Tuesday 12 April 2011

AZERBAIJAN: "SWORD OF DAMOCLES" HANGS OVER RELIGIOUS BOOKSELLERS

Bookshops selling religious literature in Azerbaijan are facing unspecified

measures because they do not have the compulsory state licence to sell

religious literature, Forum 18 News Service notes. Ilgar Ibrahimoglu

Allaverdiev, head of the Devamm Muslim religious freedom organisation, told

Forum 18 that "only very few can get such licences, while fines for selling

religious books without a licence hang over traders like a sword of

Damocles." However, he added that traders were reluctant to make official

complaints in writing, fearing state reprisals, and preferred to complain

verbally. Some local people noted to Forum 18 that traders are vulnerable

to officials seeking bribes to turn a blind eye to evasion of the

regulations. However, the harsh censorship regime on all religious

literature is still being rigorously applied. And a ban is being imposed on

local branches of foreign non-governmental organisations if, among other

things, they engage in "political or religious propaganda".

AZERBAIJAN: "SWORD OF DAMOCLES" HANGS OVER RELIGIOUS BOOKSELLERS

By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service <http://www.forum18.org>

Nine bookshops selling religious literature in western Azerbaijan are

facing unspecified measures, because they do not have the compulsory

licence to sell any religious literature from the State Committee for Work

with Religious Organisations, Forum 18 News Service notes. One Muslim

described the controls and threats of punishment to Forum 18 as a "sword of

Damocles" hanging over booksellers.

The local representative of the State Committee for western Azerbaijan,

Firdovsi Kerimov, told the local SIA news agency on 1 March that his agency

had carried out searches of seven religious bookshops in Azerbiajan's

second city Gyanja [Gäncä], one bookshop in Geranboy and one in Shamkir

[Sämkir]. Kerimov complained that the bookshops were all operating without

the necessary licence, as their applications had not yet been approved. He

did not say what action he was proposing to take.

State licences are needed to sell any religious literature, and were

introduced in 2009 "legal" amendments harshening restrictions on freedom of

religion or belief (see F18News 3 June 2009

<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1305>). This is part of the

tight web of compulsory prior state censorship of all religious literature,

religious objects, and other information material produced, imported into

or exported from Azerbaijan. Unlicensed sale of religious literature, and

other breaches of the all-embracing censorship regime, are subject to large

fines (see F18News 7 January 2011

<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1527>).

It remains unclear if these are same religious bookshops Kerimov identified

to the Trend news agency on 9 January 2010 as having lodged applications

for licences. If so, it remains unclear why their registration applications

have not been processed 14 months later.

State Committee delays in processing licences to sell religious literature

appear common. One such trader in the capital Baku told Forum 18 on 11

April they have been waiting for more than one year for the State Committee

to respond to their application.

Neither Jeyhun Mamedov, the head of the Expertise Department at the State

Committee in Baku, nor any of his colleagues were available to talk to

Forum 18 on 8 or 11 April. The Expertise Department is charged with

censoring all religious literature and licensing religious bookshops. Forum

18 has been unable to establish how many such bookshop licences have been

issued, if any.

Formal warnings

State Committee representative Kerimov stated in January 2010 that he had

issued formal warnings to four individuals for selling religious literature

without a licence, one in the courtyard of Gyanja's Shah Abbas Mosque, one

at Gyanja's Imamzade Muslim shrine, one at the market in Naftalan in

Geranboy District and one at the Habibi shopping centre in Shamkir.

Kerimov totally refused to discuss anything with Forum 18 on 6 April,

putting the phone down immediately.

Gyanja's only Sunni mosque has been forcibly closed by the state, as have

many other mosques in Azerbaijan (see F18News 5 April 2011

<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1558>).

Three other religious

communities in the city - two Protestant Christian, one New Apostolic -

have been forced to stop Protestants meeting for worship. In one case riot

police were used to enforce the order (see F18News 8 April 2011

<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1560>).

Sword of Damocles

Ilgar Ibrahimoglu Allaverdiev, head of the Devamm Muslim religious freedom

organisation, said that "dozens" of complaints followed the introduction of

the licensing system. "Bookshops unanimously regarded these regulations as

designed to obstruct the sale of religious literature," he told Forum 18

from Baku on 9 April. However, he added that traders were reluctant to make

official complaints in writing, fearing state reprisals, and preferred to

complain verbally.

Ibrahimoglu also complained about the procedure for obtaining such

licences, which he says is "highly bureaucratic and non-transparent". "Only

very few can get such licences," he told Forum 18, "while fines for selling

religious books without a licence hang over traders like a sword of

Damocles."

Forum 18 notes that the compulsory licensing before religious books can be

sold is not uniformly applied across the country. Some general bookshops,

street traders and places of worship sell religious titles apparently

without the necessary permission. However, some local people noted to Forum

18 that this leaves them vulnerable to officials seeking bribes to turn a

blind eye to evasion of the regulations.

Religious communities censored

Religious communities themselves have under Article 22 of the Religion Law,

since its original adoption in 1992, been required to have prior official

approval to produce or import religious literature, rewligious objects or

other information material. Such censorship is conducted by the Expertise

Department of the State Committee, to which all applications have to be

made.

All religious literature printed in and imported into the country -

including sent by post - has to gain specific approval from the State

Committee on each individual occasion. The State Committee also specifies

the number of copies of each named work that may be printed or imported,

checks the contents of bookshops, and has a list of "banned" religious

literature which it will not make public (see F18News 6 August 2008

<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1168>).

Compulsory licensing of religious bookshops introduced

A clause was added to Article 22 of the Religion Law in the 2009

amendments, stating that: "The sale of literature and objects of religious

designation and other informational materials of religious content is

carried out only in specialised points of sale created with the agreement

of the appropriate organ of executive power." The 29 May 2009 presidential

decree implementing amendments to the Religion Law and the Criminal and

Administrative Code identified the State Committee as the "appropriate

organ" (see F18News 3 June 2009

<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1305>).

The Justice Ministry issued an Instruction on 26 October 2009, signed by

Deputy Minister Togrul Musaev, setting out how individuals or groups of

individuals apply for such permission for religious bookshops from the

State Committee. The State Committee is required to gain the approval of

the local Administration where the proposed religious bookshop is based

before giving its own final approval, signed by the State Committee Chair.

This is currently Hidayat Orujev.

Applications can be rejected if the materials to be sold encourage

individuals to break state laws, "violate public order or public safety" or

incite hatred. Such rejections can be challenged through the courts.

Revisions to the State Committee's July 2001 Regulations setting out its

duties, approved in a decree signed by President Ilham Aliev on 2 November

2009, set out in a new Article 7.9-6 its obligations not only to censor all

religious literature but also to grant licences for religious bookshops.

The 2001 Regulations gave the State Committee the obligation in Article 9.2

to censor all religious literature through control of its production,

import and distribution, but made no mention of religious bookshops (see

F18News 6 August 2008

<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1168>).

Punishments for breaking the censorship regime were harshened in December

2010 (see F18News 7 January 2011

<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1527>).

"If there are no problems.."

State Committee Chair Orujev told an 8 December 2009 meeting of religious

leaders, reported by Novosti Azerbaijan agency that day, that shops needed

to apply for licences from his Committee. "In its turn, the State Committee

will, together with the local executive bodies, study the question of the

expediency of opening such a shop. If there are no problems, the State

Committee will give permission for the opening of a shop." He insisted no

fees would be charged for such licences.

After the 2009 changes, responsibility for handling applications from

bookshops was added to the existing censorship duties of the Expertise

Department, Orujev's colleague Yusif Askerov told Forum 18 on 8 April.

Justifying the restrictions on where religious literature could be sold,

Expertise Department head Mamedov claimed in 2009 that sometimes religious

literature was being sold in shops selling alcoholic drinks, tobacco, food,

clothes, building material and in underground passageways.

"Sometimes you even find cases of religious literature on sale in dirty

places, and this is regarded as disrespect for religious values and arouses

justifiable public dissatisfaction," Mamedov told the Trend news agency on

11 December 2009. "It is not right to equate the sale of religious

literature to the sale of other products. Preventing such cases is the duty

of both the government and of every citizen of Azerbaijan."

Raids

As well as the nine bookshops in western Azerbaijan, State Committee

representatives and police have raided shops elsewhere selling religious

books since the introduction of the controls in 2009.

In February 2010, citing the new requirements, the southern representative

of the State Committee, Miryahya Badirov, conducted a check of 16 religious

bookshops in seven southern districts bordering Iran, complaining that none

had applied for a licence, the Trend news agency noted.

On 19 June 2010, police raided a shop in Zakatala and seized 42 books, 20

CDs and other religious items, which they termed "illegal", the Interior

Ministry website reported.

Confiscated

Religious books - Muslim, Christian, Jehovah's Witness or of other faiths -

are frequently seized by the State Customs Committee from travellers

entering Azerbaijan at Baku airport or through land or sea borders. Several

individuals who asked not to be identified told Forum 18 that religious

books have been confiscated from the since the beginning of 2011 on the

border from Georgia.

Censorship at the state borders has long been in operation (see F18News 24

February 2009 <http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1259>).

"People no longer risk bringing religious literature into the country,"

Ilya Zenchenko, head of the Baptist Union, told Forum 18 from Baku on 11

April. "There are many Christian books I would like to bring in with me

from other countries, but I can't - they would be confiscated from me."

Christian books have on occasion been handed to Azerbaijan's Russian

Orthodox diocese, even though many of the books may have been confiscated

from people who are not Russian Orthodox. On 27 December 2010, the Customs

Committee formally handed over 79 religious books at Baku's Orthodox

cathedral. Committee Chair Aydyn Aliev stated that these books had been

confiscated by his officers, the APA news agency noted the same day.

Everyday censorship

The Expertise Department's main task remains censorship of religious

literature which individuals or religious communities want to publish or

import into Azerbaijan. Not only does the State Committee give or deny

approval for specific publications and even their titles, if it approves

them it also specifies the number that it approves. Such numbers are often

far below the number sought, members of a variety of religious communities

have told Forum 18 (see F18News 6 August 2008

<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1168>).

The State Committee in its report for 2009 submitted to Azerbaijan's

Parliament, the Milli Mejlis, noted that 2,332 different religious books

were submitted for censorship that year, Trend news agency noted on 11

March 2010. Of these 380 were deemed "harmful", and their import and

distribution was prevented. It added that for 114 publications for which

republication permission had been sought, suggestions for "appropriate

changes" were "recommended" in 21 cases to correct "defects".

The State Committee report to the the Milli Mejlis for 2010 noted that of

1,710 religious titles submitted for censorship that year, 390 were deemed

"harmful" and they were banned from import and distribution. Of 152

submitted for approval for publication within Azerbaijan, 15 were

considered "inexpedient", APA news agency noted on 7 March 2011.

No "religious propaganda" for foreign NGOs

Meanwhile, new procedures for local branches in Azerbaijan of foreign

non-governmental organisations ban their registration with the Justice

Ministry if, among other things, they engage in "political or religious

propaganda". The new ban came in Article 3.2.4 of the Rules for

implementing the Law on Non-governmental Organisations. These were approved

by a Cabinet of Ministers Decree of 16 March, signed by Prime Minister

Artur Rasizade and published on the state legal portal e-qanun.az.

The new Rules came after amendments in 2009 to the Law on Non-governmental

Organisations, passed at the same time as amendments targeting the freedom

of religion or belief of Muslims (see F18News 18 June 2009

<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1314>). The NGO Law changes,

amongst other repressive measures, stated that international organisations

carry out their activities only after agreement about those activities with

the government.

Local and international human rights groups protested about the new rules

in April, complaining that they violated principles of freedom of

association. They pointed out that many of the terms - including "political

or religious propaganda" - are not defined. They have asked members of the

Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly to request a Venice Commission

review of the 2009 amendments and new procedures.

Leila Agaeva of the Registration Department of the Justice Ministry

insisted that the new rules would not prevent humanitarian organisations

founded by religious communities from gaining registration in the country

from continuing their work. She cited the Adventist Development and Relief

Agency, which has had registration in Azerbaijan since 1994. "Their main

aim is humanitarian aid, so this will only affect them in that they are not

allowed to conduct religious propaganda," Agaeva told Forum 18 on 11 April.

Adventsts are among the many religious communities to have their freedom of

religion or belief attacked by the state (see F18News 26 January 2011

<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1533>).

She claimed that organisations that promote religious freedom for all can

apply for registration with her Ministry, as their work "is abstract and

doesn't represent promotion of one faith". But she added: "Any organisation

that has a direct relation to one faith has to be registered by the State

Committee for Work with Religious Organisations."

Agaeva was unable to say why the local branch of the International

Religious Liberty Association, along with many other religious-based NGOs,

has for years failed to obtain registration from the Justice Ministry (see

eg. F18News 27 June 2005

<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=594>). "Maybe it's because

of this rule, maybe because it has the word 'religious' in its title, maybe

there was something wrong with its registration application." (END)

For more background information see Forum 18's Azerbaijan religious freedom

survey at <http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1192>.

More coverage of freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Azerbaijan is

at <http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?query=&religion=all&country=23>.

A personal commentary on the European Court of Human Rights and

conscientious objection to military service is at

<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1377>).

A compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe

(OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments can be found at

<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=1351>.

For a personal commentary, by an Azeri Protestant, on how the international

community can help establish religious freedom in Azerbaijan, see

<http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=482>.

A printer-friendly map of Azerbaijan is available at

<http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/index.html?Parent=asia&Rootmap=azerba>.

(END)

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