Anar R Guliyev <anar....@gmail.com>: Feb 13 09:27AM -0500
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: *****
Date: Fri, Feb 13, 2015 at 9:13 AM
Subject: Freedom of religion restricted in Azerbaijan
To: ***
http://nhc.no/no/nyheter/Freedom+of+religion+restricted+in+Azerbaijan.b7C_wlnY1a.ips
[image: Freedom of religion restricted in Azerbaijan]
*Freedom of religion restricted in Azerbaijan*
The government of Azerbaijan claims it supports religious tolerance but in
reality seriously restricts freedom of religion or belief. It uses a
tolerance facade and denials of reality to camouflage serious human rights
violations.
This is one of the main findings in a new report on freedom of religion or
belief in the country that the NHC publishes in co-operation with Forum 18
News Service. The report is one of a series of NHC reports and Policy
Papers documenting Azerbaijan's human rights violations.
The latest report, which is available for download here
<http://nhc.no/?module=Files&action=File.getFile&ID=1995>, documents
extensive use of state regulations to stifle the exercise of freedom of
religion or belief. It also documents a culture of impunity for officials
who disregard Azerbaijan's international human rights obligations.
[image: Freedom of religion restricted in Azerbaijan]
Gunnar Ekeløve-Slydal
- The report will enable readers to see behind the tolerance facade to
understand the intentional and systemic nature of the government's
violations of freedom of religion or belief and linked fundamental human
rights, says Gunnar M. Ekeløve-Slydal, deputy secretary general of the
Norwegian Helsinki Committee.
- Azerbaijan is not a state where the rule of law exists. It is a country
where officials can and do act to violate the state's international human
rights obligations without being held accountable for this. This has
serious long-term consequences for the country's people, says John Kinahan,
deputy editor of Forum 18 News Service.
*Recommendations*
The report includes a range of recommendations, addressing both the
government of Azerbaijan who have the primary responsibility to initiate
reforms that will improve the situations, as well as the Council of Europe,
the OSCE, the UN and the EU.
*Azerbaijan should:*
- Initiate legal reviews and reforms in order to ensure that the Religion
Law and relevant provisions in other laws do not infringe international
human rights norms on freedom of religion or belief;
- Implement in full the recommendations of the European Commission against
Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) and the Venice Commission;
- Abolish the compulsory state registration system, which makes all
exercise of freedom of religion or belief ‒ including the legal right to
exist ‒ dependent on state permission;
- Stop raiding, prosecuting and punishing groups of people exercising the
right to freedom of religion or belief;
- Abolish the highly restrictive censorship regime, including
pre-publication, bookshop, photocopy shop and postal censorship;
- Abolish the ban on praying outside mosques, and stop closure of places of
worship;
- Abolish the requirement for all mosques to belong to and be controlled by
the Caucasian Muslim Board;
- Stop jailing prisoners of conscience exercising the right to freedom of
religion or belief, including the right to conscientious objection to
military service;
- Stop arbitrary deportations of foreign citizens exercising the right to
freedom of religion or belief;
- Stop repeatedly imposing ever more restrictive “legal” controls on
people’s exercise of their right to freedom of religion or belief.
*The Council of Europe, the OSCE, the UN and the EU should:*
- Address these issues in relevant forums and meetings, and in particular:
- Urge Azerbaijan’s authorities to implement in full their international
human rights obligations;
- Link Azerbaijan implementing its human rights obligations, including on
freedom of religion or belief, with the implementation of co-operation and
trade agreements;
- Insist that implementing freedom of religion or belief obligations is a
non-negotiable foundation for all inter-religious dialogue and co-operation
with states.
13/02-15
---------------------------
best wishes
Anar R Guliyev
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