Jehovah’s Witnesses unable to enter conventions facility.
PARAKAR, Armenia—The owner of a facility in the city of Parakar was pressured by government officials and priests of the Armenian Apostolic Church into cancelling a three-day religious convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses scheduled for July 1-3, 2011. Approximately 800 Jehovah’s Witnesses who planned to attend have been deprived of their right to assemble for worship.
Jehovah’s Witnesses peacefully held a convention at this same facility on June 24-26, 2011. However, on the last day, several priests of the Armenian Apostolic Church attempted to disrupt the convention. Over the next few days, the facility owner was relentlessly pressured by government officials, including parliamentarians and police officers, to cancel this week’s convention. After being informed that the order came from “very high up,” the owner stated that he would comply and unilaterally cancelled the legally binding contract.
This is the second religious convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses to be cancelled within a three-week period. On June 10, just a few hours before the start of their “Let God’s Kingdom Come!” District Convention at a rented auditorium in Vanadzor, Jehovah’s Witnesses were forced to leave the rented facility because the owner refused to honor the contract, effectively cancelling the Witnesses’ convention. During the summer of 2010, three conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses held at private rented facilities were cancelled by the owners following similar pressure.
On October 8, 2010, and again on June 27, 2011, Jehovah’s Witnesses in Armenia wrote to President Serzh Sargsyan, respectfully requesting his assistance so that the Witnesses can exercise their Constitutional right to freely assemble and hold peaceful religious conventions in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights.
In a similar case dealing with the disruption of a religious convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the European Court of Human Rights condemned Armenia’s neighboring country, Georgia, for failing “in their duty to take the necessary measures to enable [Jehovah’s Witnesses] to exercise freely their rights to freedom of religion.”—Case of 97 members of the Gldani congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses and 4 others v. Georgia, 71156/01, 3 May 2007.
Media Contacts:
Armenia: Tigran Harutyunyan, tel. +374 10 27 45 44
Belgium: European Association of Jehovah’s Christian Witnesses, tel. +32 2 782 0015
Britain: European Association of Jehovah’s Christian Witnesses, tel. +44 20 8906 2211
United States: David Semonian, Office of Public Information, tel. +1 718 560 5600
