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  • ACNIS Completes Its Series of Seminars on National Minorities with N

    PRESS RELEASE
    Armenian Center for National and International Studies
    75 Yerznkian Street
    Yerevan 375033, Armenia
    Tel: (+374 - 1) 52.87.80 or 27.48.18
    Fax: (+374 - 1) 52.48.46
    E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]


    2 September, 2004


    ACNIS Completes Its Series of Seminars on National Minorities with New
    Benchmarks

    Yerevan--The Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS)
    convened today its fifth specialized policy seminar on "The Rights of
    Armenian National Minorities in 2003-2004" at the Armenia Marriott Hotel
    with the support of the Council of Europe Confidence-building Measures
    Program. Held within the framework of the "Coordination among National
    Minorities and Information Exchanges on Minority Rights in Armenia" Project,
    the meeting brought together specialized bodies dealing with national and
    religious minority issues, human rights advocates, leaders and
    representatives of national minorities in Armenia, relevant government
    officials, diplomatic corps, international organizations, NGO and media
    communities to discuss issues on Armenian national minorities and their
    rights in light of the Report on European Commission against Racism and
    Intolerance (ECRI).

    Karapet Kalenchian, ACNIS's director of administration greeted the capacity
    audience with opening remarks. "For a country having as large a diaspora as
    ours, where respect for national minority rights is not only a requirement
    of Council of Europe but also a matter of honor and dignity, the problems of
    national minorities should always be the focus of both the authorities and
    each of us. Therefore, let us speak openly without bypassing the thorns of
    the problem." Kalenchian called on the audience to engage in a sincere and
    interested discussion.

    In his address on "The Requirements for the Report on National Minorities,"
    ACNIS analyst and project director Stepan Safarian called attention to those
    provisions of the Council of Europe which promote the development of
    language, culture, religion, health, science, and education, and the
    preservation of their national values and features. "The Council of Europe
    has expressed a desire for Armenia to make positive changes in the
    legislative acts of national minorities as well as to adopt a separate law
    on national minorities," Safarian noted.

    During the first session entitled "Concerns of the 2003 Report on Armenia of
    the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI): Solved or
    Forgotten Issues?" Lilit Simonian, assistant to Constitutional Court Justice
    Felix Tokhian and the director of Law and Information Center, clarified the
    international legal instruments, constitutional reforms, provisions of
    criminal, civil, and administrative laws. According to her, the protection
    of national minority rights is an integral part of international protection
    of human rights. Minority rights protection is being enforced both by
    general instruments addressing that problem, and a number of international
    legal agreements on national minorities recently ratified by Armenia.
    "Though the European Convention on Citizenship and several other
    international instruments have not been signed yet, the Armenian
    legislative, executive, and judicial agencies are acquiring commitments to
    carry out the norms stipulated in those international instruments," Simonian
    emphasized, attaching importance to the constitutional enhancement of
    national minority rights, in particular the necessity of amending Article 37
    of the Armenian Constitution. Parliamentarian Vazgen Khachikian also
    referred to the conventions Armenia has ratified. He claimed that any
    individual can appeal to court in the event of violation of his/her rights
    and national dignity relying on the intergovernmental instruments.
    Khachikian is convinced that national minorities are more of a treasure for
    Armenia than a threat.

    The second session on "National Minority Rights in Armenia: 2003-2004" began
    with the review of the completed and forthcoming activities of the
    governmental bodies engaged in national minority issues. Hranush Kharatian,
    chairperson of the National and Religious Minorities Board of the Government
    of Armenia informed that the draft Law on National Minorities worked out
    with the active input of national minority communities will soon be
    released. The law shall provide special supervision over the preservation of
    national cultural traditions and call for additional governmental assistance
    to tackle the problems impeding their development. Nonetheless, no matter
    how positive it is viewed, the law seems to be risky and inefficient,"
    opined Kharatian.

    Victor Mnatsakanian of the Ombudsperson's office negatively reacted to the
    question posed in his address "Is There Discrimination in Armenia?,"
    quoting the fact that there are no more than a dozen such appeals addressed
    to the Ombudsman's office. It is worth mentioning that the latter will soon
    respond to Armenian Aryan Order leader Armen Avetisian's provocative
    statements published in the press which have aroused the indignation of
    national minorities.

    Garnik Guyumdjian, chief of the Department for State Programs, Cultural
    Cooperation, Education and Science of the Ministry of Culture and Youth
    Issues, underlined that the measures taken to preserve the cultural values
    of national minorities constitute part of state policy pursued in this
    field. He prioritized fostering of creative work, preserving of cultural
    inheritance, dissemination of cultural values, the application of creative
    potential and legal and economic regulation for the development of national
    cultures. In his opinion, the national minorities enjoy sufficient
    protection under the current legislation.

    Nouridjan Manoukian, chief of the Control Department at the Board of
    Secondary Education of the Ministry of Education and Science, concentrated
    on the improvement of education including preserving national languages. In
    his opinion the main obstacle one encounters in education based on language
    is not the lack of the law but the lack of educators and textbooks. "Nothing
    practical is undertaken to face the challenge. Moreover, sometimes the
    contradictions in the same community lead to conflicting actions," he
    remarked.

    Edgar Hakobian of "Toward Free Society" concluded the second session with
    remarks on encouraging the youth of national minorities to take active part
    in the statewide youth policy and other initiatives, otherwise they will
    remain isolated of the Armenian mainstream.
    The seminar was followed by a lively roundtable of views among Alikhan
    Shababian, representative of Nor Nork district council; Hasan Hasanian, head
    of the Yezidi religious organization "Followers of Sharfadin"; Rabbi Gersh
    Bourstein, head of the Mordekhay Navi Jewish Community of Armenia; Dalila
    Arzumanian of the "Atur" Assyrian union; Charkyaze Mstoyan, chairman of the
    "Kurdistan" committee; Ivan Semionov of Russian Compatriot Relief
    Foundation; Slava Rafaelidis, representative of the Greek community and
    chairman of the Council of Armenian Nationalities; Romania Yavir,
    chairperson of the Ukrainian Federation in Armenia; Lavrenti Mirzoyan of
    State Inspectorate of Language; Ara Sahakian of "Armat" Center; Avetik
    Ishkhanian of the Armenian Helsinki Committee; Georgi Vanian of Caucasus
    Center of Peace-Making Initiatives NGO; Gayane Markosian of the "Harmonious
    World" NGO; Alexander Yaskorski of German community; and several others.
    Despite some reservations, the participants in the discussion noted that the
    rights of national minorities are respected in Armenia. They offered
    practical suggestions for further promoting state policy in educational,
    cultural, and other spheres towards the representatives of the particular
    stratum of society. Lavrenti Mirzoyan, chief of State Inspectorate of
    Language, suggested that the national minority representatives cooperate
    with the agency he heads. He expressed readiness to establish a group of
    national minorities in the Inspectorate to address their language issues.
    Brisk discussion was followed on the expediency of adoption of law on
    national minorities. Charkyaze Mstoyan, chairman of the "Kurdistan"
    committee was against its adoption as in his opinion it can be a
    "strait-jacket" for them. Rabbi Gersh Bourstein thinks that the law should
    first be discussed in the communities and only after then be submitted to
    the parliament for consideration. "The law should protect the national
    minorities from estrangement the symptoms of which are apparent," Bourstein
    maintained. In Yaskorsky's opinion even a perfect law may not be effective
    if not exercised.

    Founded in 1994 by Armenia's first Minister of Foreign Affairs Raffi K.
    Hovannisian and supported by a global network of contributors, ACNIS serves
    as a link between innovative scholarship and the public policy challenges
    facing Armenia and the Armenian people in the post-Soviet world. It also
    aspires to be a catalyst for creative, strategic thinking and a wider
    understanding of the new global environment. In 2004, the Center focuses
    primarily on public outreach, civic education, and applied research on
    critical domestic and foreign policy issues for the state and the nation.

    For further information on the Center or the full graphics of the poll
    results, call (3741) 52-87-80 or 27-48-18; fax (3741) 52-48-46; e-mail
    [email protected] or [email protected]; or visit www.acnis.am
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