved both in the first reading
    with 103 in favour and just one (Deputy Shushan Petrosyan of the ruling
    Republican Party) against. In the second (and final) reading on 2 May, 65
    deputies voted in favour and two against, the parliamentary website notes.

    The amendments were signed into law by President Serzh Sarkisyan on 21 May.
    Both amendments enter into legal force on 8 June, the government's legal
    database notes.

    Alternative civilian service unavailable - up till now

    Although Armenia committed itself on joining the Council of Europe to
    introduce a civilian, non-military alternative service by January 2004, it
    failed to do so. It also pledged to release all those imprisoned for
    refusing military service in the interim, but continued with a policy of
    imprisonment (see eg. F18News 20 September 2012
    ).

    A total of 33 Jehovah's Witnesses are currently serving prison terms under
    Criminal Code Article 327, Part 1 of between two and three years'
    imprisonment. The longest serving prisoner is Harutyun Mnatsakanyan, given
    a three-year prison sentence in August 2010. All are being held in prisons
    in Kosh, Nubarashen or Erebuni.

    Of the approximately 275 young men who have been convicted and imprisoned
    to punish them for their conscientious objection to military service in the
    past decade, all but one have been Jehovah's Witnesses, Ishkhanyan notes.
    The other - Pavel Karavanov - was a Molokan, a member of an early Russian
    Protestant-style Christian community.

    "In the Soviet period Seventh-day Adventists, Molokans and Pentecostals
    often opposed military service," Danielyan told Forum 18. "After
    independence in 1991, some of these were forcibly conscripted. But now
    these communities don't object to military service, though some individuals
    within them might choose alternative civilian service."

    Of all the former Soviet republics which still punish those who cannot
    serve in the armed forces on grounds of conscience, Armenia has had by far
    the highest rate of imprisonment for objectors. Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan
    and Belarus - as well as the unrecognised entity of Nagorno-Karabakh in the
    south Caucasus - have all imprisoned conscientious objectors in recent
    years. Council of Europe member Turkey also imprisons conscientious
    objectors, in defiance of ECtHR judgments (see a personal commentary, by
    Derek Brett of Conscience and Peace Tax International, on conscientious
    objection to military service and international law at
    ).

    Strasbourg compensation

    In four separate cases, the ECtHR in Strasbourg has found the Armenian
    government to have violated the rights of conscientious objectors. In a
    landmark case, the court ruled in July 2011 in favour of former
    conscientious objector prisoner Vahan Bayatyan. The ECtHR handed down two
    similar judgments against Armenia - in cases brought by Hayk Bukharatyan
    and Ashot Tsaturyan - in January 2012 (see F18News 1 February 2012
    ).

    In November 2012, the ECtHR - in its fourth decision against Armenia in
    conscientious objector cases - found that Armenia had violated the rights
    of 17 Jehovah's Witness conscientious objectors. For the first time in such
    cases, Armenia's European Court Judge, Alvina Gyulumyan, did not dissent
    from the judgment.

    The November 2012 judgment awarded compensation of 6,000 Euros to each of
    the 17 conscientious objectors. The government was also required to pay a
    total of 10,000 Euros in costs for all the applicants (see F18News 3
    December 2012 ).

    This judgment became final on 27 February 2013, with compensation payable
    by 27 May. The government allocated the funds to meet the 112,000 Euro
    total at its 8 May meeting. It paid the compensation in mid-May, the
    Justice Ministry and Jehovah's Witnesses both confirmed to Forum 18.

    Strasbourg cases to continue?

    The 26 conscientious objectors who lodged further cases at the ECtHR in
    Strasbourg have not been approached by any government official in the wake
    of the two sets of amendments approved in May, Jehovah's Witness lawyer
    Ispiryan told Forum 18.

    "All 26 were convicted after the court's judgment in the Bayatyan case," he
    added. "Government officials have made them no offers over reaching a
    friendly settlement. So the cases are likely to continue." (END)

    More coverage of freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Armenia and
    the unrecognised entity of Nagorno-Karabakh is at


    A personal commentary, by Derek Brett of Conscience and Peace Tax
    International, on conscientious objection to military service and
    international law in the light of the European Court of Human Rights' July
    2011 Bayatyan judgment is at
    .

    A compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe
    (OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments can be found at
    .

    A printer-friendly map of Armenia is available at
    .

    All Forum 18 News Service material may be referred to, quoted from, or
    republished in full, if Forum 18 is credited as the
    source.
    (END)

    © Forum 18 News Service. All rights reserved. ISSN 1504-2855
    You may reproduce or quote this article provided that credit is given to
    F18News http://www.forum18.org/

    Past and current Forum 18 information can be found at
    http://www.forum18.org/




    From: A. Papazian
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