Armenia’s constitution protects religious freedom; however, some laws and policies restrict religious freedom, says the annual report on religious freedom issued by State Department.

The reports points at cases of abuses of religious freedom in Armenia in 2012.

“The law grants privileges to the Armenian Apostolic Church not available to other religious groups. Most registered religious groups reported no significant legal impediments to their activities. However, according to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, 31 members remained in prison for refusing on religious grounds to perform mandatory military or alternative labor service. The trend in the government’s respect for religious freedom did not change significantly during the year,” the report reads.

The cases of “societal discrimination based on religious affiliation, belief, or practice” were registered.

As to media, the report says many Armenian media outlets demonstrated bias against minority religious groups.

“Many media outlets continued to label minority religious groups as “sects” and promulgated fear of religious minorities.”