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Armenia: Fedoines/Fedoins, an Armenian nationalist group

No references to the word fedoin/fedoine spelt as such could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. There are, however, references to several transliterated words which are similar in pronunciation.

According to The Encyclopaedia of Islam, a Fidai is "one who offers up his life for another, a name used of special devotees in several religious and political groups" (1991, 882). According to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, a fedayee or fedayeen is "a commando or guerrilla, especially an Arab commando operating in the Middle East" (2000). This source states that the word is rooted in the Arabic term fida, meaning "one who sacrifices himself" (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 2000).

Human Rights Watch refers to Armenian fedayeen in two reports, although dated, entitled Azerbaijan: Seven Years of Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh (Dec. 1994) and Playing the "Communal Card": Communal Violence and Human Rights (Apr. 1995). In the first, HRW interviewed Armenian "uniformed soldiers at random" in the streets of Yerevan, Armenia's capital, and found that some were "truly volunteers, 'fedayeen' who had been fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh for four or five years" (HRW Dec. 1994). The latter report refers to the fedayeenas Armenian guerrilla groups operating along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border who were resisting an ordered disarmament in the early 1990s (ibid. Apr. 1995). Neither report provides further details on the fedayeen.

According to the opinion of a Yezidi Kurdish author writing in a German journal entitled Dengê Êzîdiyan (Forum of Yezidism), a "nationalistic and reactionary movement emerged" following the reforms catalysed by Gorbachov's perestroika of the 1980s (Dengê Êzîdiyan June-July 1997). The author discusses the role of "armed militants," or fedayee, who, in the author's opinion, "had hatred for non-Armenians" and played a role in expelling "hundreds of thousands of non-Armenian people from Armenia" (ibid.). In the opinion of the author, the fedayee were:

... thieves, murderers and crooks. They had a dark past and accomplished nothing worthwhile. Although they got arrested a few times, each time they were out, these armed thugs insulted the minorities. Their job was like that of a wolf, to attack the herd of sheep without a shepherd. It seemed that these aggressors were not going to stop there. Then, the gangs and armed bandits took over the public spaces and intensified their hatred and aggression.

With the help of the state, they would attack military and police stations to confiscate arms and ammunition. They did a lot of cruelty to peaceful and innocent people. They burned the homes of the innocent and wrote on the doors: "Runaway, go; otherwise it will be your end." They robbed a lot of people, confiscated their land and property by force, took away their machinery. And the people could not defend themselves and their rights (ibid.).

Corroborating information which specifically mentions the role of fedayee or fedayeen during this period in Armenian history could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 2000. 4th Edition. "Fedayee." <http://www.bartleby.com/61/55/F0065500.html> [Accessed 24 Sept. 2002]

Dengê Êzîdiyan [Berlin]. June-July 1997. "The Situation of the Yezidis in Armenia." <http://web2.isaja.de/english/articles/sit_armenia.html> [Accessed 24 Sept. 2002]

The Encyclopaedia of Islam. 1991. New ed. Vol 2. Edited by B. Lewis, Ch. Pellat and J. Schacht. Leiden: E. J. Brill.

Human Rights Watch (HRW). April 1995. Playing the "Communal Card": Communal Violence and Human Rights. <http://www.hrw.org/reports/1995/General.htm> [Accessed 25 Sept. 2002]

_____. December 1994. Azerbaijan: Seven Years of Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. New York: HRW.

Additional Sources Consulted

Europa World Yearbook 2002

LEXIS/NEXIS

Poltical Handbook of the World 1999

World News Connection (WNC)

Internet sites including:

AREA Handbook, Library of Congress

Armenia Daily Digest

Armenian Cultural Association of Ottawa

Armenian National Committee of America

Armenian Weekly

Azerbaijan International

Cambridge Scientific Abstracts (CSA)

CIVITAS: Cultural Diversity in Armenia

Eurasianet.org

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Snark News

Topics: Armenian,