Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08BAKU97
2008-02-05 12:40:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Baku
Cable title:  

AZERBAIJANI POLICE DISRUPT JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES'

Tags:  PREL PGOV PHUM KIRF AJ 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0008
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKB #0097/01 0361240
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 051240Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY BAKU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4702
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 2617
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE PRIORITY 0811
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L BAKU 000097 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR EUR/CARC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/05/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KIRF AJ
SUBJECT: AZERBAIJANI POLICE DISRUPT JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES'
SERVICE

REF: 07 BAKU 00007

Classified By: Pol/Econ Chief Joan Polaschik for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d
).

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAKU 000097

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR EUR/CARC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/05/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KIRF AJ
SUBJECT: AZERBAIJANI POLICE DISRUPT JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES'
SERVICE

REF: 07 BAKU 00007

Classified By: Pol/Econ Chief Joan Polaschik for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d
).


1. (C) On January 30, approximately 30 police reportedly
disrupted a Jehovah's Witnesses' worship service around noon
in the central Azerbaijani town of Barda. There were 16
members attending the service, which was held in the home of
Barda resident Nasiba Guliyeva. Guliyeva refused to allow
the police to enter for approximately five hours, according
to Georgia-based Jehovah's Witnesses advocate Robert
Delahaije. (Delahaije is a regular Embassy contact regarding
religious freedom issues. Delahaije previously lived in
Azerbaijan, but was deported in January 2007 on charges of
proselytizing - reftel. He still maintains regular contact
with Jehovah's Witnesses in Azerbaijan.) After the service
was finished, Guliyeva opened the door for the Jehovah's
Witnesses members to return to their homes, but the police
entered the residence.


2. (C) According to Delahaije and Guliyeva, the police were
particularly aggressive with the male Jehovah's Witnesses,
throwing several of them on the floor and hitting them. At
approximately 17:30, the police took five of the male members
to a local police station, where they were held for several
hours and then released. Guliyeva claimed the police
verbally and physically abused the five males while they were
in detention. Guliyeva told us the police did not have any
documents authorizing their raid, but the police claimed
their actions were authorized by Aghalar Maharramov, the
Barda district police chief.


3. (C) Guliyeva is a school teacher in Barda, where she
works with a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) in an English
language program. Peace Corps staff heard about the case
from the Barda-based PCV and subsequently informed the
Embassy. Guliyeva told the PCV and the Embassy that local
government officials were attempting to intimidate her,
claiming they would increase her teaching load so that she
would have no time for spreading her faith.


4. (C) On February 5, Guliyeva told us that local officials

asked one of her brothers, who is a municipal head, to
encourage Guliyeva to stop her religious activities or leave
Barda. Guliyeva also said that Kamil Aliyev (one of the five
Jehovah's Witnesses who was detained on January 30),was
arrested on February 4 and will be imprisoned for 10 days on
charges of reckless driving. Guliyeva said Aliyev's car had
slid off an icy road, but police used the occasion to press
criminal charges against him.

Comment
--------------


5. (C) Azerbaijani law forbids foreigners from proselytizing
Azerbaijani citizens, but it does not explicitly bar
Azerbaijani citizens from seeking to change other Azerbaijani
citizens' religions. In practice, however, local officials
often harrass Azerbaijani citizens who seek to proselytize
other Azerbaijani citizens. Since the prosletizing charge
cannot stick to Azerbaijani citizens, officials often rely on
registration issues as the legal grounds for raiding a
religious service. Religious groups conducting worship
services in private homes are particularly vulnerable on
these grounds, as they often technically are unregistered
even though they may be part of a registered church in Baku
or another city.


6. (C) In general, Azerbaijani officials and society are
negatively predisposed to the Jehovah's Witnesses, regarding
them with a high level of suspicion. Two reasons appear to
underpin this opinion. First, the Jehovah's Witnesses
generally are very active in trying to make new converts,
which is often perceived by Azerbaijanis as attempting to
change one's cultural and religious Muslim identity. Second,
Jehovah's Witnesses are often perceived as being
pro-Armenian, in part because some male Jehovah's Witnesses
refuse to fulfill their obligatory military service on
conscientious objection grounds. The press often seizes on
the theme of the Jehovah's Witnesses' alleged links to
Armenia. Press coverage of the January 30 police raid in
Yeni Musavat (newspaper for the opposition Musavat party) is
reflective of this broader trend. After providing some of
the facts of the case, the article concluded: "We must note
that one of the main goals of this sect is to discourage
young people from joining the army. This sect is said to

have been banned in Christian countries as well. The
missionaries have arrived in Azerbaijan in masses and are
engaged in damaging propaganda here."


7. (C) Guliyeva's story parallels increasing reports of GOAJ
pressure against perceived "non-traditional" religious
groups. The police raid in Barda occurs in the context of a
broader GOAJ effort to pressure religious communities not
controlled by the Caucasus Muslim Board or the State
Committee on Work with Religious Associations (SCWRA). This
government effort appears to be particularly focused against
devout Muslims and Christian communities that are perceived
as "non-traditional." We will seek the SCRWA,s views on
this case and urge the GOAJ to ensure that its tradition of
religious tolerance extends to "non-traditional" religious
groups.
DERSE