By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) issued on April 29, 2019, its Annual Report listing the “world’s most egregious violators of religious freedom,” among which, not surprisingly, are Azerbaijan and Turkey. Both states are categorized as “Countries of Particular Concern.”
USCIRF, as an independent, bi-partisan commission, advises the President, Congress and the Secretary of State on international religious freedom issues. In its Annual Report, USCIRF describes threats to religious freedom around the world and recommends to the State Department countries for designation as “countries of particular concern” for engaging in or tolerating “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations.”
Contrary to Azerbaijan’s leaders’ repeated false claims of “tolerance” in their country and propaganda by various foreign Rabbis and Protestant leaders, the USCIRF Report asserted that the “government continued to control religious activities through the 2009 Law on Freedom of Religion and related amendments of the administrative and criminal codes, which require religious communities to register with the government and criminalize all unregistered religious activity. In a positive development, four non-Muslim religious communities received registration from the government. However, throughout the year, local police forces continued to harass, raid, detain, and fine religious communities that did not comply with registration requirements and various restrictions on the production, possession, and dissemination of religious literature, although one community did report a lessening in police harassment. During the year, Protestants, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and some Muslim groups were targeted, with some members of the Muslim community being forced to endure an additional layer of scrutiny by authorities who suspect and seek to limit Iranian-government influence or subversive activity in the country.”
The Annual Report also stated that “Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) contended that approximately 68 prisoners of conscience -- many of whom are members of the Muslim Unity Movement (MUM) -- remained imprisoned in Azerbaijan on religious grounds. Throughout 2018, claims of “systemic and endemic” torture persisted, particularly against members of the MUM.”
Azerbaijan’s dictatorial regime controls the activities of religious groups by requiring them to register. USCIRF reported that those “denied registration or refuse to register on theological grounds are considered ‘illegal’ and may face police raids, detainment, arrests, or fines.” Several Christian groups active in Azerbaijan, such as Baptists and Jehovah’s Witnesses “continue to be unable to register.” In some cases, the government delays the process of registration for years due to “technical flaws” in their applications. “For example, Jehovah’s Witnesses have sought registration in the city of Ganja since 2010 and have yet to receive a response on their most recently submitted application from May 2016. Baptists in the village of Aliabad outside of Zaqatala have similarly sought registration since 1994 and been denied. They have reportedly been informed that they cannot even meet to celebrate Christmas together!”
The USCIRF reported: “In 2014, the European Court of Human Rights noted that the law gives officials ‘unlimited discretionary power’ to define and prosecute ‘illegal’ religious activity.”
Furthermore, “in 2018, Azerbaijan underwent its Universal Periodic Review at the United Nations. Several countries expressed concerns about religious freedom conditions in Azerbaijan -- such as mandatory registration requirements; restrictions on nontraditional religious communities and the ability, generally, of religious groups to practice in private and in public; and individuals...
Read full story
