NEWS IN MARCH 2020
3 March
It has been established the Committee for the Protection of Haji Ilham Aliyev’s Rights
Ilham Aliyev
On 3 March there was a meeting related to the arrest of the theologian Ilham Aliyev, the acting Chairman of the Islamic Party of Azerbaijan (IPA).
According to site Vetenugrunda.az, the following officials participated in the event: a theologian and philosopher, Ilqar Ibrahimoglu, The Chairman of religious public organization DEVAMM; Rovshan Ahmedl a member of the Majlis clergy of Azerbaijan, the editor-in-chief of Maide.az Sheikh Sardar, the Head of the Islamic Resistance Movement for the Freedom of Karabakh; Akif Heydarli, a functionary of API; Eldaniz Guliyev, a screenwriter; Qurban Jabrayil, the Chairman of Azerbaijani Writers Union; as well as functionaries and leaders of the API committees, media representatives, socio-political activists, and believers. The participants were discussing the arrest of Ilham Aliyev and his detention for a period of four months. It was proposed to set up a Committee on the protection of Ilham Aliyev’s rights. Akif Heydarli, a functionary of AIP, was appointed as the Committee Chairman.
Promptly after being established, the Committee issued its first statement condemning the arrest of the country’s renowned theologian and demanded his immediate release
5 March
Azerbaijan will limit religious gatherings
Joint meeting of the SCRRO with leaders of religious faiths of the Azerbaijan
Because of the coronavirus, religious gatherings will be limited in Azerbaijan. Such a decision was made at today’s meeting in the Caucasus Muslims Office.
Speaking at a meeting with leaders of religious faiths of the country, imams of mosques and the head of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations, Sheikh Allahshukur Pashazade called for the temporary cancellation of religious gatherings.
Taking into account the threat of the spread of the disease, the sheikh recommended the abolition of prayers in mosques with the participation of believers, including commemoration. Whenever possible, believers should pray at home.
The leaders of the Orthodox and Catholic churches, as well as the heads of the communities of European and Mountain Jews supported this appeal.
5 March
82 Azerbaijani children from the former ISIS terrorist families returned from Iraq to Azerbaijan
82 Azerbaijani children from the militant organization ISIS families have been returned to Azerbaijan. According to the Azerbaijani media, it was announced by Ahmed al-Sahaf, the spokesman of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.
The representative of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry further noted that the number of children of foreign nationalities deported from Iraq had reached 828 so far.
According to the information provided by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Interior Affairs in the course of a meeting with representatives of the International Organisation on Migration in October 2018, 1. 477 Azerbaijani citizens (1.136 men and 341 women) had gone to Syria and Iraq since 2014, where they immediately became affiliated with various terrorist organisations. 903 of them (749 men and 154 women) are presumed dead or missing. That information was published in the final report entitled “Study on Vulnerability and Resilience to Radicalisation in some selected communities of Azerbaijan” in December 2021.
When compiling data on local residents from the southern, northern and northwestern regions of Azerbaijan who joined the terrorist organisations operating in Iraq and Syria at different periods of time, 22 people from the southern region headed to the conflict zones, while from the northern and northwestern regions there were significantly more, 201 and 114 respectively. It was noted in the report “Such a discrepancy in the figures can be explained by the fact that extremist ideas are spread along the northern borders (of Azerbaijan). According to the figures provided by the Interior Ministry, 309 people (261 men and 48 women) mainly from Sumgait, Qusar, Balakan and Zaqatala returned to the country.”
7 March
The State Committee commented on the closure of mosques due to the coronavirus
Jahandar Alifzade
According to Jahandar Alifzade, the Head of the Department on Work with Religious Structures at the State Committee,
“It has been more than two months since various countries and the World Health Organization allocated quite a lot of funds to combat the coronavirus in Azerbaijan. Since the spread of the coronavirus in Azerbaijan, many measures have been taken to combat the disease. One of them is the application of certain restrictions during large-scale events in the country.”
He said that on 5 March, it was held a meeting attended by the religious leaders in the Caucasus Muslim Board (CBM),
“Along with the CBM authorized officials, the meeting was attended by other leaders of various religious confessions operating in the country. Considering that mosques, churches, synagogues and other houses of worship are places of mass gathering, we are appealing to them to be more vigilant in this regard. In this connection, the CBM recommendations have been brought out to the public through the media in the country. The religious authorities under the CBM have been advised to observe the rules of hygiene for those coming to the mosque.”
The Head of the department pointed out that due to the threat of the coronavirus, it was recommended to minimise the number of mass services and preferably pray at home or in safer places,
“The people with compromised health issues are not recommended to attend temples and during the services they should use their seal, mat and rosary and perform their ablutions at home”.
J.Alifzade remarked that the religious officials of the media would continue their activities in the mosques,
“Once again, I would like to remind you that due to the threat of coronavirus we have recommended people not to visit mosques, places of worship unless it is really necessary.”
10 March
U.S. religious freedom body hopes additional prisoners will be freed for Novruz
Azerbaijan has taken some promising first steps in allowing the country’s many religious communities to more freely and fully practice their religion and beliefs, a U.S. government watchdog said, encouraging Baku for further steps, TURAN’s Washington correspondent reports.
“The last year’s precipitous decline in police raids and other forms of harassment of unregistered religious communities – up until recently a hallmark of religious freedom violations in Azerbaijan – signifies an important move in the right direction that we hope the government will codify into law,” Gayle Manchin, vice chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said in a statement on Monday.
Then she added:
“We welcomed last year President Ilham Aliyev’s decision to pardon a number of political and religious prisoners, and hope that additional religious prisoners will be released for the coming Novruz holiday later this month.”
Manchin and her colleague Nadine Maenza, another Vice-Chair at USCIRF, traveled to Baku and Quba in late February to meet with government officials, religious communities, civil society representatives, and human rights defenders to assess religious freedom conditions and discuss the impact of Azerbaijan’s religion law on the ability of individuals and communities to exercise their freedom of religion.
“Azerbaijan has taken great pride in its history of multiculturalism and religious tolerance and should bolster those deserving values by ensuring that religious freedom is truly a reality for all,” Maenza mentioned in a statement.
“Current provisions of the religion law that mandate the registration of religious organizations in order to engage in worship or other religious practices, limit religious activity to a religious organization’s registered legal address, and require state approval for all religious literature should be amended to comply with international standards. Finally, as guaranteed in the constitution of Azerbaijan, the government should adopt an alternative service and permit conscientious objection for those citizens for whom military service conflicts with the tenets of their beliefs,” she noted.
USCIRF will issue its detailed findings from the visit and recommendations for U.S. policy when it releases its 2020 Annual Report on April 28.
U.S. religious freedom body has placed Azerbaijan on its Tier 2 list of countries for engaging in or tolerating religious freedom violations that meet at least one of the elements of the “systematic, ongoing, egregious” standard for designation as a “country of particular concern” since 2013.
12 March
It is appointed a new Head of the Azerbaijan Institute of Theology
Aqil Shirinov
On 12 March 2020, the President Ilham Aliyev issued a decree on appointing Aqil Shirinov as an Acting Rector of the Institute of Theology.
Earlier, on 9 March, 2020, the President Ilham Aliyev issued a decree calling to dismiss Jeyhun Mammadov from the post of rector on the grounds of his election as a member of the Azerbaijani Parliament.
13 March
Iraq deported 112 children to Azerbaijan
The Iraqi government sent 112 children to Azerbaijan, whose parents were arrested for having links with the ISIS terrorist organization.
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said that on this issue constant contact is maintained with the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry and its embassy in Baghdad.
Thus, the total number of Azerbaijani children deported from Iraq reached 248, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry notes.