Gender: Male
Perpetrator: Azerbaijan
Religion or Belief: Christian – Jehovah's Witness
Date of Detainment: July/30/2025
Date of Release: November/26/2025
Current Status: Released
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Elgiz Ibrahimov
Extra Bio Info:
Elgiz Ibrahimov was imprisoned for refusing to serve in the military on religious grounds.
On July 30, 2025, Judge Qalib Pashayev sentenced 19-year-old Ibrahimov to one year of imprisonment for conscientiously objecting to military service as a Jehovah's Witness (Art 321.1 ACC). Authorities arrested him in the courtroom and confined him in Ganca Prison No. 2, a high-security prison.
On November 26, 2025, Ibrahimov was released from prison on probation.
Nov 18, 2025
India’s Political System Facilitates Intolerance Towards Religious Minorities
Washington D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released the following report:
Issue Update: Systematic Religious Persecution in India – This report provides an overview of India’s social, political, and criminal justice systems as they relate to issues regarding freedom of religion or belief (FoRB). It also examines the relationship between Hindu nationalist groups like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the implications of this dynamic for FoRB.
In its 2025 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State designate India as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for its toleration of systematic, ongoing, egregious religious freedom violations.
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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan legislative branch agency established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress, intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected]
Nov 18, 2025
A Triad Repressing Religious Freedom is Led by Three Latin American Authoritarian Governments
Washington, DC – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released the following report:
Patterns of Religious Repression in Latin America’s Authoritarian Triad – Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela are the most clearly authoritarian states in Latin America and the region’s most flagrant FoRB violators. All three countries use similar methods of repressing religious freedom, including harassment of religious communities, legal obstruction, favoritism toward certain religious groups, and closure of civic space. This report focuses on the parallel strategies used by the authoritarian governments of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to violate freedom of religion or belief (FoRB).
In its 2025 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended both Cuba and Nicaragua to be designated as Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) and highlighted FoRB violations in Venezuela. USCIRF has held hearings on religious freedom violations in Cuba and Nicaragua, and has also produced Country Updates on Cuba and Nicaragua.
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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan legislative branch agency established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].