Although the constitution of Armenia states that everyone has freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, religious minority groups stated they were particularly concerned with the potentially negative effect on minority religious groups of a draft law on religious freedom, the report by State Department said.
On Wednesday the U.S. State Department released the 2017 International Religious Freedom Report.
Representatives of Christian minority religious groups said they continued to worship freely; however, some Christians said they felt obligated to practice their religion discreetly, particularly while serving in the military.
Human rights activists continued to express concern about the government’s concurrence with the Armenian Apostolic Church’s dissemination of teaching in schools that often equated AAC affiliation with national identity. According to minority religious groups and NGOs, government statements equating national identity to affiliation with the AAC continued to fuel both governmental and societal discrimination against religious organizations other than the AAC, the report says.
Unlike the previous year, the Jehovah’s Witnesses reported no instances of societal physical harassment against its members; there were 10 instances of verbal harassment, down from 17 the previous year. Jehovah’s Witnesses attributed the decrease to prompt police action. According to a Pew Research Center survey published in May, 82 percent of respondents agreed with the statement “It is important to be part of the AAC to truly share the national identity of the country.” According to Christian minority religious groups and NGOs, the media climate continued to improve for minority religious groups compared with previous years, becoming more balanced and accurate; however, Jehovah’s Witnesses reported instances of negative reports in the media.
The U.S. Ambassador and other embassy officials continued to promote religious tolerance and interfaith dialogue during meetings with government officials. Embassy officers met with AAC leaders to engage the AAC in supporting the rights of religious minorities to practice their faith without restrictions.
