FORUM 18 NEWS SERVICE, Oslo, Norway
The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one's belief or religion
The right to join together and express one's belief
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Friday
AZERBAIJAN: Yet another conscientious objector case set for Strasbourg?
On 8 June, Azerbaijan's Supreme Court rejected Jehovah's Witness Seymur
Mammadov's final appeal against his conviction for refusing compulsory
military service on grounds of conscience. Initially jailed, he is now
halfway through a one-year suspended sentence. He is considering an appeal
to the European Court of Human Rights, which found in favour of seven
conscientious objectors jailed or given suspended sentences earlier. The
ECtHR judgments "called for legislative action on civilian service as an
alternative to military service". No draft Alternative Service Law has been
presented to Parliament.
AZERBAIJAN: Yet another conscientious objector case set for Strasbourg?
By Felix Corley, Forum 18
Convicted and jailed after refusing compulsory military service on grounds
of conscience, Jehovah's Witness Seymur Mammadov failed to have his
conviction and punishment overturned in his final appeal at Azerbaijan's
Supreme Court on 8 June. The 23-year-old Mammadov – who spent nearly 12
weeks in jail and is now in the middle of one year's probation after his
jail term was changed to a suspended sentence - is now considering a case
to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has already found that the
regime violated the human rights of seven Jehovah's Witnesses who had
refused compulsory military service on grounds of conscience and sought in
vain to do an alternative civilian service. The ECtHR issued its most
recent judgments – in the cases of Emil Mehdiyev and Vahid Abilov – in
October 2021 (see below).
Although the regime paid the compensation specified by the ECtHR in 2019 to
the first five conscientious objectors, the Council of Europe is not
satisfied that the judgment has been fully implemented. "The Court pointed
out that such a situation in principle calls for legislative action by the
respondent State in order to fulfil its obligations to enable the
applicants and other persons in the same situation to benefit from the
right to conscientious objection" (see below).
In a report on Azerbaijan made public on 21 June 2023, the Council of
Europe's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) reminded
the regime of ECtHR judgments that "called for legislative action on
civilian service as an alternative to military service in Azerbaijan" (see
below).
No draft Alternative Service Law has been presented to the Milli Majlis and
no draft Law is listed for future consideration on the Milli Majlis website
(see below).
ECRI noted that the regime had informed it that a Working Group had been
formed in the Milli Majlis (Parliament) to draft an Alternative Service
Law. Zahid Oruj, chair of the Milli Majlis Human Rights Committee, and
parliamentary assistants were unable to give Forum 18 any information about
the Working Group, including who is on it and if it has made any progress
in drafting such a Law (see below).
Forum 18 asked Chingiz Asgarov, the government agent to the ECtHR, what
steps Azerbaijan is taking to complete its execution of this ECtHR
decision. Forum 18 received no immediate response (see below).
Forum 18 again wrote to the Human Rights Ombudsperson's Office in Baku
asking what action it is taking (if any) to ensure that Azerbaijan
introduces a civilian alternative service for those unable to serve in the
army on grounds of conscience. Forum 18 received no immediate response (see
below).
(In 2018 the Sub-Committee on Accreditation of the Global Alliance of
National Human Rights Institutions downgraded the Azerbaijani
Ombudsperson's Office
(
)
to B status because it "has not adequately spoken out in a manner that
effectively promotes protection for all human rights, including in response
to credible allegations of human rights violations having been committed by
government authorities".)
Council of Europe obligation ignored
Military service of 18 months (12 months for those with higher education)
is compulsory for all young men. Article 76, Part 2 of Azerbaijan's
Constitution declares: "If the beliefs of citizens come into conflict with
service in the army then in some cases envisaged by law alternative service
instead of regular army service is permitted." However, no mechanism exists
to enact this provision.
Ahead of its accession to the Council of Europe in January 2001, Azerbaijan
promised
(
) "to adopt,
within two years of accession, a law on alternative service in compliance
with European standards and, in the meantime, to pardon all conscientious
objectors presently serving prison terms or serving in disciplinary
battalions, allowing them instead to choose (when the law on alternative
service has come into force) to perform non-armed military service or
alternative Civilian service".
Azerbaijan has never done this, and conscientious objectors to military
service have been repeatedly prosecuted and even jailed under Criminal Code
Article 321.1. This states
(
): "Evasion without
lawful grounds of call-up to military service or of mobilisation, with the
purpose of evading serving in the military, is punishable by imprisonment
for up to two years [in peacetime]".
United Nations (UN) human rights bodies, as well as the Council of Europe's
Venice Commission and its European Commission against Racism and
Intolerance (ECRI), have repeatedly criticised Azerbaijan's failure to
introduce a civilian alternative to compulsory military service (see
below).
In August 2019, the Baku-based Human Rights Club
(
), which Rasul Jafarov heads, published its
own proposal for the text of an Alternative Service Law to try to put the
issue on the public agenda. "We have had no response to our proposal from
official people," Jafarov told Forum 18 in April 2020
(
).
Jehovah's Witness Royal Karimov was seized and handed over to the army on
25 July 2022 – two days after his 18th birthday - despite telling
conscription officials in Gadabay, the police and personnel in the military
unit that he cannot perform military service on grounds of conscience but
is ready to perform a civilian alternative service. He was finally released
from the military unit in Ganca
(
) on 1 November 2022,
more than three months later.
On 29 November 2022, Karimov received official documentation from the State
Service for Mobilisation and Conscription confirming that he is medically
unfit for military service and giving the date of 14 October 2027 for his
next medical examination. On 30 November 2022, Karimov filed an
administrative complaint about the way he had been treated to the head
office of the State Service for Mobilisation and Conscription, Jehovah's
Witnesses told Forum 18.
More than ten other Jehovah's Witness young men have faced summonses, often
repeated medical examinations and restrictions
(
) (including bans on
leaving Azerbaijan) after telling the State Service for Mobilisation and
Conscription that they cannot perform compulsory military service and that
they are willing to perform an alternative, civilian service. At least one,
who did not know he was banned from leaving Azerbaijan, was stopped on the
border with Georgia in 2019 and sent back. He is still banned from leaving
Azerbaijan.
Supreme Court upholds conviction for refusing military service on grounds
of conscience
At the Supreme Court on 8 June 2023, Jehovah's Witness Seymur Afqan oglu
Mammadov (born 16 August 2000) lost his final appeal against his conviction
and punishment for refusing military service on grounds of conscience.
Mammadov – who is from the north-western district of Goranboy – was
summoned in May 2022 by Goranboy District State Service for Mobilisation
and Conscription. He informed officers about his religious position as a
conscientious objector to military service who is ready to perform civilian
alternative service, as provided for by the Constitution and the decisions
of the European Court of Human Rights. He was subsequently informed that he
had been restricted from leaving the country.
On 22 September 2022, Goranboy District Court sentenced Mammadov under
Criminal Code Article 321.1
(
) to nine months'
imprisonment. He was taken to prison, where prison officials would not let
him have a Bible or receive letters, Jehovah's Witnesses told Forum 18. He
appealed against his sentence.
Mammadov was brought to Ganca Appeal Court for the final hearing on 12
December 2022. The prosecutor stated that he supported the decision of
Goranboy District Court but, given Mammadov's age and positive character
references, he requested a two-year suspended sentence. The court partially
satisfied the appeal and replaced the nine-month jail term with a one-year
suspended sentence
(
).
Mammadov was released in the courtroom immediately after the hearing after
nearly 12 weeks in jail. His probation of one year was deemed to begin on
12 December 2022 and he has a criminal record.
Mammadov's final appeal was registered at the Supreme Court in Baku on 14
January 2023, according to court records. Officials fitted him with an
electronic tag on 16 January, Jehovah's Witnesses told Forum 18.
On 8 June, a panel of three judges at the Supreme Court in Baku, chaired by
Judge Ilkin Rajabov, heard Mammadov's final appeal against his conviction
and punishment.
"The accused was repeatedly summoned to the State Service for Mobilisation
and Conscription and Prosecutor's Office and arrived at the place where he
was called quickly every time, he never tried to avoid military service by
running away or hiding, he simply asked the authorities to provide him with
the opportunity to undergo alternative civilian service in compliance with
the internal and international obligations assumed by the state," the
defence noted in court, according to the decision seen by Forum 18. "The
accused should not be punished because there is no alternative civilian
service law."
Mammadov's defence cited the constitutional guarantees of the right not to
serve in the army on grounds of conscience, as well as those enshrined in
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European
Convention on Human Rights. It also cited the European Court of Human
Rights judgments in earlier cases. However, the Court rejected his
arguments, claiming that because of armed conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh
which broke out again in September 2020, "restriction of alternative
service of citizens should be considered reasonable".
The Supreme Court left Mammadov's one-year suspended sentence unchanged.
Now he has exhausted all domestic remedies, Seymur Mammadov is considering
an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, Jehovah's
Witnesses told Forum 18.
"The problem of lack of legislation on alternatives to military service in
Azerbaijan"
On 17 October 2019, in the case of Mushfiq Mammadov and others (Application
No. 14604/08
(
)), the European
Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg found in favour of five
Jehovah's Witnesses punished through the courts between 2007 and 2013 for
refusing compulsory military service on grounds of conscience. Four of them
had been jailed, while the fifth (Mammadov) had been given a suspended
prison sentence and a fine. The judgment covered four cases
(
) (one involving two
applicants), which the Court considered together.
Although the regime paid the compensation specified by the ECtHR to the
five conscientious objectors, the Council of Europe is not satisfied that
the judgment has been implemented.
The Court "observed that the present case highlights the problem of lack of
legislation on alternatives to military service in Azerbaijan, noting that
the enactment of such a law corresponds to the commitment entered into by
Azerbaijan on its accession to the Council of Europe and stems from the
Article 76 § 2 of the Azerbaijani Constitution," the Council of Europe
notes.
"The Court pointed out that such a situation in principle calls for
legislative action by the respondent State in order to fulfil its
obligations to enable the applicants and other persons in the same
situation to benefit from the right to conscientious objection."
In such cases, the "respondent state" (in this case Azerbaijan) is required
to prepare an action plan. "An action plan is a document setting out the
measures the respondent state has taken and intends to take to implement a
judgment of the European Court of Human Rights, including an indicative
timetable for the adoption and implementation of those measures," the
Council of Europe explains.
"An action report is a report by the respondent state setting out all the
measures taken to implement a judgment of the European Court of Human
Rights and/or an explanation of why no measures, or no further measures,
are necessary."
In the case of Mushfiq Mammadov and others, "Action plan/report is
awaited," the Council of Europe notes
(
).
Forum 18 asked Chingiz Asgarov, the Azerbaijani government's Agent to the
ECtHR, in writing on the afternoon of 13 July what steps Azerbaijan is
taking to complete its execution of this ECtHR decision. Forum 18 received
no response by the middle of the working day in Baku of 14 July.
ECRI renews concern over lack of alternative service, calls for
"legislative action"
Officials have given mixed signals on whether they intend to fulfil the
obligation to the Council of Europe to introduce a civilian alternative
service for those who cannot serve in the army on grounds of conscience.
In its latest report on Azerbaijan
(
) adopted on 29
March 2023 and made public on 21 June, the Council of Europe's European
Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) noted its continuing
concern over the situation of conscientious objectors, particularly over
those who had been jailed. It said the regime had taken "no further steps"
since ECRI raised the issue in its 2019 report
(
).
ECRI reminded the regime of the 2019 ECtHR judgment in the case of Mushfiq
Mammadov and others, noting that its implementation is still pending. It
added: "ECRI strongly encourages the authorities to consider the
observations made by the Court under Article 46 of the [European]
Convention [on Human Rights], which called for legislative action on
civilian service as an alternative to military service in Azerbaijan."
In its response to ECRI on the initial draft of the report, the regime
noted: "The working group has been established in the Milli Majlis for the
purpose of drafting the law ‘On Alternative Service'."
Is Working Group working on new Alternative Service Law?
No election in Azerbaijan – including February 2020 Milli Majlis
(Parliament) elections - has ever been found to be free and fair
(
) by Organisation for
Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) election observers.
Despite the regime's insistence to ECRI that a Working Group in the Milli
Majlis is working on a new Alternative Service Law, Forum 18 has been
unable to find out who is on the Working Group and what progress (if any)
it has made.
No draft Alternative Service Law has been presented to the Milli Majlis and
no draft Law is listed for future consideration on the Milli Majlis
website.
Zahid Oruj, a Milli Majlis deputy who chairs its Human Rights Committee,
told Forum 18 on 11 July that the Working Group is not under his Committee.
He added that he does not have "detailed information about the latest
update of the issue. We have no details of the endeavours of the re-set up
Working Group." He referred all questions to Ziyafat Asgarov, head of the
Milli Majlis Defence, Security and Anti-Corruption Committee.
Asgarov's assistant told Forum 18 on 13 July that Asgarov is on holiday. An
assistant to the Defence, Security and Anti-Corruption Committee told Forum
18 the same day that he had no information about the Working Group. He said
that as many colleagues are on holiday, it is impossible to find any
information.
Forum 18 again wrote to the Human Rights Ombudsperson's Office in Baku on
the afternoon of 13 July asking what action it is taking (if any) to ensure
that Azerbaijan introduces a civilian alternative service for those unable
to serve in the army on grounds of conscience. Forum 18 received no
response by the middle of the working day in Baku of 14 July.
Forum 18 earlier asked the Human Rights Ombudsperson's Office the same
question. Its 10 October 2022 response, signed by chief of staff Aydin
Safikhanly, did not answer this question
(
).
Lone parliamentary voice?
On 30 March 2020, Siyavush Novruzov, a senior ruling party politician, made
a brief remark to parliament, the Milli Majlis, that an Alternative Service
Law should be adopted
(
).
Novruzov repeated the call in the Milli Majlis on 5 May 2022, according to
the record of the session. "There are people whose health allows them, but
their other views do not allow them to carry weapons," he told deputies.
"In the past, of course, our territories were under occupation. That's why
we approached it completely differently. But after we are freed from the
occupation and our territorial integrity is ensured, I think that we should
also adopt a law on alternative service."
Novruzov explained to deputies that such alternative service would be
carried out not in the military but in other parts of the economy,
including health care. However, he proposed that the individual performing
alternative civilian service serve for longer than those performing
military service. "This is how he compensates for his place," he insisted.
The right of those with conscientious objections not to be forced to take
part in military structures or activity derives from Article 18 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which
enshrines "Freedom of thought, conscience and religion". In states which
have an alternative civilian service, such service must be open to all who
object to military service on grounds of conscience and must not be
punitive
(
)
(for example by its conditions or duration).
Forum 18 wished to find out from Novruzov why he was proposing that those
performing alternative civilian service should serve for longer and what
progress there has been on adopting a law. However, he did not answer his
phone each time Forum 18 called between 11 and 14 July. (END)
Full reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Azerbaijan
(
)
For more background, see Forum 18's Azerbaijan religious freedom survey
(
)
Forum 18's compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments
(
)
Follow us on Twitter @Forum_18
(
)
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(
)
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(
)
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© Forum 18 News Service. All rights reserved. ISSN 1504-2855.
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