EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 88/415

(2004/C 88 E/0422)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2543/03

by Maurizio Turco (NI) to the Commission

(30 July 2003)

Subject: Violation of religious freedom in Armenia

Given that:

— since the beginning of July one Jehovah's Witness has been sentenced to one and a half years in a labour camp and two others have been arrested and are currently being tried because they refuse to do military service.

— this brings the number of Jehovah's Witnesses convicted for refusing to do military service to 24, whilst 8 others are awaiting trial.

— there are around 7 500 Jehovah's Witnesses in Armenia and they have been denied the right to register as a religious organisation.

— in December 2002 legislation was passed stipulating that only members of the Armenian Apostolic Church may join the police. Members of other confessions are to undergo ‘training and educational work’ designed to make them spontaneously renounce membership of other religious organisations. If the ‘training and educational work’ prove inadequate, those who are already members of the police force will be dismissed and anyone who wants to become a police officer will be turned down.

In view of the fact that:

— when Armenia joined the Council of Europe in January 2001 it undertook to adopt legislation on alternatives to military service and at the same time to free conscientious objectors, but so far no such legislation has been adopted nor have the conscientious objectors been released;

— on 13 December 2002 the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance of the Council of Europe (ECRI) deemed the Armenian authorities' attitude towards Jehovah's Witnesses ‘unsatisfactory’.

The European Union has an excellent economic and commercial cooperation relationship with Armenia.

Can the Commission say whether it is aware of the facts outlined above?

What measures, in the context of cooperation relations, might constitute a serious and effective means of inducing Armenia to respect religious freedom?

Joint answer

to Written Questions E-2486/03, E-2487/03 and E-2543/03

given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(22 August 2003)

The Commission is concerned about the problem of increased violations of religious freedom in Southern Caucasus and in Central Asia. It is fully aware of the situation of Adventists and members of the Asia Protestant Church of Muslim and Russian Orthodox communities in Turkmenistan and of Jehovah's Witnesses in Armenia.

As Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Georgia have Partnership and Cooperation Agreements (PCA) with the Union, the Commission raises at each meeting in PCA framework the points concerning violations of freedom of religion and more generally violations of basic human rights. Despite the fact that the PCA with Turkmenistan is not yet ratified, the Commission raises also these points at each bilateral meeting with the Turkmen authorities.

The Commission would like to reiterate that it attaches great importance to the rights of freedom of religion, belief and expression. The Union has repeatedly affirmed that human rights and democratisation must form an integral part of political dialogue with third countries. In its May 2001 Communication on the Union's role in the promotion of Democracy and Human Rights with third countries (1), the Commission is committed to mainstreaming human rights and democratisation issues in all Community assistance programme.

In addition to its Tacis assistance, the Commission, under the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), funds a number of activities to support freedom of religion and democratisation process in Southern Caucasus and in Central Asia.

(1) COM(2001) 252 final.