USCIRF Releases Country Update on Azerbaijan

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released a country update on religious freedom conditions in Azerbaijan:

Azerbaijan Country Update: This report evaluates trends relevant to freedom of religion or belief in Azerbaijan since USCIRF commissioners and staff traveled to the country in early 2020. In recent years, Azerbaijan has implemented some changes that have marked an improvement in conditions for religious freedom, such as ending law enforcement raids on religious communities and reportedly pardoning many religious activists. However, religious freedom in Azerbaijan remains severely impeded by problematic legislation, particularly the country’s 2009 law “On Freedom of Religious Beliefs,” which the government has shown little interest in revising. This country update also details the many obstacles posed by mandatory registration and other restrictions on religious communities, the continued imprisonment of religious activists, and recent violations committed in the context of the renewed conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

In its 2020 Annual Report (also available in Azerbaijani and Russian), USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State place Azerbaijan on its Special Watch List (SWL) for its ongoing and systematic religious freedom violations.

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity 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] or Danielle Ashbahian at [email protected].

USCIRF Commemorates Fifth Anniversary of ISIS Genocide Recognition

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today joins religious communities in Iraq and Syria—including Yazidis, Christians, and Shi’a Muslims—in remembering the tens of thousands of lives lost to Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) atrocities, five years after the U.S. Department of State and Congress declared those crimes genocide.

 “We commemorate with heavy hearts the fifth anniversary of this genocide recognition, given the devastating losses that Yazidis, Christians, Shabak, Turkmen, Kaka’is, and others suffered at the hands of ISIS in 2014 and beyond,” USCIRF Vice Chair Anurima Bhargava said. “USCIRF continues to call on the United States and its international partners to spare no effort in continuing to provide humanitarian aid and other forms of assistance to these communities, even as we recognize the irreplaceability of the lives ISIS destroyed through execution, enslavement, sexual assault, and other atrocities.”

USCIRF Commissioner Nadine Maenza added, “Five long years after the U.S. government recognized this genocide, the world must do better in supporting the vulnerable religious and ethnic minority communities for whom this tragedy remains a present and painful reality.” She explained, “For many Yazidis in Iraq, the internally displaced person—or IDP—camps that have served as a crucial refuge since 2014 have also become a purgatory of despair, as suicide rates climb and their Sinjar homeland remains largely in ruins and caught up in territorial and security disputes. Meanwhile, displaced Yazidis continue to face religious persecution, marginalization, and daily violence in neighboring Syria. The United States and its partners cannot stand by while they and other minorities in Iraq and Syria continue to suffer under such existential threats. It is also vital that perpetrators of the violence are prosecuted and held accountable.”

In its 2020 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. State Department place Iraq on its Special Watch List (SWL) for ongoing and systematic religious freedom violations. It recommended Syria for designation as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) for engaging in or tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.

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The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity 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] or Danielle Ashbahian at [email protected].