SGA sponsors permanent part-time Bible institutes which prepare many faithful church members for various church-based ministries throughout the Commonwealth of Independent States. (Photo courtesy of SGA)
Azerbaijan (MNN) ― Azerbaijani Christians face a serious loss of religious freedom, as the government completes the process of amending the country's religion law.
The presidential administration prepared the amendments, and parliament passed them at the beginning of May. President Ilham Aliev was expected to sign the amendments on May 18. As of this writing, there is no word on whether he has.
"Since these amendments came out of the presidential administration, it doesn't look too promising at the moment," said Joel Griffith of Slavic Gospel Association.
The government has not been very transparent about the amendments or the amendment process. It has not yet released the final text of the amendments. According to Forum 18 News, religious leaders learned of the amendments only a few days before parliament adopted them.
"It's probably causing religious groups and human rights agencies around the world some concern. This situation appears just to have cropped up unexpectedly," Griffith said. "This whole thing was done pretty much in lack of public scrutiny, so there's been a lot of concern over that."
Religious and human rights groups have been able to learn some of the amendments' contents, however. They will require every religious body to register with the government, including groups that have already registered. They will also limit the locations where people may sell religious literature.
The process of registering a religious body is extremely difficult. According to an anonymous letter received by Forum 18 News, applications for registration can languish in bureaucratic offices for indefinite periods of time. The amendments do not explicitly state that unregistered churches are illegal, but Forum 18 said it implies as much.
"It appears that religious communities that are already registered will have to re-register again, and it's kind of a difficult and expensive process for this to happen," Griffith said. "So there is a lot of concern over this."
The amendment's vague requirements give the government
fertile ground for reasons to ban religious bodies, Forum 18 said. For instance, religious bodies may not engage in "creating racial, national, religious,
social hostility and enmity," "violating social order or social rules," or
"inciting people to refuse to execute duties required by the law."
Ilya Zenchenko, the head of the Azerbaijan Baptist Union, has criticized the
amendments. He would like the president
to decide not to sign them into law.
"He's basically urging the president of Azerbaijan to look at the constitution, which is supposed to guarantee freedom of religion, and reject the law," Griffith said.
Griffith said that religious freedom has been under increased attack in Eastern Europe. "This seems to be a growing pattern across the former Soviet Union, especially in the countries where Islam is the dominant religion, such as the republics of central Asia," he explained. "It just seems to be something that's cropping up more and more, and it should be a matter of concern for all of us."
SGA's ministry in Azerbaijan is not extensive. It supports church planters in the country, as well as running Baku Bible Institute in the capital city. Well over 90 percent of the country's population is Muslim, and 2.5 percent is Russian Orthodox, according to the CIA.
"We certainly need to hold this matter up in prayer because of the potential impact not only on evangelical churches, but religious freedom in general," Griffith said. "We're obviously concerned that the Bible-preaching churches we serve would continue to have the freedom not only to worship but also to proclaim the Gospel, and when restrictions like this come into play, depending on how vigorously they are enforced, they can have a very chilling effect on the ministry of churches there."
However, Griffith said that the Azerbaijani church's reaction to oppression is inspiring. It has a lot of experience with persecution, having survived many years under Soviet Communism. The sometimes high cost of serving the Lord does not deter these believers.
"They just trust the Lord to enable them to do whatever it is they need to do," Griffith said. "I sometimes think we take our freedom here in the West for granted, and who knows how long our freedom will last. I think the churches that we serve there have a lot to teach us here in the West about how to respond to adversity."
