Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict Approximately 96 percent of Azerbaijan’s estimated population of 10.2 million people are Muslim; the Azerbaijani government estimates that around 65 percent identify as Shi’a Muslim, while the other 35 percent identify as Sunni Muslim. The remaining 4 percent of the population consists of atheists, Armenian Apostolics, Baha’is, Catholics, Georgian Orthodox, members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jews, Molokans, Protestants, and Russian Orthodox. Azerbaijan is a secular state that stipulates the separation of state and religion in its constitution. Although the constitution protects the freedom of conscience and provides for the right to “profess individually or together with others any religion or to profess no religion, and to express and disseminate...beliefs concerning...religion,” the government has in practice limited such rights through the 2009 law On Freedom of Religious Beliefs, the administrative code, and the criminal code. In September 2020, armed conflict broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan in connection with the long-running dispute over NagornoKarabakh and the surrounding territories. Although the conflict is predominantly territorial and ethnic in nature, some people involved in or directly affected by the conflict have characterized it as partially driven or exacerbated by religious differences. On two separate occasions in October, Azerbaijani forces reportedly shelled with precision-guided missiles the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Shusha, resulting in significant damage to some parts of the structure, including the roof. Human Rights Watch determined the attacks were likely deliberate and would therefore constitute a war crime that should be investigated and prosecuted. Over the course of the fighting and in the immediate aftermath of the November ceasefire, numerous local and international observers raised concerns about safeguarding religious and other cultural sites, specifically underscoring the need to protect the various Armenian churches, monasteries, and cemeteries lost or subsequently ceded to Azerbaijani control. By the end of the reporting period, there was evidence that some of these sites—such as the cemetery of an Armenian church in Hadrut—had already been vandalized. At the end of the year, the Azerbaijani government announced that at least two Azerbaijani soldiers, Arzu Hüseynov and Umid Ağayev, faced charges for destroying Armenian gravestones in a village in the district of Xocavənd. Government Control of Religious Practice and Literature The Azerbaijani government wields extensive control over religious practice throughout the country, including that of majority Shi’a Muslims, Sunni Muslims, and non-Muslim minorities. The government actively differentiates between what it views as “traditional” and “nontraditional” religions, favoring those communities it places in the former category and interfering in the affairs of the latter—such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, Protestants, and others. In particular, the government perceives independent Muslims as potential threats to its authority or national security, and it regularly enacts policies “to counter and limit the influence of [those] unwanted religious groups.” To this end, the government oversees and strictly regulates Islamic practices through both the official State Committee for Work with Religious Associations (SCWRA) and the Caucasus Muslim Board (CMB). Although many non-Muslim religious communities have reported improved overall conditions for religious freedom in recent years, their practices remain subject to state approval. Religious minority communities frequently experience difficulty obtaining registration, as each community must first have at least 50 adult founding members in order to qualify, and at times officials have subjectively applied other discretionary guidelines to impede their registration. In addition to mandatory registration, other provisions of the law—such as those that limit a religious community’s activities to its legal, registered address; prohibit foreign citizens from engaging in “religious propaganda” or missionary activity; and require that the SCWRA approve all religious literature and related materials—also serve to inhibit the ability of these communities to practice their religion or belief freely. Key U.S. Policy In their bilateral relationship, the United States and Azerbaijan continued to prioritize European energy security, trade and investment, and joint efforts to combat terrorism and transnational threats. The United States also remained engaged in seeking a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as a cochair—alongside France and Russia—in the OSCE Minsk Group. Following the outbreak of conflict in late September, the United States condemned the use of force and urged the sides to bring an end to hostilities. In October, then Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo met separately with the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers to urge both sides to cease fighting and resume negotiations. Although the United States brokered a ceasefire that commenced within days of that meeting, it was reportedly violated just minutes after coming into effect. The State Department raised a number of religious freedom issues in Azerbaijan throughout the year. In June, then Ambassadorat-Large for International Religious Freedom Samuel D. Brownback expressed concern about the reported dismissal from Parliament of Rahim Akhundov due to his religious identity, pressed Azerbaijan to release all religious prisoners, and called for the country to protect religious sites in Nagorno-Karabakh. KEY USCIRF RESOURCES & ACTIVITIES • • • • Country Update: Stalled Progress in Azerbaijan Issue Update: The Global Persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses Interview: Need to Release Prisoners of Conscience Is “More Urgent than Ever” (in Turan) Commissioner Delegation Visit: Baku and Quba in February 2020 U S C I R F – R E C O M M E N D E D F O R S P E C I A L W AT C H L I S T 59 AZERBAIJAN Background