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  • Azerbaijani authorities detain worshippers without legal basis

    news.am, Armenia
    Nov 7 2009


    Azerbaijani authorities detain worshippers without legal basis

    11:40 / 11/07/2009

    U.S. Department of Sate issued International Religious Freedom Report
    2009. NEWS.am posts the passages about religious freedom in
    Azerbaijan.

    `The Constitution provides for freedom of religion. On March 18, 2009,
    however, a national referendum approved a series of amendments to the
    Constitution; two amendments limit the spreading of and propagandizing
    of religion. Additionally, on May 8, 2009, the Milli Majlis
    (Parliament) passed an amended Law on Freedom of Religion, signed by
    the President on May 29, 2009, which could result in additional
    restrictions to the system of registration for religious groups. In
    spite of these developments, the Government continued to respect the
    religious freedom of the majority of citizens, with some notable
    exceptions for members of religions considered nontraditional.

    There was some deterioration in the status of respect for religious
    freedom by the Government during the reporting period. There were
    changes to the Constitution that undermined religious freedom. There
    were mosque closures, and state- and locally sponsored raids on
    evangelical Protestant religious groups. There were reports of
    monitoring by federal and local officials as well as harassment and
    detention of both Islamic and nontraditional Christian groups. There
    were reports of discrimination against worshippers based on their
    religious beliefs, largely conducted by local authorities who detained
    and questioned worshippers without any legal basis and confiscated
    religious material.

    There were sporadic reports of societal abuses or discrimination based
    on religious affiliation, belief, or practice. There was some
    prejudice against Muslims who converted to other faiths, and there was
    occasional hostility toward groups that proselytized, particularly
    evangelical Christians, and other missionary groups.

    The U.S. government discusses religious freedom with the Government as
    part of its overall policy to promote human rights. U.S. embassy
    officers conveyed concerns about the registration process and official
    attitudes toward &`nontraditional' religious groups and expressed
    objections to the censorship of religious literature.'

    The report consists of 4 sections: religious demography, status of
    Government respect for religious freedom, status of societal respect
    for religious freedom, U.S. Government policy.

    The report also contains the information on religious freedom in
    Nagorno-Karabakh:

    `Forum 18, a Norwegian NGO that reports on religious freedom, reported
    on January 5, 2009 and May 4, 2009 about the new &`Religion Law'
    enacted by the de facto authorities in Azerbaijan's breakaway region
    of Nagorno-Karabakh (N-K), which has historically had a large Armenian
    majority. The Government of Azerbaijan has no ability to administer
    its authority in N-K. The &`law' came into effect on January 9, 2009.
    Apparent restrictions include the requirement of 100 members for
    registration, banning of unregistered religious activity, the
    requirement for the de facto authorities to approve all religious
    literature, and proselytizing open only to the Armenian Apostolic
    Church, which the de facto authorities claim as the &`official'
    church. On March 19, the Armenian Catholic Church became the first and
    only church registered thus far under the new &`law.' (The Armenian
    Apostolic Church does not have to register.) The U.S. embassy in Baku
    cannot confirm these reports, and neither can the Government.

    Forum 18 reported on May 4, 2009 that Revival Fire Evangelical Church
    in the breakaway region of N-K was denied registration, the first
    denial under the N-K de facto authorities' new &`Religion Law.'
    According to the &`law,' citizens are not free to share their faith,
    and in practice proselytizing was often discouraged. The &`law'
    expressly prohibits religious proselytizing by foreigners, and the de
    facto authorities strictly enforced this. There was an allegation that
    foreigners were detained while participating in religious services of
    various denominations and accused of proselytizing. The detention did
    not result in prosecution. The de facto authorities were concerned
    about Islamic missionary groups (predominantly Iranian and Sunni
    Salafi) operating in the region and continued to restrict their
    activities.

    Hostility between Armenians and Azerbaijanis, intensified by the N-K
    conflict, remained strong. In those areas of the country controlled by
    ethnic Armenian separatists, all ethnic Azeris have fled, and the
    mosques that were not destroyed remained inactive. Animosity toward
    ethnic Armenians elsewhere in the country forced most of them to
    depart between 1988 and 1990, and all Armenian churches, many of which
    were damaged in ethnic riots that took place more than a decade ago,
    remained closed. As a consequence, the estimated 10,000 to 30,000
    ethnic Armenians who remained were unable to attend services in their
    traditional places of worship.'

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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