The legislation on religious freedom, and the situation of religious minority groups in Armenia have been the subject of attention and recommendations of the Council of Europe Venice Commission, and Rights of Children European Commission against Intolerance and Discrimination. At the same time, the protection of children’s rights is one of the priority topics identified by the Council of Europe and the Armenian from Religious and Ethnic authorities in the Council of Europe Action Plan for Armenia. Therefore, the Council of Europe, with the support of the Embassy of Minority Groups in Armenia the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Georgia and Armenia, initiated a project focusing on the rights of children and youth belonging to religious minority groups. The project was set up to combat intolerance towards religious minorities, including its online dimension; a better understanding of the problems faced by children and youth from those groups was essential. A research group conducted interviews and youth meetings with children from various religious and ethnic communities of Armenia and their community leaders throughout the summer of 2013. The study addresses a number of educational and social issues, specifically access to education for ethnic and religious minority children, issues related to healthcare, and experiences of discrimination in classroom settings. The study provides a number of recommendations to the Government of Armenia, the Council of Europe, international organisations and to local NGOs. With the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Armenia ENG Field study with children The Council of Europe is the continent's leading human rights organisation. and young people in Armenia Yerevan 2014 It includes 47 member states, 28 of which are members of the European Union. www.coe.int All Council of Europe member states have signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights, a treaty designed to protect human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The European Court of Human Rights oversees the implementation of the Convention in the member states. http://book.coe.int www.coe.int/youth Protection of the rights of children from religious and ethnic minority grouPs in armenia Yerevan 2014 Protection of the Rights of Children from Religious and Ethnic Minority Groups in Armenia – Field Study Report The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Council of Europe. This report was made possible with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Armenia. The contents of the report belong solely to the Council of Europe and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Netherlands Embassy. Copyright of this publication is held by the Council of Europe. No parts of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted for commercial purposes in any form or by any means, electronic (CDRom, Internet, etc.) or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the Youth Department, European Youth Centre Budapest, 1-3 Zivatar utca, H-1024 Budapest, Hungary; email: eycb.secretariat@ coe.int. Reproduction of material from this publication is authorised for non-commercial education purposes only and on condition that the source is properly quoted. All other correspondence concerning this document should be addressed to the Youth Department of the Council of Europe: European Youth Centre Strasbourg 30, rue Pierre de Coubertin F- 67075 Strasbourg Cedex – France email: [email protected] Proof Reading: Rachel Appleby This study has been conducted by Eurasia Partnership Foundation Authors Hovhannes Hovhannisyan Isabella Sargsyan Gayane Mkrtchyan Editors Gevorg Ter-Gabrielyan Menno Ettema About the project “protecting child rights of religious minority groups in ArmeniA” The present study was carried within the framework of the project of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe, “Protecting child rights of religious minority groups in Armenia: combating intolerance online”, and was implemented with the financial support of the Embassy of the Netherlands to Armenia. The project has focused on the rights of children and youth belonging to minority groups, specifically religious minorities, and aimed at combating intolerance towards minorities through education and awareness raising. A good understanding of the problems faced by children and youth from minority groups is an important step in that process and one that cannot be carried out without involving the children and young people themselves. Minority groups, including religious minorities, are subject to pressure, sometimes unconscious, from mainstream society and from within the community; children and young people from minority groups can be doubly affected and experience double discrimination. On the one hand, they are vulnerable and easily discriminated against and stigmatised, and on the other hand, the isolation inherent in the minority groups they belong to reinforces these discriminations. Education – and the development of educational approaches, formal and non- formal – is indispensable for developing an understanding of the values of human rights and dignity, and when addressing such consequential issues, listening to children is essential. In order to shape campaigns and provide adequate, targeted educational activities, our work needs to be based on empirical data and quality analyses; identifying the most relevant issues and getting to know the reality of children is a key for understanding. The studies and research carried out in the project support the activities by providing evidence-based information which then served as a basis for planning further measures to combat religious intolerance and to protect the rights of children belonging to minorities. Since children and young people increasingly rely on social media to share their views, obtain information and socialise, and as the Internet is also an area where discrimination and hate speech are practised, particular attention has been paid to securing links with the Council of Europe’s No Hate Speech Movement in Armenia. 5 The project was structured around three objectives: • To conduct a survey among the population (including children and youth) to provide empirical data to support further research and shape the online campaign against intolerance; • To mobilise youth organisations and other stakeholders to build coalitions or partnerships that will support the youth campaign against intolerance, including online campaigns; • To organise workshops aimed at preparing and developing the competences of educators, youth leaders and multipliers to raise awareness of and address intolerance. In addition to this study, the project has thus included: • Consultations with human rights, children and youth organisations and public institutions concerned with children and youth policies about the relevance and possible focus of the project, notably to secure complementarity with and the continuation of previous similar projects; • A stakeholder meeting, public presentation and discussion on the findings of the studies and preparation of follow-up actions; • A training course on human rights education linking formal and non-formal education: methods, approaches and best practices have been shared and a local network for various actors in education has been created. Teachers, youth workers, educators and NGOs have been working together with the common aim of protecting children and human rights, combating hate speech and discrimination. As a result, the long-term co-operation between the two sectors has been strengthened and the awareness of the necessity of human rights education has been raised. • Workshops for journalists of online and printed media on how to report on religious minority issues in an appropriate manner, and on tools for identifying biased reporting and expressions of hate speech. A virtual “Pop-up newsroom” brought together 30 journalists and published a significant number of articles covering the topic of freedom of religion and conscience in Armenia. 6 • Mini-grants to youth organisations for the support of youth initiatives aiming at promoting tolerance for religious and cultural minorities and understanding of children’s rights. Five projects were implemented by and for young people around the country, such as a photo exhibition about religious diversity which took place in the only mosque of Armenia, a three-day training course for representatives of minority groups, and a one-day event reaching out to university students and encouraging them to become multipliers. • Visibility of the results and awareness raising of the results and issues through an internet site: www.nohate.am/freedom-of-religion; • The inclusion of discrimination on the basis of religion in the programme of the Armenian national campaign of the No Hate Speech Movement through the dissemination of educational resources and tools and support to the campaign in Armenia; • Community meetings by local civil society organisations in the four cities of Armavir, Gyumri, Ijevan and Vanadzor; 114 direct beneficiaries of community workshops have been sensitised towards the topic, and have been able to develop their understanding of the risks of hate speech towards religious minority children and youth, and learnt ways to address those. All project elements made use of the findings of the field study “Protection of the Rights of Children from Religious and Ethnic Minority Groups in Armenia” as a tool to state the need for preventive measures against discrimination of religious minority children. 7 Acknowledgments We wish to express our gratitude to the community leaders of the various religious and ethnic communities in Armenia who facilitated the study, and of course the young people who took part in the interviews and group meetings in the summer of 2013. The field study which this report covers was conducted within the framework of the Council of Europe project ‘Protection of the Rights of Children from Religious and Ethnic Minority Groups in Armenia’. The project is made possible by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Armenia. 8 executive summAry This study is a first attempt to look into cases of discrimination which children from ethnic and religious minority groups face in Armenia in the sphere of social, family, church and community life, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The particular purpose of the study was to learn what children and young people themselves think about discrimination and intolerance, since almost all other studies conducted so far have been based on experts’ surveys, and rarely reflect children’s opinions. Based on hands-on evidence, case studies and findings of previously conducted desk research, the report presents recommendations on the protection of the rights of children from ethnic and religious minority groups, and conclusions which would contribute to the reduction in cases of discrimination and intolerance in Armenia. The study involved discussions with eight focus groups held in five different ‘marzes’ (administrative regions) of Armenia, both in rural and urban settlements. The focus groups each consisted of seven to ten children, both male and female, with an average age of 15. To ensure representation of ethnic and minority children, six of the focus groups were designed to include Yezidi and Molokan ethnic community members, as well as individuals who identified themselves as members of the Evangelist, Pentecostalist, Word of Life and Jehovah’s Witness religious communities. Discussion topics such as social, family, church and community life were selected to take a holistic view of children’s rights in the sphere of everyday life. However, many of the cases outlined in the study do not always represent a pattern and cannot be attributed to the majority alone. The whole process was carefully designed by experts who took into consideration age group, community differences and the overall sensitivity of the topic. The results of this study suggest several trends which can be generalised, mainly occurring along the gender, age and urban-rural gradients. Some seemingly isolated cases in certain communities may appear to have more troubling consequences. The study also reveals certain differences in characteristics inherent to ethnic and religious minority groups. Thus, ethnic minorities who are mainly living in compact communities situated in remote regions of Armenia rarely become deliberate subjects of intolerance in the media, or targets of discrimination in schools or other public institutions. At the same time, because of their remoteness from large centres, they have less access to education, public services and goods. However, it 9