E/CN.4/2006/5/Add.1 Page 3 Introduction 1. This addendum to the report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief gives an account of communications transmitted by the Special Rapporteur between 12 November 2004 and 30 November 2005. It also contains the replies received from Governments to her communications by 30 January 2006, as well as observations of the Special Rapporteur where considered appropriate. 2. Owing to restrictions on the length of documents, the Special Rapporteur has been obliged to slightly reduce details of communications sent and received. As a result, replies from Governments could not be published in their entirety. SUMMARY OF CASES TRANSMITTED AND REPLIES RECEIVED Armenia Communication sent on 9 June 2005 3. The Special Rapporteur had received information according to which, on 21 June 2004, Jehovah's Witness conscientious objector Mr. Armen Grigoryan, who refused military service after being called up, was summoned to the military recruitment office in Yerevan. Within 24 hours, he was taken out of Armenia against his will and transferred to a military unit across the border in Nagorno-Karabakh. He was beaten at a base in Martuni region of eastern Karabakh upon his refusal to swear the military oath and to sing the national anthem. He was later stripped and forced to stand in his underwear in front of about 1,800 soldiers and to tell them why he refused to do military service. He escaped from his unit and fled back to Armenia in August 2004. On 28 April 2005, he decided to give himself in and went with his lawyer to the police station in Yerevan. He was immediately arrested and taken to Stepanakert in Nagorno-Karabakh, where he was held in solitary confinement in an investigation cell at the time of the communication. 4. The Special Rapporteur was further informed that nineteen Jehovah's Witnesses were still in prison for refusing military service on grounds of conscience. 5. In addition, of the 24 young men who opted for the alternative labour service in 2004, 22 were Jehovah's Witnesses who believed assurances by officials that the service was of civil character. Many expressed concern about the terms of the service. For instance, Mr. Vahe Grigoryan, Mr. Garazat Azatyan, Mr. Hayk Khachatryan and Mr. Garik Melkonyan, who were assigned to the Vardenis psychiatric hospital, had to wear military-style uniforms, carry identity cards marked "Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia", and were treated as soldiers. They were regularly visited by the military police and were given degrading work. Some have abandoned this alternative service and are therefore at risk of prosecution. On 6 May 2005, Mr. Narek Alaverdyan and Mr. Arsen Sevoyan were immediately arrested by the military police after they refused to continue their alternative service.