For the first time, the United States recognizes Azerbaijan as a country that violates religious freedom.
Placement on the State Department’s second-tier Special Watch List (SWL) exposes the oil-rich, majority Shiite Muslim nation to the possibility of economic sanctions.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has called for censorship of the Caucasian nation every year since 2013. Established by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998, USCIRF’s bipartisan annual report assesses “systematic, continuing, and egregious” violations, independent of U.S. foreign policy concerns and implementation monitoring. implementation by the government of its recommendations.
To complicate the consequences, Azerbaijan aligns with US foreign policy in some areas: it cooperates closely with Israel, aligns itself against Iran and agreed to increase oil exports to Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In short statement, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken kept all other 2022 designations mandated by the IRFA unchanged. Azerbaijan joins Algeria, the Central African Republic, Comoros and Vietnam in the SWL, cited for “committing or tolerating serious violations of religious freedom.”
Twelve countries – China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Myanmar, Nicaragua, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan – have again received top-tier Country of Particular Concern (CPC) designation.
USCIRF “welcomed” Azerbaijan’s designation. But this declared there was “no justification” for not following his advice to also label India and Nigeria as CPC.
India was first recommended from 2002 to 2004 as a CPC, from 2010 to 2019 for SWL, and then again from 2020 as a CPC. Nigeria was recommended for the SWL from 2003 to 2008 and as a CPC since 2009.
While the State Department never included India, former President Donald Trump listed Nigeria on the SWL in 2019 and as a CPC in 2020. President Joe Biden removed it entirely the following year .
USCIRF requested a congressional hearing on these omissions and further criticized the State Department for granting sanctions waivers for CPC violators Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.
In a statement to CT, Lilieth Whyte, public outreach manager at the State Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom, cited three main factors.
Azerbaijani laws impose “onerous registration requirements” on religious groups to register nationally, further restricting their right to freely worship and choose their own clergy. The government physically abuses, arrests and imprisons religious activists, she added, while conscientious objectors are not allowed to serve their country in accordance with their beliefs.
There is no mention of the blockade imposed by Azerbaijan for months on the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, populated by Armenians – which Armenians call “Artsakh” – and which resulted in an invasion last September which resulted in the displacement of more than 100,000 people.
At the time, Blinken »exhortedAzerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev must “immediately stop military actions”. In November, Deputy Secretary of State James O’Brien said a congressional committee declared that “there can be no ‘status quo’ in relations with the United States.”
But last December, the State Department press office clarified that ceasing interaction with Azerbaijan would be “contrary to our interests”. Instead, U.S. policy would continue to pressure the country into greater respect for “human rights and fundamental freedoms,” as well as a lasting peace deal with Armenia.
Shortly after, the two nations exchange prisoners of war, announcement as “tangible steps towards confidence building” in the pursuit of a peace agreement. Azerbaijan has declared that an agreement is close.
Zaven Khanjian, executive director of the Armenian Missionary Association of America, welcomed the State Department’s designation. Calling the Nagorno-Karabakh displacement an example of “ethnic cleansing,” he also cited the erasure of Armenian heritage from Azerbaijani-controlled areas.
And he wants American pressure to go beyond a simple designation.
“Armenians cannot wait until Baku’s oil fields dry up,” Khanjian said, referring to the Azerbaijani capital, “for Washington to take punitive measures.”
Many Armenians, however, are suspicious peace negotiations. Khanjian is supportive, but skeptical. His hesitation is rooted in distrust of autocratic Azerbaijan, and he believes that Russian and American interests will also have to align. Yet he prays.
One of the issues is the return of Armenians to Nagorno-Karabakh. But Azerbaijan counters that ethnic Azeris displaced from Armenia during previous conflicts should also have their rights recognized. In letters sent at the United Nations, this includes the right of return to the west, to Armenia.
Blinken’s designation drew a harsh response, not from the Aliyev administration, but from an association representing displaced people, formerly called the Azerbaijan Refugee Society. But a month before the invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh, the group amended its name to the West Azerbaijan Community (WAC), whose website displays a map that includes the territory of Armenia.
“The American list on religious freedom has no strength, no weight, and we categorically reject it. » declared the WAC, considering it an “arrogant” example of American hostility.
Aliyev has already declared that Azerbaijan would return to these “historical lands”, but in vague terms, amid official clarification that this does not include territorial claims.
As long as these veiled threats exist, said Craig Simonian, Caucasus region coordinator for the World Evangelical Alliance’s Peace and Reconciliation network, there will be doubts about whether peace negotiations can be meaningful. Azerbaijan also continues to detain Armenian political leaders and Artsakh prisoners of war, while its troops are assembled along the still-demarcated border.
And the language of West Azerbaijan is “extremely aggressive,” he said, rejected by mainstream academics. But even so, and despite everything that has happened, at least the two nations are talking.
“Reconciliation can happen,” Simonian said. “Perhaps not between governments – at least not quickly – but between those who choose to follow Christ. »
Following his country’s placement in the SWL, Aliyev spoke directly with some of them.
Christmas is a symbol of kindness, it said Orthodox citizens of Azerbaijan extend holiday greetings to the community that is predominantly Russian and follows the Eastern calendar.
“It is commendable that our Christian compatriots, taking advantage of the broad opportunities created by exemplary state-religion relations, keep their unique traditions, language and culture alive,” Aliyev said. “Ethnic and religious diversity…is one of the predominant qualities of our society. »
Christians make up about 3 percent of Azerbaijan’s population. USCIRF has reprimand alongside Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, authoritarian nations that are “major investors” in promoting religious tolerance that “obscures the responsibility of the state and its failure to protect and promote freedom of religion or belief for all.”
And the latest national update from USCIRF declared that while Azerbaijan has put an end to certain problematic practices, Protestants continue to face obstacles when registering. No non-Muslim communities have been approved in the past three years.
It’s not that bad, an Azerbaijani Christian leader told CT.
“As a member of the small circle of evangelicals, I don’t see any major changes with respect to the churches,” he said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We still have freedom and I view this designation as a change in American policy.”
Protestants in Azerbaijan mainly come from a Muslim background.
But there is legitimacy, he added, in the policies governing the Islamic religion. Official religious authorities maintain control of Shiite mosques and hundreds of mullahs have been arrested for their support of Iran. Wary of extremism, the secular government closely monitors foreign preachers of all religions and requires approval of any spiritual literature distributed.
The Azerbaijani Christian then shared some anecdotes revealing an uneven attitude towards Christianity.
A church routinely receives permission to visit American pastors after notifying security, he said. But two foreign Christians were refused residency visas on suspicion of unregistered evangelism.
A congregation of mainly Muslim converts wanted to mark its tenth anniversary in a large public hall. The government refused the permit, asking them to celebrate privately in the church. The pastor insisted, telling them to remove his recording, thereby threatening them with losing contact with his network of house churches. With that, the authorities relented and celebration followed.
A former thug became a Christian and began evangelizing in a Muslim ethnic minority area. When residents complained, he was called to the police, and during interrogation he recounted his entire spiritual testimony. Afterward, the captain told him he was free to continue and let them know if anyone gave him trouble.
And in a humorous episode, a small-time preacher planted a church in a border territory far from Baku. Local authorities arrested him but, with no law prohibiting his evangelism, charged him with assaulting the imposing officers. The judge asked how this was possible.
He has answered: It was easy, sir. My wife held them.
Laughing, the judge dismissed all charges.
Why then does the Christian leader remain anonymous?
“Anything political, unless I support the government 100%, could be used against me,” he said. “As long as Christians are at peace with the authorities, I do not want to upset the balance.”
Liberty House calls Azerbaijan “is not free” ranking the No. 13 nation from the bottom in its annual report on world freedom. But the nation is not currently class in the Open Doors World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is hardest to follow Jesus, although in 2016 it rose to 34th place.
Yet for the first time, the United States grouped Azerbaijan with four other offending countries, following 12 countries in the first tier of violations. Will the designation result in improvement for some?
“The challenges to religious freedom around the world are structural, systemic and deeply rooted,” Blinken said. “But with thoughtful and sustained commitment from those who do not want to accept hatred, intolerance and persecution as the status quo, we will one day see a world where all live with dignity and equality. »
