About author: Muraz Safoev is a participant at the Academy of Young Diplomats in Warsaw and the Media Officer for the U.S.-based NGO Yazda.

For the previous two years, Armenian authorities have pursued criminal incitement accusations against Sashik Sultanyan, a Yazidi human rights activist. Sashik Sultanyan is the chairperson of the Yezidi Center for Human Rights, a nongovernmental organization that has been working in Armenia since 2018 on national minority rights and also the involvement of the Yazidi people in the social-political and economic life of the country. Armenia's National Security Service (NSS) initiated a criminal investigation against Sultanyan on October 3, 2020, in connection with an online conversation with the Yazidi journalist in June 2020. As Sultanyan explained in an interview with Caucasus Watch, the dialogue was published to several social media platforms without his consent and was ultimately erased. In his conversation, Sultanyan delivered a speech in which he discussed a range of issues he feels the local Yazidi minority in Armenia suffers from.

Sultanyan discussed the Yazidis' challenges in Armenia and voiced worry that, despite attempts, certain issues remained unaddressed. Nevertheless, the Kurmanji (northern dialect of the Kurdish languages) language conversation became a source of speculation due to inaccurate translation and distortion of the content, and what the NSS investigators classify as incitement of inter-ethnic hatred is simply part of human rights work: identifying issues, speaking out about them, and recommending solutions. It is noteworthy that the NSS was unable to locate a qualified translator of the language spoken by the country's largest minority group. Once we go further into the Yazidi minority and their rights in the state, it may be less unexpected that the investigators were unable to find a competent linguist for this case.

The Yazidis are a stateless nation spread across multiple nations and over half of the world's Yazidis live in Northern Iraq, while the largest Yazidi communities outside of Iraq are in the European Union (Germany, France, Belgium, and Sweden), as well as on the former Soviet Union's territory – in Russia, Georgia, and Armenia. (Pirbari D. & Mosaki N., 2019) In Armenia Yazidis communicate regularly in Kurmanji as reside primarily in rural parts of the country and are not active participants in the country's social life. Because Yazidis in Armenia converse mostly in Yazidi and their communities are largely Yazidi, they usually do not require any other language in everyday life. And, while this fact benefits their identity, Yazidis in Armenia, due to a low level of education, have been unable to build significant cultural institutions despite being the country's largest minority.

On the other hand, neither Armenian governmental agencies charged with accountable ethnonationalist policy aimed to assist Yazidis. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the conditions have been provided for the entire ethnie to actively emigrate. The Yazidi population actively abandoned their homes and the country as from 1989 to 2011, the Yazidis steadily migrated, primarily to Russia. According to Armenian census, in 1989 there were 56,126 Yazidis in Armenia, whereas in 2011 there were 35,508 Yazidis. The next census in Armenia will be conducted in October 2022, and it won't be surprising if the number of Yazidis has reduced to half or even less than in 1989.

Although Armenia's challenging geopolitical situation (Armenia has been under economic embargo from both Azerbaijan and Turkey for thirty years) may be the cause of huge Yazidi migration, their rights have also been violated in Armenian society. As a part of the treaty - The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, Armenia is responsible for preserving the rights of people belonging to national minorities. However, Council of Europe's Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for National Minorities, on its fourth visit to Armenia, raised various concerns regarding abuses of the rights of national minorities in Armenia.

Armenia's population is the most ethnically homogeneous of the post-Soviet states, with 98.1 percent of the population being Armenians. However, it has been an innovator in the Caucasus by being the first nation in the region to give its minority communities parliamentary participation. Nevertheless, the mechanism by which they were elected, which forced them to form an alliance with one of Armenia's existing political parties, raises questions about how successfully they can represent minority interests. For instance, the current Yazidi member of parliament of Armenia has been repeatedly criticized by Yazidi non-governmental organizations for not genuinely representing Yazidis in the Armenian parliament. (Murazi, B., 2021)

Why, then, would Armenia fail to provide Yazidis with an acceptable ethnonational policy, given that sustaining one percent of the population and conducting an adequate ethnonational policy should not be financially unprofitable? As stated previously, Yazidis themselves were unable to develop cultural institutions that might effectively counter the inefficient government's policies. For centuries, Yazidis were persecuted by various Muslim forces who labelled them kafirs (infidels) because of their religion, which Muslims equated with "Satan or devil worship" due to the Yazidi faith's central figure, Tawusî Melek, who has been associated by Muslims with Satan, leading to the Yazidis being labelled as Satan worshippers. (Spät, E., 2005) Due to numerous clashes with Muslims who forced them to convert, Yazidis found a way to preserve their religion and culture by rejecting education. Therefore, older generations cautioned children that education could cause them to lose contact with their heritage and convert to Islam. Notably, the majority of Yazidis still lack a university education. Popular among the Yazidi senior population is the notion that their children's academic careers may be negatively impacted by the Yazidi religion. Typically, Yazidi teenagers complete their studies in the middle of sixth grade, or at the level of lower secondary education as defined by the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), at which point male Yazidis begin working and female Yazidis take on housekeeping duties until they marry between the ages of fourteen and twenty.

In its report, the Advisory Committee paid special attention to Yazidi children who lack access to education. This issue was also noted by Sultanyan that the Yazidi community's schools lack language specialists. In Yazidi areas, the lack of preschool education facilities is a major problem, as Yazidi children who do not attend kindergarten struggle with their Armenian skills in first grade. According to a 2019 report from an NGO to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the majority of Yazidi children entered school with limited or no knowledge of Armenian. In the absence of preschool education in the majority of Yazidi communities, Yazidi children struggled in school and lagged behind their Armenian-speaking classmates. Consequently, without a proper education, it is impossible to protect your rights through political and social activity.

Secondly, Yazidis are a closed community that lives compactly, with the vast majority of their population residing in villages. Several Yazidi settlements are partially doomed to social and economic isolation, as seen by the absence of any infrastructure development. According to research conducted by the Cultural Center of the Caucasian Yazidi in 2020, Yazidis confront challenges with limited water and gas supplies, terrible road conditions, access to education in their original language, and the absence of any institution in the community where people may obtain information help in any field of consultation, as well as a shortage of medical clinics. Currently, there is no proper adoption and implementation of systematic programs to support Yazidis in order to improve their social and economic conditions and access to high-quality education, particularly at university level. In addition, neither proper minority language education nor teachers who conduct all lessons in minority languages are implemented.

However, as one responder to the aforementioned study remarked, “Nothing impedes the maintenance of Yazidi identity in Armenia, and Yazidis are free to hold their ceremonies and festivals without dispute or confrontation with Armenians.” (Cultural Center of the Caucasian Yazidi, 2020) Historically, Yazidis were persecuted by Muslims for centuries; they did not have their own country and lived on the land of other nations. This "essence of being a victim" can be observed as an element of Yazidi identity, which may also explain why they do not risk asking for something that could "infuriate the host" of the land. As a result, it appears that Yazidis do not claim any rights and are simply accustomed to living as they do, engaging in cattle breeding and agricultural activities without trying to adapt to their social and economic status. One could claim that they represent the state's insider society, which is excluded from political and social activities. Consequently, as stated in Sultanyan’s speech, Yazidi villages were unlawfully taken by oligarchs due to a lack of political representation, causing widespread poverty among the largely rural population.

Thirdly, this marginalization of the Yazidi community results in the absence of full-fledged institutions for maintaining interaction at the regional and local levels of government between the Yazidi community as a minority and the Armenian nation. The state does not completely design and implement programs and initiatives that would create favorable conditions for Yazidi women and men to express and develop their culture, language, religion, and customs. Adopting comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation, taking into account views of the civil society and legislative measures created by non-governmental organizations, will unquestionably boost the position of the Yazidis. In their official statement, the Council of Europe delegation urged Armenian authorities to engage in extensive consultations with civil society and national minority organizations prior to and during the drafting of the Law on National Minorities, to ensure that legislation affecting the enjoyment of rights by members of national minorities is fully compliant with international standards, and to develop a proactive approach to promote minority rights protection in accordance with the Framework Convention. 

The activities of nationalist organizations and groups propagating racism, xenophobia, and the superiority of Armenian people over others is an additional concern for ethnic minorities in Armenia. Authorities and other actors frequently cite the fact that ethnic Armenians comprise an absolute majority of the population to justify and explain their inability to respect the rights of ethnic minorities. In Armenia, the term "Yazidi" is usually applied as an insult by non-minority individuals. In parliament, for instance, a journalist asked an MP if it was appropriate that the program "What, Where, When?" be broadcast in Russian on Armenian television. "Are you truly so low-leveled that you believe such a thing? I wouldn't be surprised if a Yazidi asked this question on the street, but do you actually believe that?"

According to the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly-Vanadzor, following the 2018 Velvet Revolution in Armenia, groups sponsored by the former government increased their efforts to organize various actions, accompanied by hatred and threats of violence, against human rights organizations and Open Society Foundations (OSF) that support their work. They have been striving to sabotage and obstruct the reestablishment of democracy in Armenia by continuing to devalue democracy and human rights and by promoting the concept of ethnic nationalism. As minorities are not prevalent in Armenia, they do not openly oppose minorities, but they do oppose the concept of NGOs responsible for human rights activities. In Armenia, the Karabakh conflict has pushed society toward more extremist interpretations of ethnic nationalism, which may legitimize far-right ideology in public and political debate and provide possibilities for radicalization. The Veto Movement, one of these far-right organizations notorious in Armenia for its violent antipathy toward human rights activists, initiated an investigation against Sultanyan. Simultaneously, not only have far-right groups increased their activities, but so have democratic principles and the Yezidi Human Rights Center, which was created expressly after the Velvet Revolution.

Continuing to analyze the Sultanyan case, it also demonstrates that the Armenian government’s commitment to human rights and national minorities is insufficient. To begin with, while the inquiry began in October 2020, the authorities did not alert Sultanyan about it until May 2021. In response to an official request for information dated November 21, 2020, the National Security Service verified to Sultanyan that a criminal investigation was ongoing but did not offer any more information or a copy of the decision to initiate the investigation. Sultanyan was notified by the NSS that he lacked procedural standing in the investigation and hence could not request more information about the case.

Secondly, the persecution began against him as early as April 2020, when, in the absence of a criminal case, operative-intelligence steps against him were conducted on abstract grounds. Thirdly, the reluctance to provide information to Sultanyan, even while he was under investigation, violated Sultanyan's rights to a fair trial and an adequate remedy under European Convention on Human Rights articles 6 and 13. Last but not least, Sashik Sultanyan has previously been targeted for defending the rights of national minorities and highlighting their concerns, whereas the Armenian government, as a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, is legally required to guarantee freedom of expression.

Sashik Sultanyan’s case resonated beyond the borders of Armenia and attracted the attention of international organizations and on November 23, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe Dunja Mijatović sought an explanation from Armenia's Prosecutor General concerning the relationship between the charges against Sultanyan and his human rights activism. Later, the Republic of Armenia's Prosecutor General's Office responded that the interview Sultanyan provided to the Yazidi journalist cannot be construed as criticism or human rights advocacy and does not fall within the parameters of a lawful practice of the right to freedom of speech. He said that, given Sultanyan's position and power among the Yazidis, his interview may have a psychological effect on the Yazidis' attitudes and perceptions, resulting in the formation of a negative image of Armenians and Armenia among the Yazidis and inciting animosity. In an interview with Caucasus Watch, Sultanyan stated that the psychological assessment was conducted based on his inaccurately translated written speech, which makes it unreasonable to analyze the aforementioned allegations.

Currently, the case against Sashik Sultanyan is still continuing, with the next hearing scheduled for 15:30 on August 8, 2022, during which the court will hear testimony from five witnesses. During the June 20 court session, conversations in the Yazidi language were examined as evidence without the use of an interpreter. On this basis, the defence sought and the court revised the method for evaluating the evidence: the court questioned the witnesses in Sashik Sultanyan's case prior to employing an interpreter and decoding the discussion. The court summoned H. Tamoyan, a translator of the Yazidi language, as a witness. Thus, Tamoyan noted that the translation of S. Sultanyan's speech was incorrect, emphasising a lack of knowledge rather than intentionality.

In her article, one of the hearing visitors, Anahit Chilingaryan, stated that “the evidence that I heard the prosecutor present at the trial leaves little doubt that the incitement charges are a flimsy cover for an ulterior motive behind the prosecution, where the apparent aim of the complaint was to discredit rights defenders and in particular those that get funding from the OSF. She provided several examples of this discrediting, including a recording played by the prosecutor from a news conference held by Narek Malyan and an ethnic Yazidi in 2020, in which the Yazidi said that Sultanyan believed everything was proper for Yazidis in Armenia until he received funding from the Open Society Foundations - Armenia in 2019. "Yet, Sultanyan has been campaigning for Yazidi rights in Armenia and internationally since 2013, and in 2018 he formed the Yezidi Center for Human Rights, a non-governmental organisation," Chilangaryan explains.

Sashik Sultanyan might face up to six years in jail if convicted. The authorities accused the Yazidi activist of inciting hatred for statements he made that raised human rights concerns over the community's treatment. The primary reason for this investigation could be that the organization Sultanyan leads is one of the few ones in Armenia, not only among Yazidis, but among all national minorities, that attempts to address minority issues from the perspective of human rights, and this could be the primary reason why this process was initiated against him. In any event, despite the fact that this issue is still pending, Sultanyan was able to participate in several international conferences relating to human rights activities.

Additionally, following the June 2021 elections, which were convincingly won by the ruling Civil Contract party, VETO and other extreme right-wing Armenian organizations became less active. In light of this, fewer claims intended to intimidate Mr. Sultanyan and others who speak for the rights of minorities are anticipated.  It is hoped that Armenian authorities would do more to eliminate national and ethnic hate, which is a top priority for any government. However, this cannot be accomplished by criminalizing or otherwise abusing the rights of individuals who discuss difficult topics. Currently, it is debatable how other organizations that operate or intend to work on human rights concerns would behave in light of the possibility that a similar action may be taken against them as well.