State of the World's Minorities 2006 - Armenia
Publisher | Minority Rights Group International |
Publication Date | 22 December 2005 |
Cite as | Minority Rights Group International, State of the World's Minorities 2006 - Armenia, 22 December 2005, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/48abdd852d.html [accessed 9 October 2022] |
Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Armenia began its attempts to improve the situation of minorities after 1998 when Robert Kocharyan became president. Before, many members of minorities had been leaving the country mainly due to its poor economic performance. This, together with international pressure to become party to international treaties, provided a growing sense of moral justification for granting minorities protection and cultural development. Nevertheless, the Kocharyan administration was slow to adopt improvements and the development of legislative mechanisms for the protection of the rights of national minorities was rudimentary up to 2004. The Constitution affords certain language and cultural rights to minorities, and the 2004 Law on Administrative Governance allows representatives of minorities, elected to local self-government, the right to present official letters in their first language accompanied by translation in Armenian. The Law on Radio and TV Broadcasting gives minorities the right to transmit information in minority languages and forbids any propaganda against minorities. Since the end of 2003, efforts have also been under way to draft a law on national minorities.
The Yezidi minority of Armenia suffers discrimination at the hands of the police and local authorities. The Yezidis speak a Kurdish dialect and practise a religion derived from Zoroastrianism, Islam and animism. They have been subject to unfair adjudication of land, water and grazing rights, bullying of their conscripts in the army as well as children in schools, and poor police response to serious crimes committed against their members. Members of the Yezidi community have tried to address their grievances with the presidential adviser on national minorities, but no government responses have been forthcoming.