6OJWFSTJU´U1PUTEBN "OKB.JIS]"SUVS.LSUJDIZBO]$MBVEJB.BIMFS]3FFUUB5PJWBOFO &ET "SNFOJB")VNBO3JHIUT1FSTQFDUJWF GPS1FBDFBOE%FNPDSBDZ )VNBO3JHIUT )VNBO3JHIUT&EVDBUJPOBOE.JOPSJUJFT Armenia: A Human Rights Perspective for Peace and Democracy Human Rights, Human Rights Education and Minorities Edited by Anja Mihr Artur Mkrtichyan Claudia Mahler Reetta Toivanen Universitätsverlag Potsdam 2005 Bibliografische Information Der Deutschen Bibliothek Die Deutsche Bibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.ddb.de abrufbar. © Universität Potsdam, 2005 Herausgeber: MenschenRechtsZentrum der Universität Potsdam Vertrieb: Universitätsverlag Potsdam Postfach 60 15 53, 14415 Potsdam Fon +49 (0) 331 977 4517 / Fax 4625 e-mail: [email protected] http://info.ub.uni-potsdam.de/verlag.htm Druck: Audiovisuelles Zentrum der Universität Potsdam und sd:k Satz Druck GmbH Teltow ISBN 3-937786-66-X Dieses Manuskript ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Es darf ohne vorherige Genehmigung der Herausgeber nicht vervielfältigt werden. This book is published with the financial support of the Volkswagen Stiftung -Tandem Project Berlin/ Potsdam, Germany. The publication can be downloaded as PDF-file under: www.humanrightsresearch.de An Armenian version of the publication which includes papers of the con- ference and carries the title “Armenia from the perspective of Human Rights” was published by the Yerevan State University in Armenia in Au- gust 2005 and made possible through generous sponsorship from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Caucasus. Translations from Armenian into English: Khachatur Adumyan Editing Assistance: Lynda Anyango Mbingham Cover Pictures: © VW-Tandem Team, Anja Mihr (School in Yerevan, Yezidi Children, Apostolic Church Lake Sevan) Cooperation between Yerevan State University, Centre for Human Rights at Potsdam University and Humboldt University, 2005 Armenia 1 Index Map of Armenia………………………………………………………………..3 Introduction……………………………………………………………………..4 Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………8 I. Human Rights and Democratic Movements in Armenia Artur Mkrtichyan…………………………………………………………..10 Larisa Alaverdyan………………………………………………………...17 Hovhannes Hovhannisyan…………………………………………........23 Gevork Manoukyan…………………………………………………........31 Ashot Alexanyan………………………………………………………….36 Alexander Markarov...........................................................................43 II. Human Rights Education in Armenia Valery Poghosyan…….......................................................................55 Ani Muradyan……………………………………………………………..62 Mira Antonyan…………………………………………………………….68 Marina Hovhannisyan........................................................................74 Kristina Henschen………………………………………………………..82 Lilit Umroyan, Lucig Danielian…………………………………………..89 III. Human Rights and Minorities in Armenia Claudia Mahler, Anja Mihr, Reetta Toivanen………………………….99 Tatevik Margaryan……………………………………………………...110 Hranush Kharatyan……………………………………………………..114 2 A Human Rights Perspective for Peace and Democracy Appendix Conference Report………………………………………………………..131 Abbreviations………………………………………………………………136 Armenian Constitution…………………………………………………….137 Biographies…………………………………………………………….......144 Armenia 3 The Republic of Armenia Source Google maps: zhenghe.tripod.com/maps/armenia.jpg, visited in October 2005 4 A Human Rights Perspective for Peace and Democracy Preface In order to understand Post-Soviet Armenia’s political and social situa- tion, it is vital to look at the human rights situation, and the awareness and respect for different groups in the society as such. This book at- tempts to provide an overview of the different aspects of human rights, focusing on the respect for and implementation of human rights. The fol- lowing articles also exemplify the different approaches taken towards im- plementing human rights in Armenia, with special focus on human rights education, minorities and marginalised groups. The young Republic of Armenia (RoA) regained its independence in 1991. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union (USSR) and the beginning of the transformation period in the 1990s, Armenia has been shadowed by turbulences, both in the area of politics and well as in the economy. The 1988 earthquakes in Gyumri and Spitak in Northern Armenia also troubled the newly re-established country and in the same year, began the long running Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and war with Azerbaijan. After signing a cease-fire agreement with Azerbaijan and establishing the Republic in 1991, Armenia joined the United Nations in 1992. On Sep- tember 17, 1992, an agreement was signed in New York between the United Nations (UN) and Armenia concerning the opening of a represen- tative office of the UN in Armenia. During the transition period in the 1990s Armenia officially adopted a course of Europeanization, and is currently striving to bring its development standards into uniformity with those of the European Union. Today, the acknowledgment of human rights in Armenia is closely linked to the understanding of Armenia’s po- litical and social past, since its history has been marred by serious hu- man rights violations and sufferings. One has to look back on Armenia’s history in order to understand its pre- sent situation, and highlight its cultural achievements as a ground for its widespread national pride. Armenia was the first country to officially adopt Christianity as a state religion (301 A.D.) with the establishment of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Over the centuries, Greeks, Romans, Persians, Byzantines, Mongols, Arabs, Ottoman Turks, and Russians conquered Armenia. The church and the existence of an own language and alphabet were extremely important factors in preserving the nation’s identity. In 1895/96, Turks massacred thousands of Armenians in what was once the Armenian Empire stretching from the Caucasus to the Mediterranean Sea. However, the biggest massacre on the Armenians, which is today considered the first genocide of the 20th century, took place in April 1915 in what is today mainly Turkish territory. Armenia 5 After Turkey was defeated in World War I, the first independent Republic of Armenia was established in May 28, 1918, but lasted only until No- vember 29, 1920. Armenia was thereafter included in the Soviet Union in the early 1920s and only regained independence in 1991. Both the geno- cide in 1915 and the communist dictatorship in the 20th century led to an extensive “Armenian Diaspora” movement. People belonging to the “Ar- menian Diaspora” today live mainly in Russia, France and the USA. Today, the young Republic of Armenia still struggles to establish democ- ratic structures and a civil society. The record of human rights abuses by government authorities, for example, in terms of discrimination of minori- ties and marginalized groups, freedom of speech and press and the ma- nipulation of free elections are considered serious. The United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the US-State Department or NGOs such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International periodically report evidences of such human rights abuses. However, there are ardent at- tempts by academics and NGOs in Armenia to dialogue with government officials, in order to improve the human rights situation, raise human rights awareness, establish human rights monitoring bodies and call for constitutional reforms. This book presents a compilation of articles written by scholars, repre- sentatives of international organisations and academics who attended a two-day-conference that was held at the Yerevan State University in April 28-29, 2005. The conference coincided with the 90th anniversary of the genocide, which created a unique opportunity to discuss the importance of the historical aspects of human rights and their protection in Armenia. The conference titled “Peace and Democracy in Armenia within the Per- spective of Human Rights” was a step in the cooperation between the Yerevan State University (YSU) and the Humboldt University (HU) of Berlin. The event was generously supported by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) in the Caucasus.1 The aim of the conference was to engage in discussions on human rights and minority rights issues in the Armenian society. The authors’ present below, diverse approaches and opinions on how to deal with the human rights situation and the level of awareness in Armenia, which are worth studying. 1 The event was organised through the co-operation between the VW-Tandem Research Project on “Teaching Human rights in Europe” (www.humanrightsresearch.de), the Yer- evan State University (YSU) Department of International Relations and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation Office Caucasus (see also appendix of this book). The Friedrich Ebert Foundation generously sponsored the conference and the conference publication in Ar- menian with the title “Armenia through the perspective of Human Rights” which was pub- lished at Yerevan State University Press in August 2005. 6 A Human Rights Perspective for Peace and Democracy The first part of the publication addresses issues on human rights and democratic movements in Armenia in general. The contribution by Artur Mkrtichyan, a sociologist at the YSU, discusses Armenia as a “no-war-no-peace” society. His contribution underlines the need to review international guidelines on democratisation, in order to make human rights comprehensible for the Armenian people. Larisa Alaverdyan, the Ombudsman of Armenia since 2004, briefly summarized the tasks