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State Committee: European Commission's report does not reflect real religious situation in Azerbaijan

Society Materials 8 June 2011 19:55 (UTC +04:00)
There is no prejudice in the religious sphere in Azerbaijan.
State Committee: European Commission's report does not reflect real religious situation in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, June 8 /Trend/

There is no prejudice in the religious sphere in Azerbaijan, said the statement by the press service of the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations, distributed over the "Religious groups" section (Fourth Monitoring Cycle) of the report on Azerbaijan released by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI).

The statement says that the "Religious groups" section of the recent report contains a number of positive factors. ""

"The document says that the best-known religious groups in Azerbaijan (particularly registered Muslim and Jewish communities, as well as Orthodox and Catholic churches) do not face any difficulty in exercising their religious freedom. Although the figures in the document are close to objectivity, it is clear that some things were stated without specification and extensive research," said the statement.

The report claims that as though there is prejudice against certain religious organizations, law-enforcement agencies are putting pressure on them. "Definitely we declare that there is not any prejudice in the religious sphere in our country. The policy of the State in religious sphere and activities in the sphere of religious freedom of citizens bring positive results," said the State Committee.

"The report claims that as though the government uses the process of registration against the undesirable religious organizations. Whereas the registration rules have been simplified after the amendments and annexes made to the Law on Freedom of Religion. Minimal documents, which can be gathered easily, are required from the citizens for registration," the statement says.

"In general, the analysis of the report gives reason to regretfully say that some of the information have been obtained from unreliable sources and included in the document without the specification and in-depth study. In short, the report does not reflect the real situation in the country and is superficial," said the statement of the State Committee.

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