Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend I.Alizade / The Chairwoman of Azerbaijan Parliament's Permanent Commission on Human Rights, Rabiyat Aslanova, said on 18 September in Baku that the activities by missionary organizations which do not follow the law of Azerbaijan and hold propaganda which contradicts the national-religious values of Azerbaijan should be ceased.
"It is a national security issue. Is it possible to permit into Azerbaijan the activities of missionary organizations, whose actions have been prohibited in Europe? Sometimes we are criticized for not providing opportunities for the activities of the missionary organizations prohibited in Europe. Azerbaijan is open to all religious organizations which follow the laws of the Country. Each activity violating the law and contradicting national interests will be ceased," Aslanova said commenting on the opinions that a ban has been imposed in Azerbaijan for the activity of the representatives of non-traditional religious communities.
The US State Department published a report on 14 September 2007 regarding human rights and religious minorities. The document says that the Constitution of Azerbaijan contains unlimited religious rights, but there are limitations in the Country for the religious activity. The document says that several religious groups were not registered, members of several organizations have been arrested and a ban has been imposed on the spread of the religious literature. The local organizations and members of the Committee often present obstacles for the organizations whishing to be registered and carry out religious activity.
According to Aslanova, all international organizations and experts positively assess the religious tolerance of Azerbaijan. "The activity of the religious organizations has never been limited in Azerbaijan," Aslanova added.
She stressed that the Jews, Orthodox Russians and Muslims reside in a friendly manner in Azerbaijan and there are numerous representatives of the religious directions. "The representatives of various religions are functioning in Azerbaijan. No religious confrontation has taken place in Azerbaijan," the MP said.
According to her, the US Department of State is devising such a document for 146 countries and the stereotyped reports are used instead of concrete publications and information regarding various countries, societies and political atmosphere.
"The US Department of State does not take into consideration the individuality of the country, the situation with the inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue and its historical roots in this State," Aslanova said.
As the example of the religious tolerance in Azerbaijan, she highlighted the repair of a Russian church in Baku at the expense of businessman Aydin Gurbanov, allocation of a place in Baku for construction of a Catholic church and repair of a Jewish synagogue. "There are such cities in which only there are churches. However, mosques, churches and synagogues are functioning together in Azerbaijan," she added.
Aslanova said that there is no problem in Azerbaijan with the registration of the religion organizations. This issue has been fully simplified in the legislation. The religious organizations may easily get into registration as non-governmental organizations.