American-Canadian Lawyer Arrives in Yerevan to Defend Armenia’s Church and “Children of Christ”

On Sunday, August 10, internationally recognized human rights lawyer Robert “Bob” Ross Amsterdam arrived in Armenia with a clear mission: to defend the Armenian Apostolic Church and those who have been wrongfully detained for standing up for their faith.

Amsterdam, the founder and managing partner of Amsterdam & Partners LLP, is known worldwide for taking on governments that abuse human rights. His firm is based in Washington, D.C., and London, and his career spans decades of political advocacy and defending religious freedoms.

Speaking in Yerevan, Amsterdam made his purpose clear:

“My primary mission in Armenia is to defend the Church, defend those men and supporters of the Church — the Children of Christ — who have been wrongfully detained,” he said. “When people are religious and care about their country and religion the way Mr. Karapetyan and others care, and their businesses are raided and attacked, there is something wrong. There is a need for dialogue between the government and the Church.”

The Armenian Apostolic Church is not just a religious institution — it is the beating heart of the Armenian nation. It has preserved the Armenian language, history, and identity for over 1,700 years. For Armenians worldwide, it stands as a pillar of survival against centuries of invasion, genocide, and cultural destruction.

Yet today, the Church is under attack not from foreign invaders, but from its own government. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s administration has launched raids, investigations, and smear campaigns against clergymen and their supporters — a move that many see as an attempt to weaken one of the last remaining independent institutions in Armenia.

Amsterdam warned of the dangers:

“The Church in Armenia is central — central to the language, central to the history, central to the people of not only Armenia, but of Christendom. All men of faith must protect the Church in Armenia.”

This is not Amsterdam’s first battle for religious freedom.

“I am defending the Church in Ukraine. I defended the Orthodox Church 45 years ago. Unfortunately today, there is a list of countries where the Church is under attack. There is no more sacred duty than to protect the Church and to protect the rule of law,” he said.

His legal career has taken him into direct conflict with authoritarian regimes. He has been arrested in Russia, banned from entering seven countries, and faced political pressure across continents. But he remains unfazed.

“For pressure to have an effect, there has to be someone who would bend to pressure — and we don’t bend in defense of religion or in defense of the rule of law,” he declared.

Amsterdam also addressed the wider national crisis — the plight of Armenian prisoners still held in Azerbaijan nearly a year after the forced depopulation of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). Despite the signing of a U.S.-brokered declaration in Washington between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the agreement did not mention Armenian prisoners of war or the rights of Artsakh’s displaced population.

“Armenia still has Christian hostages in Azerbaijan,” Amsterdam reminded. “We should all pray for their safe return.”

For many Armenians, this silence is yet another betrayal by Prime Minister Pashinyan, whose government has repeatedly signed agreements that concede to Azerbaijani demands without securing the release of captives or ensuring the right of Artsakh Armenians to return home.

Despite the government’s open hostility toward the Church, Amsterdam says he is “hopeful” for dialogue with Armenian authorities. But he made it clear that any conversation must aim to protect the Church and the faithful, not dismantle them.

“I am here hopeful that we can begin a dialogue, hopeful that these charges can be dismissed, and hopeful of the necessity we all have to protect the Church,” he said.

For many in Armenia, Amsterdam’s arrival is a sign that the fight for faith, history, and national dignity is not over. At a time when Pashinyan’s government seeks to sideline the Church, dismantle Artsakh, and appease Azerbaijan, his message is simple but urgent — Armenia’s spiritual heart must be defended.

“As you get older in life, religion, the Church, faith — they become that much more important. And people in government often try to make the Church a political issue. But the duty to protect it is sacred,” Amsterdam said.

In a nation still grieving the loss of Artsakh, still praying for its hostages, and still struggling to preserve its identity, the defense of the Armenian Church is not just about faith — it is about survival.

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