Activist condemns 'fundamental rights violations' at Hovhannavank

A leading Armenian human rights activist has strongly condemned the forcible removal of a man from a church service attended by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, calling it a grave violation of fundamental freedoms.

In an interview with Panorama.am on Monday, Nina Karapetyants, a veteran human rights defender and co-founder of the Nzhar Constitutional Movement, said Sunday’s incident at the Hovhannavank Monastery amounted to a breach of multiple fundamental rights, including freedom of speech, religion, assembly, thought, conscience and protection against discrimination.

The confrontation occurred when Hayk Dorunts interrupted a liturgy celebrated by defrocked priest Stepan Asatryan, shouting that the cleric had no right to officiate the service. Security and law enforcement officers quickly intervened, covering his mouth, and forcibly removing him from the church and its grounds. Pashinyan and his teammates were in attendance.

Karapetyants described the episode as “a clear indicator for international human rights groups that Armenia currently bears no resemblance to a democracy.”

“People with differing views have the right to hold a peaceful assembly in the same place,” she said. “The police’s duty is not to remove them but to ensure the safety and normal course of such gatherings. Instead, we saw a citizen’s mouth being covered. A follower of the Armenian Apostolic Church was expelled from property belonging to that same church. It’s unacceptable and deserves strong condemnation.”

The activist stressed that while many incidents could be interpreted differently, this case was unequivocally a blatant violation of fundamental rights.

Karapetyants also criticized Justice Minister Srbuhi Galyan for claiming not to have seen footage of the event, saying that many officials in Pashinyan’s government “choose not to see” such abuses.

“Since 2020, the people remaining in Pashinyan’s team have no value system and no connection to the Republic of Armenia or Armenian identity,” she said. “They are simply holding office for their résumés. The chief prosecutor General turns a blind eye, the interior minister pretends not to see and even the human rights defender issues puzzling statements. It’s a bitter reality.”

While acknowledging that previous governments were not immune to similar failings, Karapetyants stressed that the current political system must be rejected entirely.

“We need to form a new system where the prosecutor general and anti-corruption agencies no longer serve as tools for those in power,” she concluded.