Report on State of Religious Freedom

Baku / 04.03.18 / Turan: A report titled "The legal framework of religious means (literature, subjects and materials of religious content), practical situation and recommendations" was announced by the Institute of Democratic Initiatives on April 4.

The report studied the conformity of religious means to articles 9 (freedom of conscience) and 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights, the case law of the European Court of Human Rights.

The study revealed that the law on freedom of religion and other normative legal acts often do not correspond to the Constitution of the country and international documents.

The authors of the study are based on expert opinions, information of lawyers and human rights defenders, and media publications.

To requests addressed to the Interior Ministry, the Customs Committee and the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations, only the last two responded.

At the same time, the Customs refused to provide information on the names and amounts of religious literature not admitted to the country in 2017.

The problems with the import of literature and its production inside the country were complained about by Jehovah's Witnesses and the community of Christian Baptists.

Judicial disputes related to the importation of religious literature, as a rule, are not decided in favor of citizens.

In recent years, the authorities have tightened the legislation and imposed a ban on the conduct of religious ceremonies by priests educated abroad.

A criminal penalty of up to 5 years of imprisonment was introduced for the illegal production and sale of religious books in 2011.

Restriction of religious freedom in connection with the distribution of religious literature was also noted by the human rights organization Human Rights Watch and the US Commission on Religious Affairs.

The Venice Commission of the Council of Europe in 2012 recommended that the government of Azerbaijan eliminate legislative restrictions in the field of freedom of religion. However, the situation has not changed. For example, the importation of books by the Turkish preacher Said Nursi is prohibited in Azerbaijan.

On February 8, 2018, authorities prohibited the publication of a book by the theologian Elshad Miri, and he went to court.

The authors of the study conclude that the current restrictions contradict the documents of the United Nations, the European Convention of Human Rights, and the precedent decisions of the ECHR.

The authors recommend changing the law on freedom of religion, the norms of which are vague and allow a different interpretation.

Restrictions on the production, export, import, distribution and sale of religious literature should be removed. An independent examination of religious means should be allowed.

Article 167-2 is also proposed to be removed from the Criminal Code, on the punishment for the illegal production, distribution, import, sale of religious literature, goods, audio and video materials of religious content. Its provisions do not conform to the principles of human rights.

There is also a need to urgently implement the recommendations of the PACE and the OSCE, the active cooperation of the government with local civil society institutions and international NGOs.

* The Institute for Democratic Initiatives was established in November 2013. It is headed by a well-known activist, a former member of the Central Election Commission Akif Gurbanov. -06B--