2023-05-16 20:03:31
The US State Department’s annual report on world religious freedom for 2022 reflects intolerance, persecution and other negative trends in countries known for their repression of religious minorities, Turan’s correspondent in Washington reported.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken welcomed some positive developments around the world while releasing the report on Monday, but also noted worrying trends.
“In many parts of the world, governments continue to persecute religious minorities using a variety of methods, including torture, beatings, illegal surveillance, and ‘re-education camps.’ They also continued to resort to other forms of discrimination based on belief or non-belief, such as excluding religious minorities from certain professions or forcing them to work during religious rituals,” he said in his speech.
According to the report, the state of religious freedom around the world is far from ideal.
Addressing journalists through a teleconference, the representative of the State Department said that in 2022, anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim attacks have increased in all regions of the world.
In response to Turan’s question about Russia’s atrocities in Ukraine, the official said that the Kremlin targeted religious minorities and tried to create a split in the Orthodox Church.
Detention and physical violence and torture continue to occur in Russia, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, Crimean Tatars, Muslim groups, and evangelicals.
Persecution of Baha’is, Christians, and non-Shia Muslims continues in Iran.
According to the US report, 22 people were imprisoned in Azerbaijan for their religious beliefs or worship as of the end of last year.
Local human rights activists and other organizations said that the government “continued to use physical violence against religious activists, temporarily cut them off from communication with the outside world, and arrest them, and many arrests of religious activists, including those on drug possession charges, were politically motivated.” “, the report states.
During the year, the European Court of Human Rights confirmed that the Azerbaijani government violated the freedom of personal religion or belief in two court decisions against seven people, including in a case related to the arrest of Jehovah’s Witnesses who gathered for worship in a private home.
On September 16, the court extended the initial detention of Sardar Babayev, a Shia imam studying in Iran, until March 2023. He was accused of treason. Human rights defenders said that the government’s persecution was related to Babayev’s religious activities.
The report also mentions that the Azerbaijani authorities “continued to file lawsuits against individuals associated with the unregistered Muslim Union Movement, which the government characterizes as an extremist group and accuses of receiving financial aid from Iran.” The members of the movement said that they were subjected to physical violence in prison.
The US ambassador, chargé d’affaires and other employees of the US Embassy appealed to the government and expressed their support for the release of those who they claim were imprisoned because of their religious beliefs.
The US embassy urges the authorities to address the problem of small religious communities and introduce a civilian alternative to conscription, as provided for in the constitution.
“At the highest levels, the ambassador defended the protection of religious and cultural objects in the territories returned under the control of Azerbaijan after the 2020 military operations.”
“The ambassador and other employees of the embassy met with representatives of registered and unregistered religious groups and civil society to discuss the freedom of religious belief in the country. “Embassy staff also consulted with religious leaders and scholars regarding the March changes to the Freedom of Religion Act and how they may affect freedom of religion,” the report said.
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