The head of social insurance supports the use of cards.

Several Armenian non-governmental organizations have launched a campaign against the government's proposed scheme on introducing social security cards in Armenia.

Headed by the Armenian-Aryan Order (founded in 1993 to promote traditional Armenian values), the organizations set up a union "Against Human Labeling" and claim that the creating of a single system of social security is immoral and violates human rights, privacy and religion and threatens the national and state security of the country.

"Several hundreds of citizens have already joined our protest," says Armen Avetisyan, the leader of the Armenian Aryan Order. "We will continue our efforts until the government ceases the process of the human labeling."

According to Avetisyan the introduction of the social security cards is unconstitutional.

"It is not said in the constitution that citizens have to have the social security card. Instead it is said that each citizen has a right for work, privacy, and getting benefits, etc. Soon, a person can be deprived of those things unless he has a card," Avetisyan said.

The idea of introducing the system of social security cards was suggested by the Government last year and first appeared as "identity cards". According to the reform each citizen must have the lifetime card which would contain a 10-digit number of a citizen's personal data.

The card is to be used for opening a bank account, to ensure that a person pays taxes, for applying for state benefits and identification at healthcare facilities.

The Government said issuing the cards would increase the efficiency of state-run agencies.

The Armenian Apostolic Church weighed in on the controversy, claiming that an "identity card" contradicts Biblical precepts, specifically found in the New Testament book of Revelation:

". . . and the beast will force all the people, poor and rich, small and great, slave and free to have a mark placed on their right hand or on their forehead. No one can buy or sell unless he has this mark that is the beast name or the number that he stands for the name."

The Government satisfied the Church's protest and changed the name of the "identity cards" into "social security cards." The Government also made sure that no social security cards' account would bear the "beast's number" 666 mentioned in the New Testament.

The law of Social Security Cards was passed by the Parliament last September. According to the law the use of the cards will become mandatory for all financial transactions including receiving pensions and family benefits, paying taxes and social insurance by July 1st of this year.

The Armenian Apostolic Church has confirmed that it has no objections to the Social Security Card. Still some organizations and individuals are not satisfied with the changes in the law.

"The idea remains the same -- to control people - whether it's called 'identity cards' or 'social security cards'," Avetisyan says."All the information will be gathered at one place which will make that database vulnerable for hackers and internal political forces. I agree that there was a need for regulating the system, but many people will not wish to make public their incomes, health condition, property, etc."

Artem Asatryan, head of the Social Insurance and Pensions Security Department of the Ministry of Social Security says those who protest the law either have serious motivation to hide their incomes from the government or just want to attract attention by making frivolous announcements.

"The SSC system is not a single database or computer which contains information about a citizen's various activities," he says. "The information about benefits, pensions, taxes, salaries, work experience will be available only to appropriate ministries," Asatryan says.

The head of the Armenian Aryan Order is against "human labeling".

Asatryan says that only a limited number of individuals working within the Ministry of Social Security and within their computer analytic center will have access to the SSC system computers.

A special SSC system software has been designed to provide protection for the information against unauthorized access.

About 500,000 citizens have applied for cards, and some 200,000 have been issued so far.

"All this is being done for making people's life and government's activity easier," Asatryan says.

The newly established "Against Human Labeling" union became the main opponents of the SSC. Its members say that for many countries (Russia, Greece, France and Ukraine), having such cards is not obligatory but is voluntary. Other countries, such as Ireland, Spain and Canada don't have such cards, nor are they used in any Muslim countries, the union argues.

"Against Human Labeling" says it will organize seminars, rallies, demonstrations and ask for the support of Diaspora.