Azerbaijan -- Seizing Religious Property -- Juma MosqueThe original Juma Mosque, located within the old walled city of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, was completed in 1442. Over the next 450 years, the building was allowed to deteriorate, and in 1899 a wealthy merchant named Haji Sheikhali Dadashov financed the construction of a new building on the site of the old one. (He is buried at the entrance.) The original 560 year old minaret still stands next to the mosque. Following the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, Lenin quickly set his sights on Azerbaijan, which had been the main oil supplier to Imperial Russia. (In 1890, 98% of Russia's oil came from Azerbaijan.) It became a part of the Soviet Union in 1922. Within a few years, Josef Stalin succeeded Lenin, and began a drive to eradicate all traces of religion. In Baku, Azerbaijan's capital, the Juma Mosque (the English translation is "Friday Mosque") was one of the few religious buildings that escaped demolition. It remained closed and unused for many years. In 1967, more than a decade after Stalin's death, the mosque became home to the National Carpet Museum. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan declared its independence on August 30, 1991. In 1992, the National Carpet Museum was moved to the former Lenin Museum, and the Juma Mosque was returned to its original use as a house of worship. The Juma Mosque Congregation was officially registered as a religious organization by the Executive Administration of Sabail District in December 1992, and by the Board of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Azerbaijan on March 3, 1993. For the next 12 years, the congregation worshiped at the Juma Mosque in peace, and without interference from governmental authorities. In the fall of 2003, however, the Juma Mosque Congregation and its Imam, Ilgar Ibrahimoglu Allahverdiev, became caught up in the controversy surrounding the October presidential election. President Heydar Aliyev was a Brezhnev-era Communist Party apparatchik who was appointed as first secretary of the Azerbaijan Communist Party in 1969, and later headed the country's KGB. He seized power once again in the summer of 1993 after a military coup. He won an October 1993 "election," and kept a tight grip on power for the next decades. He had planned to run for president again in 2003, but collapsed during a public meeting on April 21, 2003, and was never seen in public again. He died in a Cleveland hospital in December. In August 2003, the Azeri parliament appointed the President's son, Ilham Aliev, as prime minister. On October 2, state television announced the withdrawal of Heydar Aliev's candidacy, and broadcast a statement attributed to the president encouraging citizens to vote for his son instead.
The election two weeks later was widely regarded as fraudulent, and police brutally attacked peaceful demonstrators protesting election abuses. Nearly a thousand people were quickly arrested, including opposition leaders, NGO activists, journalists and election officials and observers who challenged the fraud.
On December 1, 2002, the government arrested Imam Ibrahimoglu and accused him of organizing protest demonstrations following the election. Ibrahimoglu was finally put on trial on March 22, 2004, along with eight opposition activists whom the Imam did not even know. On Friday, April 2, 2004 the Imam was found guilty, sentenced to a five year suspended sentence, and released. In the meantime, Azeri government officials have moved to evict the Juma Mosque Congregation from the mosque building, charging that the congregation is not an officially registered religious organization. In fact, they have attempted to re-register on many occasions, but authorities have refused to accept their applications. The Juma Mosque's strong stand on fundamental rights to the free exercise of religion and Imam Ibrahimoglu's prominence as an advocate for human rights have made them a target of the neo-Stalinist regime in Baku. The mosque has refused to submit to the authority of the Caucasian Muslim Board, a non-governmental body reportedly "packed with KGB officers" and designed to keep tight control of all religious groups. In addition to his role as Imam at the mosque, Ibrahimoglu is a board member of the Islam-Ittihad Society, leading coordinator of a religious freedom organization known as Devamm, and Secretary General of the Azerbaijan chapter of the International Religious Liberty Association. Becket Fund support at the United Nations
On March 29, 2004, Becket Fund delivered a statement (PDF format, 101K) before a meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, charging Azeri government officials with persecuting the Juma Mosque community, "a staunchly independent, peaceful Muslim congregation which declines to register with the Soviet-era Muslim Caucasus Board." The trial of Imam Ibrahimoglu, the Becket Fund said, "has a simple goal: to silence him for vigorously defending the freedoms of all Azeri religions, including Christians as well as Muslims." In May 2004, the Becket Fund nominated Imam Ibrahimoglu for UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief.
Becket Fund representation before the Azeri courts
On March 31, at the request of the Juma Mosque, The Becket Fund sent an 18-page letter (PDF format, 253K) to the Appeals Court of the Azerbaijan Republic, "to outline the obligations of the Azerbaijan Republic under the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (the 'European Convention') and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ('ICCPR')." It called on the appeals court to reverse the decision of the district court, and allow the Juma Mosque Congregation to remain at the mosque. "We respectfully submit to the Court that what is at stake in this case is not just the right of one religious community to worship its Creator in the way it sees fit, as precious as that right is," the letter explained. "This case is about whether Azerbaijan is willing to carry out all necessary steps to secure its position in the community of nations defined by their commitment to the freedom and dignity of each and every human person. By respecting the rights of the worshippers at the Juma Mosque, Azerbaijan will not only treat those worshippers with justice, it will also declare to the international community its firm commitment to abide by its international treaty obligations and the rule of law." On April 22, 2004, the Appeals Court summariy denied the Mosque's appeal with no explanation.
Juma Mosque congregants violently evicted
Police stormed the Juma Mosque on June 30, 2004, beating and dragging worshippers from the building. About 30 congregants had gathered to say their morning prayers. The Becket Fund strongly condemned the act. "This is an intolerable attack on religious freedom," Becket Fund Attorney Eric Rassbach said in a press release. The Azeri government also tried to impose a new imam, which the congregation refused to accept. Becket Fund representation before the European Court of Human Rights After the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan rejected the Mosque's appeal on August 11, 2004, the Becket Fund petitioned the European Court of Human Rights as attorneys for the Juma Mosque. The ECHR accepted and is reviewing the case. Read the Becket Fund's petition brief to the ECHR here.
Links: Devamm (Center for Human Rights and Religion in the Azerbaijan Republic) Forum 18 (an international organization, based in Norway, dedicated to promoting the fundamental human right of religious freedom as articulated in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; Forum 18 website presents numerous reports of violations of religious freedom in Azerbaijan) Human Rights Watch (independent world-wide organization, based in New York, that investigates human rights violations around the globe and brings pressure to hold violators of human rights responsible; extensive, detailed reports on human rights violations in Azerbaijan are available on their website) International Religious Liberty Association (non-sectarian group headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland, founded more than 100 years ago, promotes freedom of religion as a fundamental right throughout the world) U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (A U.S. government commission created in 1998 to monitor religious freedom around the world and advise the President, the Secretary of State and Congress on how best to promote it) U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (also known as the "Helsinki Commission," it is an independent federal agency created in 1976 to monitor progress in implementing provisions of the Helsinki Accords) Media Coverage: Activist Prevented From Leaving Azerbaijan (Radio Free Europe, April 5, 2005) Police seize imam and three others during mosque prayers (Forum 18 News Service, by Felix Corley, July 5, 2004) Police storm mosque, expelling & beating-up Muslims (Forum 18 News Service, by Felix Corley, June 30, 2004) 'Dissident' Azeri mosque raided (BBC News, June 30, 2004) Police Storms Juma Mosque in Baku (Baku Today, June 30, 2004) "Half-free" imam to challenge suspended jail sentence (Forum 18 News Service, by Felix Corley, April 5, 2004) Azeri imam convicted over protest (BBC News, April 2, 2004) Azeri Religious Rights Activist Thanks VOA for Human Rights Reports (Voice of America, April 2, 2004) Ilgar Ibrahimoglu has been released conditionally (Baku Today, April 2, 2004) Baptist and Adventist support for Imam at trial (Forum 18 News Service, by Felix Corley, March 22, 2004) Juma mosque will not be evicted at once (Baku Today, March 11, 2004) Muslims await police expulsion "with fear and flowers" (Forum 18 News Service, by Felix Corley, March 5, 2004) Court decides to "immediately" expel Muslims from mosque (Forum 18 News Service, by Felix Corley, March 1, 2004) Azeri mosque haunted by Soviet past (BBC News, by Natalia Antelava, February 16, 2004) Independent Muslim human rights leader detained (The Muslim News, December 2, 2003, publishing a Forum 18 report) Other Articles/Documents: Azerbaijani prosecutor calls for prison term for popular imam (EurasiaNet, by Daria Solovieva, April 5, 2004) Suspended Sentence of Muslim Imam, Leader of IRLA Affiliate, "Surprising" (Adventist News Network, by Mark A. Kellner, April 5, 2004) Independent Mosque in Azerbaijan Ordered Closed Under Dubious Circumstances (news release from U.S. Helsinki Commission, March 4, 2004) Political motivation behind mosque closure in Azerbaijan (EurasiaNet, March 2, 2004) Chairman Alarmed by Azerbaijani Government Actions (news release from U.S. Helsinki Commission, February 5, 2004) Letter to Professor Rafiq Aliyev (Chairman of the Azeri State Committee on Working with Religious Organizations) regarding the closing of the Juma Mosque (from The Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief, January 30, 2004) IRLA Expresses Hope Azerbaijan Mosque Remains a Place of Worship (Adventist News Network, by Mark A. Kellner, January 27, 2004) Resources & DocumentsArticles & News Items- "At UN in Geneva, Becket Fund accuses Azerbaijan of persecuting Muslims," March 29, 2004
- "Becket Fund asks European Court of Human Rights to block mosque eviction," April 28, 2004
- "Azerbaijan police drag worshippers from mosque," June 30, 2004
- "Becket Fund asks European Court of Human Rights to protect Azeri Muslim congregation," March 3, 2005
- "Azerbaijan Government Fails to Stop Cleric's Message of Religious Freedom at UN," April 5, 2005
- "UNCHR Speech of Ilgar Ibrahimoglu Allahverdiev, April 5, 2005," April 5, 2005
- "AZERBAIJAN: "Government bans religious freedom advocate from UN meeting," Forum 18," April 13, 2005
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