AZERBAIJAN: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM SURVEY, SEPTEMBER 2008
By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service
Forum 18
24 September 2008
Norway
In its survey analysis of religious freedom in Azerbaijan, Forum 18
News Service has found continuing violations of freedom of thought,
conscience and belief. The state attempts to control or limit
the majority Muslim and minority religious communities, including
imposing strict censorship, violating its international human rights
commitments. The situation in the Nakhichevan exclave is worse than
the rest of the country. Officials often claim that Azerbaijan is a
state of religious tolerance – a view promoted by government-favoured
groups – but the state promotes intolerance of some minorities and has
not introduced the genuine religious freedom necessary for genuine
religious tolerance to flourish. Many officials are convinced that
ethnic Azeris should not be non-Muslims, and act on this conviction. In
practice, many violations of the human rights of both Muslims and
non-Muslims – such as the detention of Baptist prisoner of conscience
Hamid Shabanov and a ban on Muslims praying outside mosques – are based
on unwritten understandings and even violations of the written law.
Ahead of the Universal Periodic Review of Azerbaijan by the United
Nations (UN) Human Rights Council in February 2009, Forum 18 News
Service has found tight official controls over religious communities
and unwritten restrictions on peaceful religious activity.
Azerbaijan’s government appears to be fundamentally hostile to the
idea of freedom of thought, conscience and belief. It seeks to control
faiths it regards as a potential challenge (especially Islam), to
limit or co-opt faiths it sees as useful (Judaism, Russian Orthodoxy,
Lutheranism and Catholicism) and to actively restrict faiths that it
dislikes (some Protestant Christians, Jehovah’s Witnesses). Faiths
with a small following who function unobtrusively, such as Molokans
(an early Russian Protestant group), Georgian Orthodox, Hare Krishna
and Baha’is, have mainly tended to be able to operate without much
hostile government attention.
Freedom of thought, conscience and belief acts as a litmus test of the
state of the rule of law and human rights in any society. So violations
of religious freedom are linked with violations of such human rights
as freedom of speech and association, freedom of the media, etc., as
well as with similar violations in other areas of society and politics.
Since 1993, Azerbaijan has been ruled by the Aliev family, first by
Heidar Aliev (President from 1993 to 2003), then by his son Ilham
Aliev (President since 2003). New presidential elections are scheduled
for 15 October 2008, and the authorities are trying to ensure Ilham
Aliev’s victory. Despite massive oil wealth and a booming economy in
the capital Baku, much of the population remains in poverty. Corruption
is said by many observers to be widespread. The long-running dispute
with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, remains unresolved and is a
source of continuing tension, religious minorities having sometimes
been accused of being "Armenian spies."
Much of Azerbaijan’s population of more than 8 million would identify
themselves as Muslim by tradition. Although most of these are of Shia
background, there is also a large Sunni Muslim minority. The state
has been hostile to Muslim scholarship advocating genuine religious
freedom, and seeing pluralist democracy as totally compatible with
Islam. All Muslim communities are compelled by the Religion Law to
be under the control of the state-favoured Caucasian Muslim Board.
Government control of the majority religious community and harassment
of minority communities violates Azerbaijan’s international human
rights commitments, such as those it undertook as a member of the
Council of Europe and participating State in the Organisation for
Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). This appears, from Forum
18’s observation of officials’ responses, to stem from a fear of
social change they cannot control, and a dislike of pluralism.
The situation in Nakhichevan [Naxcivan], an exclave between
Armenia, Iran, and Turkey separated from the rest of Azerbaijan
is considerably worse that the rest of the country. There has long
been a de facto ban on religious activity by non-Muslim communities
in Nakhichevan. Baha’is, a small Adventist congregation and a Hare
Krishna community have been banned. "Of course our people would like
to be able to meet" a Baha’i told Forum 18. Muslim communities too
are under strict control by the Nakhichevan authorities. "There is no
democracy, no free media and no human rights in Nakhichevan," Professor
Ali Abasov of the International Religious Liberty Association told
Forum 18. Asked why, he responded with a grim laugh: "The authorities
don’t want it," insisting that the Nakhichevan authorities are doing
what the authorities in the rest of Azerbaijan would like to do.
Officials often claim that Azerbaijan is a country of religious
tolerance – a view sedulously promoted by government-favoured groups
such as the Russian Orthodox Church, and the Jewish communities
(Mountain, Georgian and Ashkenazi Jewish). At the time of the
2002 visit of Pope John Paul II, Catholics also promoted this
view. Land was subsequent granted in Baku for a new Catholic church
to be built. Orthodoxy’s worldwide leader, Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew, repeated the same message during his high-profile visit in
2003. Social relations between the more visible religious communities
are generally good, but the government – through such devices as
sometimes broadcasting hostile TV film footage after police raids –
promotes intolerance of some minorities.
Azerbaijan has continued many of the Soviet period’s mechanisms of
control, and has not introduced the genuine religious freedom which
is an essential pre-condition for genuine religious tolerance to
flourish. Many officials are therefore convinced that ethnic Azeris
should not be non-Muslims, and act on this conviction.
For example, during an autumn 2007 police raid on a Protestant church
in Sumgait [Sumqayit], north of Baku, some 30 church members were
detained. Police pressured them to renounce their faith, calling
in the local imam. "The imam held up a copy of the Koran and police
tried to force church members to pass underneath it and deny their
faith," one Protestant told Forum 18. It is illegal for police to
force individuals to renounce their faith.
National and local officials of the State Committee for Work with
Religious Organisations have repeatedly alleged that Protestant
Christians and Jehovah’s Witnesses have violated the law by holding
"illegal meetings", and that their communities should be closed
down. Such claims encourage the belief among officials and the public
that such groups are a threat to society.
Unwritten controls
Although the 1992 Religion Law (amended in 1996 and 1997) contains
some restrictions on religious freedoms, most of the controls on free
religious practice are unwritten. Without indications of approval
from senior figures in authority, religious communities cannot be
registered. Even though unregistered activity is not formally illegal,
without some indications of official approval neither registered nor
unregistered communities can only with difficulty undertake visible
religious activity. This in practice prevents them from buying or
building places of worship, recovering religious property confiscated
during the Soviet era, holding large-scale events, running media
operations, publishing religious literature or maintaining religious
bookshops.
Police and National Security Ministry (NSM) secret police
officers often prevent religious activity that does not have such
"authorisation". A religious community without links to influential
figures can be raided, harassed and threatened. It can have its
property taken away and individual members beaten and arrested.
For example, Jehovah’s Witnesses have faced repeated harassment with
little legal foundation. Police in the north-western town of Zakatala
[Zaqatala] arrested two Jehovah’s Witnesses in July 2008 for talking
about their faith to neighbours. Police questioned, threatened,
insulted and swore at them, even though they had committed no
crime. One was threatened with being dismissed from her job, even
though this would be illegal. The other was expelled from Azerbaijan
under the Code of Administrative Offences. In March 2008 police had
raided the Zakatala home of another Jehovah’s Witness and confiscated
religious literature without a court order.
Imam Kazim Aliev, who led the only Sunni mosque in Azerbaijan’s
second city Gyanja [Gäncä], was in March 2006 warned "unofficially"
by police not to return to his mosque after being imprisoned, or be
arrested. The mosque community insist that the charges against him of
organising an armed uprising were falisfied. Imam Aliev categorically
denied to Forum 18 the official claims. "How can three people organise
an uprising? All our group did was to discuss Islam." He noted sadly
to Forum 18 that he has given up trying to return to his old mosque
as he knows "one hundred percent" that if he returned he would be
sent back to prison.
Azerbaijani law does not ban religious activity in private homes,
although state officials generally believe that it does. Nine Jehovah’s
Witness men detained at a religious meeting in a private home in Baku
in June 2008 were told by police the meeting was "illegal". Officers
beat and threatened them with rape.
Protestants too – including Baptists and Seventh-day Adventists
– have faced repeated raids and fines. Police raided Adventist
congregations in December 2007 in Baku and in Gyanja. The pastor in
Gyanja was threatened with prison, if he refused to ban children
from attending worship services and did not halt worship in two
church-owned properties.
Baptist communities in the mainly Georgian-speaking village of
Aliabad near Zakatala have faced perhaps the greatest pressure in
recent months. After years of harassment, threats, destruction of
property, confiscation of religious literature and denial of state
registration, Pastor Zaur Balaev was arrested by police in May
2007. He was accused of physically assaulting five police officers,
a charge his congregation insists was fabricated by police. Despite
serious illegalities in the court proceedings, including prosecution
witnesses openly admitting that police told them what to say,
Balaev was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. He was freed in
March 2008. In June 2008, Balaev’s fellow pastor Hamid Shabanov was
arrested on charges of possessing a gun illegally. The congregation
insists this charge too is equally fabricated. Shabanov’s trial has
begun, but a judge sent the case back to investigators in July 2008
for further work. Yet again, there have been serious illegalities in
the court proceedings.
Said Dadashbeyli, a Muslim from Baku, founded an Islamic group called
Nima in 2005. His family say he promoted a "European style of Islam",
mutual respect and unity between Shias and Sunnis, and rejected
fundamentalism. He received a 14-year sentence at a closed trial in
December 2007. His lawyer and family insist that he and eight of the
15 people sentenced with him are innocent of the terrorism-related
charges levelled against them. His appeal to Azerbaijan’s Supreme
Court was rejected in September 2008.
Religious communities without approval – formal or informal –
from senior figures in authority do not enjoy security of property
ownership. In August 2008 a Baku-based Protestant church, Cathedral
of Praise, which claims 800 adult members, had its place of worship
confiscated. The church bought the land and building legally in 2004,
but a private company claimed that the church had not not done so
legally. No compensation is being offered. The Church is uncertain
whether the action was based on hostility to religious freedom,
but points out that its property rights have been violated. It was
founded in 1994 but only managed to gain registration in 1999. Its
Swedish pastor had his visa application denied in 2005 and was given
two weeks to leave Azerbaijan. He was subsequently blacklisted from
returning to the country.
Communities without strong official approval of some kind cannot regain
property confiscated during the Soviet era. Baku’s Baptist community
has long sought to regain a century-old church in the city centre,
Baku’s former Ashkenazi synagogue has not been returned, and Baku’s
Baha’i community would like to regain a building important to the
history of their faith.
Similarly, such communities cannot invite foreigners for religious
work. In contrast, this has been permitted for Catholics, Jews,
Lutherans, Russian Orthodox, the one permitted Georgian Orthodox
parish and the one permitted English-language Protestant congregation.
In north-west Azerbaijan, children given Christian (or Georgian) and
not Muslim first names by their parents in Aliabad, Zakatala Region,
have been denied birth certificates by officials. They have no formal
power to deny Christian parents such choices of name, and without
a birth certificate a child cannot go to kindergarten or to school,
get treatment in a hospital, or travel abroad.
Officials have also interfered in individuals’ appearance and
dress, especially when it appears to demonstrate their religious
affiliation. In August 2008, according to the imam of Baku’s Abu-Bekr
mosque, police at two Baku police stations forcibly shaved off the
beards of 20 men from the congregation. Muslim women have at times
faced obstructions working in official institutions while wearing
headscarves.
Registration obstructions
The main instrument of formal written control is official
registration: without it, individual religious communities cannot
act as a body, including owning or renting property, or holding
bank accounts. Although the Religion Law does not make registration
compulsory, government officials at all levels often act as though
it does. Police and local authorities have raided many religious
communities that have chosen not to register or have tried to register
but have been refused.
The State Committee for Work with Religious Organisations, which
has overseen the registration process since it was established in
2001, has a wide range of techniques for dealing with registration
applications it regards as unwelcome: it pressures religious
communities to withdraw those applications, ignores them, returns
them repeatedly for "corrections" of "errors" or rejects them.
Indeed, as registration applications need prior approval from local
authorities before they even reach the committee, the scope for
unpopular religious communities to be barred from registering is
wide. An example is the actions of the State Notary in Aliabad. She
has for many years refused, with no legal basis, to notarise the
signatures of the ten founders of the local Baptist congregation. The
State Committee registration regulations also require a certificate
from the employer of each of the ten founders, without specifying why
this is needed, what it should contain and what happens for founders
who are not in employment. Founders must also provide a certificate
from a headquarters body setting out the "need" for such a community,
making it technically impossible to found an independent religious
community.
2,000 religious communities are thought to function in some form,
of which 406 had registration with the Ministry of Justice before
the State Committee was set up in 2001. In September 2008 the State
Committee reported that 480 Muslim and 32 non-Muslim religious
communities are registered. There is no means of reliably and
independently verifying these figures.
Amongst those known to have been denied registration either at local
or national level are: independent mosques; Baptist communities in
Aliabad and the south-eastern town of Neftechala (at the mouth of the
river Kura); Adventists in Nakhichevan; the Greater Grace Protestant
church in Ismaili south of Quba; an independent Lutheran congregation
in Baku; as well as a variety of Protestant churches in Sumgait. The
authorities particularly dislike Protestant churches that attract a
mainly ethnic Azeri membership. The former head of the State Committee,
Rafik Aliev, had Baku’s Azeri-language Baptist church closed down by
court order in 2002 after alleging that the pastor, Sari Mirzoyev,
had insulted Islam. Mirzoyev was "banned" from preaching and subjected
to a harsh media campaign.
Religious communities denied registration have the possibility of
challenging the denial through the courts. However, most prefer
not to take that step, fearing that corruption in the court system
and the closeness of the judicial system to the government will
prevent a fair verdict. When the Baku Baptist community challenged
its court-ordered liquidation, it failed to have the liquidation
order overturned. Communities denied registration also fear that if
they make waves they will only attract further "punishment", such as
police visits.
The denial of registration to religious communities the government
does not like also extends to religious-related groups. The local
branch of the International Religious Liberty Association, founded
with interfaith backing in 2002, applied for registration with the
Justice Ministry but received no answer. The Devamm group led by Ilgar
Ibrahimoglu Allahverdiev, which campaigns for Muslims’ rights, failed
to gain registration. This was despite a court ruling in its favour.
Lack of openness in religious policy formulation and enactment
Officials have for some years hinted that the Religion Law needs
revision, but the State Committee told Forum 18 categorically in May
2008 that there will be no new Law. Many religious believers of a
variety of faiths have called for removal of restrictions from it. No
open public discussion on whether a new Law should or should not be
presented to the Milli Mejlis (the parliament) has taken place.
The State Committee, like many government agencies, acts mainly
behind closed doors, releasing little information about how it reaches
decisions. Its website dqdk.gov.az does not appear to have been updated
since September 2007. Consultation hours for religious communities
and members of the public at its Baku headquarters have been sharply
reduced since Hidayat Orujev was appointed to lead it in July 2006.
Communities have little opportunity to challenge the time taken
to decide on registration applications, or how the State Committee
decides which documents to challenge. Symptomatic of this lack of
transparency is the State Committee’s refusal to allow itself to
respond to questioning by independent groups. Its officials try to
avoid answering questions about specific religious freedom violations.
The State Committee’s in practice unlimited powers allow it to
make decisions based on questionable legal foundations. In late
August 2008, nearly two weeks after a fatal bomb attack at Baku’s
Abu-Bekr mosque, the State Committee banned worshippers from praying
outside near mosques when they are full. The ban was communicated
through the mass media only after police prevented worshippers from
praying outside several Baku mosques. The State Committee claimed the
"temporary" ban – which it said extended across the entire country –
was to protect worshippers.
State intrusion into religious communities’ affairs
Protestant and Jehovah’s Witness communities have been subjected
to police raids, beating and harassment of individual members and
denial of registration. However, it is the Muslim community that faces
the greatest state meddling. The government doubtless fears that it
might become a source of opposition, with the power to mobilise large
numbers of people.
Articles 8 and 9 of the Religion Law require all Muslim communities
to be part of the state-sanctioned Caucasian Muslim Board, led
by Sheikh-ul-Islam Allahshukur Pashazade, despite claims that
the state does not interfere in the internal activity of religious
organisations. Independent mosques, which dislike the control imposed
by the Caucasian Muslim Board, have faced government pressure
and interference. Imams the authorities do not like have been
removed. In June 2004 police ousted the community led by its imam,
Ilgar Ibrahimoglu, from the Juma (Friday) Mosque in Baku’s Old City.
The State Committee takes part in drawing up and enacting "attestation
tests" for imams, a clear violation of the autonomy of religious
communities. In 2007 it issued a book for imams on Friday sermons,
with "recommendations" on what they should cover.
The State Committee has always interpreted provisions in Articles 8 and
9 of the Religion Law allowing non-Muslim communities to be governed
by a headquarters based abroad as a requirement. It therefore refuses
to register locally-based religious minority communities. This adds
to the popular perception that religious minorities are "foreign".
Religious censorship
Censorship of religious literature – which existed during the Soviet
period – was continued in the 1992 Religion Law and its subsequent
amended versions. Azeri diplomats have denied that such censorship
exists. The Law requires permission from the State Committee before a
religious community or individual can publish, import or distribute any
religious literature, in clear violation of Azerbaijan’s commitments to
freedom of speech. Article 9.2 of the July 2001 regulation covering the
duties of the State Committee clearly spells out its censorship tasks:
"Take control of the production, import and distribution of religious
literature, items, other religious informational materials and give its
consent on the bases of the appeals of the religious institutions and
relevant state bodies in accordance with the established procedure."
Only registered religious centres can apparently establish religious
publishing houses – and all literature they produce must be subjected
to prior censorship. The State Committee also insists that the number
of copies of each work to be imported or printed locally must also
be approved. A special Expertise Department of the State Committee
oversees this censorship. The State Committee has denied that the
compulsory prior approval required for all religious literature is
censorship. Asked by Forum 18 how he would describe it, an official
stated that the Committee "merely checks" to see which books were
"not appropriate" for distribution and maintains a list of "banned"
religious literature. This list is not published.
Religious literature sent by post is often blocked. All incoming
parcels are sent to the International Post Office in Baku, regardless
of where the intended recipient lives in Azerbaijan. Wherever they
live in the country (which has a land area of 86,600 km² or 33,436
miles²), the intended recipient has to – in person – go to the
International Post Office in Baku. They then have to collect one
copy of each title posted to them and – in person – take it to the
State Committee. When and if the State Committee grants or withholds
permission to receive the title, the intended recipient then has to –
in person – collect a letter from the State Committee and take it
back to the International Post Office. If the State Committee has
granted permission, the intended recipient will at last receive the
literature they have been sent. Religious minorities have complained
of the extraordinary effort needed to try to extract even a handful
of books that should rightfully be theirs, which often ends in
failure. This has forced some religious minorities to ask friends
abroad not to send them literature.
Police also confiscate religious literature during raids. Baptist
pastor Hamid Shabanov in the northern village of Aliabad had Christian
Bibles and books in Georgian and Azeri confiscated in a police raid
in June 2008. Religious literature was also confiscated by police in
nearby Zakatala three months earlier from Jehovah’s Witness Matanat
Gurbanova. In both cases, police said the literature was "illegal".
Numerous Azeri believers of all faiths – including Muslims, Protestants
and others – have seen religious literature confiscated at customs. In
their travel advice for their own citizens, some countries – such
as Australia and the USA – warn visitors to Azerbaijan that "customs
authorities may enforce strict regulations" on bringing in religious
literature.
Conscientious objection to military service punished
Military service is compulsory for all healthy young men. Azerbaijan
offers no civilian alternative to those who cannot serve in the
military on grounds of conscience. In General Comment 22 on Article
18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the
UN Human Rights Committee has stated that conscientious objection to
military service is a legitimate part of everyone’s right to freedom
of thought, conscience and religion.
When Azerbaijan joined the Council of Europe in 2001, it pledged to
introduce alternative civilian service by January 2003, but it has
not done so. Article 76 of Azerbaijan’s Constitution provides that "if
beliefs of citizens come into conflict with service in the army then
in some cases envisaged by legislation alternative service instead
of regular army service is permitted". Despite the Constitutional
provision and the Council of Europe commitments, officials at
Azerbaijan’s Human Rights Ombudsman Office told Forum 18 in 2006 that
"signing such commitments doesn’t mean we have to accept these rights
without a corresponding law". A draft Law introducing an alternative
service has been prepared but has not been sent to the Milli Mejlis.
Conscientious objectors to military service are punished under Article
321.1 of the Criminal Code: "Evasion without lawful grounds from a call
to military service or from mobilisation, with the purpose of evading
military service, is punishable by imprisonment for up to two years."
Jehovah’s Witness Samir Huseynov was insulted at the Military
Conscription Office, when he declared he could not serve in the
armed forces because of his faith. He was imprisoned for 10 months
in October 2007 under Article 321.1. He was freed in May 2008, even
though his appeal failed, and has been left with a criminal record. In
July 2006, conscientious objector Mushfiq Mammedov, who was studying
to become a Jehovah’s Witness, was found guilty of violating Article
321.1. He was given a suspended sentence of six months. In summer 2008,
prosecutors sought to prosecute him for a second time on charges of
evading military service, although the Constitution and the Criminal
Code ban charging people a second time for the same offence.
Restricted religious freedom for foreigners
Foreign citizens are in international law entitled to religious freedom
within the country. Although there is no specific legal provision
that bans foreign citizens from leading religious organisations,
the Religion Law describes religious communities as "voluntary
organisations of adult citizens" and the State Committee insists that
foreigners cannot lead them.
In defiance of Azerbaijan’s international human rights commitments,
Article 1 of the country’s Religion Law, as well as Article 18 of
the 1996 Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons
states: "Foreigners and stateless persons have freedom of conscience
equal to that of citizens of the Azerbaijani Republic. Foreigners
and stateless persons are forbidden to carry out religious
propaganda." Article 300 of the Code of Administrative Offences
punishes those who "carry out religious propaganda" with fines of up
to 25 times the minimum monthly wage and/or deportation.
In August 2008, Imamzade Mamedova, an Azeri holding a Russian passport,
became the ninth foreign Jehovah’s Witness to be deported under this
Article since December 2006.
What changes do Azerbaijani citizens want in religious policy?
Religious believers of a variety of faiths have told Forum 18 that
they want to see Azerbaijan:
– stop attempting to control all peaceful religious activity, including
abolishing all formal legal and informal unwritten barriers to freedom
of thought, conscience and belief;
– establish full freedom of thought, conscience and belief in the
Nakhichevan exclave;
– stop officials making statements attacking religious minorities;
– end police and NSM secret police raids on religious meetings,
whether in private homes or elsewhere;
– end interrogations and fines of peaceful religious believers;
– end the imprisonment of religious believers for peacefully practising
their faith;
– end obstructions to building, buying or opening places of worship;
– return confiscated religious property;
– register all religious communities and religious-related
organisations that wish to apply for registration;
– stop interfering in the internal affairs of religious communities;
– allow believers to publish, import and distribute religious
literature freely, without state censorship including postal
censorship;
– introduce a genuinely civilian alternative to military service;
– allow foreigners legally resident in Azerbaijan the religious
freedom international law grants them
– and bring to legal accountability those responsible for attacking
individuals’ religious freedom.
–Boundary_(ID_cGgFX2Gno6KIXB7JRB9f3g)–