Karabakh Faiths Decry State Controls

Fears the Nagorny-Karabakh authorities are trying to restrict freedom of worship have been raised by a new law forcing religious groups to get approval from the authorities before they can invite colleagues to the self-declared republic.



Officials justified the legislation, which was adopted in November last year, by citing concerns over national security, but smaller religious communities like the Jehovah’s Witnesses have been struggling to come to terms with its demands.



Under the provisions of the law, religions have to ask the government’s department for religions and national minorities for permission to invite visitors such as foreign preachers.



“This means that the representative of a religious organisation has to appeal to our organisation in advance and tell us, for example, that someone is going to a seminar or a meeting. They can only invite their guests via us,” said Asot Sarkisian, head of the department.



The smaller faiths say this is unfair, since the Armenian Apostolic Church, which counts the overwhelming majority of Karabakh’s 140,000 residents among its flock, is exempt from the legislation.



“Such measures restrict the rights of religious organisations. They amount to state censorship,” said Araik Khachatrian, a Jehovah’s Witness.



He said the law also restricted the rights of communities to rent halls for meetings, saying they could only do so if the government department approved.



And other faiths have also felt oppressed by the law. Levon Sardarian, the dean of the small Fire of Awakening church, a Christian group with 350 members that has been active in Nagorny-Karabakh for a decade, said under the law their activities also had to be assessed by a state official.



“The number of restrictions can rise or fall depending on how [officials] relate to the particular organisation in question,” said Sardarian.



Aren Baghdasarian, representative of the small Baptist Evangelical Church, agreed.



“We live in a free, independent country. If visits by my brothers in faith could help our work, then we must do it, and no one has the right to interfere,” he said.



Karabakh, which is an unrecognised republic ruled by Armenians, has been largely peaceful since 1994, when a ceasefire was signed with Baku.



But Sarkisian, of the government’s religion department, said it was important to remember that a peace deal had still not been signed, and that preserving national unity was important.



“We often forget that we live in a state of war. Therefore the religious organisations have to account for the arrival and departure of people they invite. Besides the activities of some religious organisations have not been fully investigated,” he said.



In Nagorny-Karabakh, the refusal of Jehovah’s Witnesses to serve in the army is particularly contentious, and members of the faith have been imprisoned for four years for their conscientious objection. Officials see such opinions as undermining Karabakh’s de facto independence.



The Armenian Apostolic Church said it understood the state’s concerns, and welcomed the new law’s insistence on ensuring rival faiths did not undermine security.



“It would be wonderful if the law was working fully, and all religious organisations trying to encroach on national security were under the control of the state. The main aim of the promulgation of this law is to restrict the work of those organisations, which oppose compulsory military service,” said Father Hakob Andreasian.



He said the Apostolic Church aimed to preserve the identity of the Armenian people whereas foreign groups had no such concerns.



“Karabakh is unrecognised by the world community. However, every religious organisation, financed from external sources, opens a representative office in Karabakh. They exchange information, make studies, invite guests and so on,” he said.



Many residents of Karabakh have a similar viewpoint, though often they are more liberal than the church priests.



“I am not opposed to these organisations existing in general. But I would prefer it if they returned to the true path,” said Karen Galstian, a 28-year-old follower of the Apostolic Church.



Lusine Musaelian is Radio Liberty correspondent in Stepanakert.