Religious rights group alleges crackdown on Armenian church, names political prisoners

By Lia Avagyan

A new report by Christian Solidarity International (CSI), a Switzerland-based human rights group focused on religious freedom, alleges that Armenia’s government is carrying out a campaign of “state-sponsored persecution” against the Armenian Apostolic Church, naming a list of what it describes as political prisoners and warning of democratic backsliding.

“Not since the worst excesses of Soviet rule has the Armenian Apostolic Church faced state-sponsored persecution of such depth and intensity,” the report concludes. Published as European leaders gather in Yerevan for the eighth European Political Community summit on May 4 and the first EU-Armenia summit on May 5, the document seeks to draw international attention to the issue.

In a readout accompanying the report, CSI said it had compiled “the first list of known political prisoners in Armenia published by an international human rights group,” in consultation with the Armenian Center for Political Rights. Those named include clergymen, relatives of clergy, podcasters, and church workers detained in what the report describes as a broader campaign targeting the church.

The report was authored by Peter Flew, an international lawyer specializing in religious freedom, and is based on a recent fact-finding mission to Armenia. It combines legal analysis with historical context, arguing that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government is seeking to “subordinate the church to state control.”

CSI’s director for public advocacy, Joel Veldkamp, linked the report’s findings to the presence of European leaders in Yerevan. “European leaders attending well-staged political events in downtown Yerevan should know that they are within walking distance of the prison where Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan is being held on manufactured charges,” he said.

According to the report, tensions escalated in May 2025, when Pashinyan began publicly calling for Catholicos Karekin II, the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, to resign. The report says authorities have since arrested one-third of Armenia’s archbishops, imposed travel bans on senior clergy, and attempted to create divisions within the church.

The crackdown, it argues, followed remarks by the Catholicos at a conference in Switzerland, where he advocated for the right of return of Armenians displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh after Azerbaijan’s 2023 military operation. The report notes that Pashinyan has described discussions of a return as “dangerous” to peace, as his government prioritizes a peace treaty with Azerbaijan.

In its broader assessment, the report cites concerns raised by other organizations. On March 12, 2026, the International Observatory for Democracy in Armenia warned of “the apparent weaponization of the judiciary and security forces by the government against political opponents,” pointing to signs of democratic backsliding.

CSI President John Eibner frames the developments in geopolitical terms, arguing in the report’s introduction that the campaign against the church aligns with regional pressures. The Armenian Apostolic Church, he writes, “poses an obstacle to Turkey and Azerbaijan’s plans” and is therefore a target for weakening Armenia’s resistance to a “Turkish-led order” in the region.

The report concludes with a series of recommendations to European and U.S. policymakers. These include calls to publicly affirm the church’s right to choose its leadership without state interference, press for the release of detained clergy and other prisoners, and increase engagement with independent human rights groups in Armenia.

“Now is the moment for principled and coordinated action,” Flew writes. “Armenia’s security and prosperity will not be strengthened by subordinating the Armenian Apostolic Church. Instead, they depend on safeguarding the fundamental rights of all Armenians, as well as their national church.”

The Armenian government has not immediately responded to the report’s findings.