UNITED E NATIONS Economic and Social Council Distr. GENERAL E/CN.4/2005/61/Add.1 15 March 2005 ENGLISH/FRENCH/SPANISH COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS Sixty-first session Item 11(e) of the provisional agenda CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING THE QUESTION OF RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE Report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Asma Jahangir Addendum ∗ Summary of cases transmitted to Governments and replies received ∗ The present document is being circulated in the languages of submission only as it greatly exceeds the page limitations currently imposed by the relevant General Assembly resolutions GE.05-12913 E/CN.4/2005/61/Add.1 Page 2 CONTENTS Paragraphs Page Introduction 1 – 2 3 SUMMARY OF CASES TRANSMITTED AND 3- 94 REPLIES RECEIVED Armenia 3 - 9 3 - 4 Azerbaijan 10 - 19 4 - 6 Bangladesh 20 - 29 6 - 9 Belarus 30 - 52 9 - 14 Bulgaria 53 - 54 14 - 15 China 55 - 73 15 - 20 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 74 - 79 20 - 21 Egypt 80 – 90 21 - 24 Eritrea 91 – 103 24 - 27 Fiji 104 – 109 27 - 28 France 110 – 122 28 - 31 Georgia 123 – 126 31 - 32 Greece 127 – 128 32 - 33 India 129 – 131 33 - 34 Indonesia 132 – 134 34 - 35 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 135 – 143 35 - 37 Iraq 144 – 147 37 - 38 Israel 148 38 Kazakhstan 149 – 152 38 - 39 Kyrgyzstan 153– 159 39 - 40 Lao People’s Democratic Republic 160 - 166 41 - 43 Mexico 167– 168 43 - 44 Mongolia 169 – 170 44 Myanmar 171 – 173 44 - 45 Nigeria 174– 176 45 - 46 Pakistan 177 – 194 46 - 50 Republic of Moldova 195– 196 50 Russian Federation 197 - 205 51 - 53 Saudi Arabia 206 – 209 53 - 54 Serbia and Montenegro 210 – 213 54 - 55 Slovenia 214 – 219 56 - 57 Sri Lanka 229 – 225 57 - 58 Sudan 226 58 - 59 Thailand 227 – 240 59 - 62 The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 241 – 257 63 - 66 Turkey 258 – 262 66 - 67 Turkmenistan 263 - 281 67 - 72 United Kingdom 282 – 288 72 - 73 United Republic of Tanzania 289 – 291 73 - 74 United States of America 292 – 326 74 - 82 Uzbekistan 327 – 347 82 - 88 Viet Nam 348 – 372 88 - 94 E/CN.4/2005/61/Add.1 Page 3 Introduction 1. This addendum to the report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief gives an account of communications transmitted by the Special Rapporteur between 1 January and 11 November 2004. It also contains the replies received from Governments to his communications, as well as observations of the Special Rapporteur where considered appropriate. 2. Owing to restrictions on the length of documents, the Special Rapporteur has been obliged to reduce details of communications sent and received. As a result, replies from Governments could not be published in their entirety. Summary of cases transmitted and replies received Armenia Communications and replies received 3. On 27 October 2004, the Special Rapporteur transmitted a communication to the Government of Armenia in relation to the situation of five Jehovah's Witnesses who were reportedly sentenced to prison terms in October 2004 for refusing military service on grounds of conscience. According to the information received, between 7 and 14 October 2004, Karen Hakopyan, Arsen Sarkisyan, Mher Mirpakhatyan and Artur Manukyan were sentenced by a court in Armavit whereas Hovhanes Bayatyan was sentenced by the Yerevan Erebuni-Nubarashen Court. They all received the maximum sentence of two years of prison each under article 327, Part I, of the Criminal Code. They were reportedly held in Nubarashen prison. On 1 October 2004, Asatur Badalyan, another Jehovah’s Witness, was reportedly sentenced on the same grounds to 1 ½ years’ imprisonment by a court in Kotaik. Concerns have been expressed that the six prisoners, who were called up in May 2004, officially applied to do alternative civil service but were told that such an option did not exist. 4. By letter dated 3 December 2004, the Government of Armenia indicated that the law on alternative service had only entered into force on 1 July 2004 but that the persons referred to in the communication could now apply for alternative service and their prison sentences would then be cancelled. 5. The Government further stated that while looking into the matter a special mission comprised of the staff members of the Armenian Human Rights Defender’s Office and the Public Observation Group of the Ministry of Justice investigated the conditions of detention of Arsen Sargsyan, Mher Mirpakhatyan, Karen Hakobyan, Artur Manukyan, Hovhannes Bayatyan, using a questionnaire survey. 6. The visiting group also met with Asatur Badalyan and other imprisoned Jehovah’s Witnesses at the Kosh detention centre on 19 November 2004. According to the questionnaires filled out by the prisoners, all the above-mentioned persons believed that they were prisoners of conscience and that they were unfairly sentenced. However, nothing in their verdicts referred to their being sentenced because of their religious beliefs. E/CN.4/2005/61/Add.1 Page 4 7. The Government indicated that the men claimed that they had applied to the Prosecutor General and to local enlistment offices to do alternative service. The request had been denied since the relevant legal provisions did not exist at the time. The visiting group also found that the men considered that the alternative service established by the new legal provisions to be of too long a duration and therefore still did not want to do it, although they did not consider the alternative service to be in contradiction with their religious beliefs. 8. Finally, the Government informed the Special Rapporteur that the visiting group explained to the men the legal procedures that would help them to transform their detention into alternative service, in order to have a clear their records. As to the alternative service conditions, the Government also noted that each state has its own legislation in that regard. Observations 9. The Special Rapporteur is grateful for the details provided in the reply of the Government and, referring to the concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination of 14 August 2002 (A/57/18, paras. 269-291), encourages the Government to take all the measures to ensure freedom of religion to all without discrimination. Azerbaijan 10. On 12 March 2004, the Special Rapporteur advised the Government of Azerbaijan that she had received information according to which Azeri authorities had ordered Muslims in Baku to leave the “Juma” mosque. Nubaris Kuliev of the city administration had allegedly written to the mosque leaders on 15 January 2004 to tell them that the Muslim community had to leave the mosque within 15 days and hand it over to the “appropriate authorities”. The authorities reportedly wanted to turn the mosque into a carpet museum, the use to which the 1,000-year-old mosque was put in Soviet times. The mosque’s imam, Ilgar Ibrahimoglu Allahverdiev, has reportedly been repeatedly detained by local authorities. 11. By letter dated 1 April 2004, the Government of Azerbaijan responded that the building referred to in the communication of 12 March 2004 is under the protection of the Ministry of Culture as one of the historical monuments of Baku. This is the place where the Carpet Museum had been functioning until 1992. After 1992, the building was seized by Ilgar Ibrahimoglu Allahverdiev and Azer Ramizoglu Samddov, inhabitants of Baku. They established the society of "Islam Ittihad", an alleged religious community. 12. The Government stressed that any religious community willing to use a building as a mosque should conclude a contract with the Ministry of Culture and then assume the responsibility to preserve it in appropriate conditions. Moreover, only registered religious communities can use a mosque and the above-mentioned community is not registered. According to the information received from the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations, representatives of the religious E/CN.4/2005/61/Add.1 Page 5 community applied for registration on 29 January 2002 but the application was denied because the community refused to observe two legal provisions according to which it should register with the Caucasian Muslim Board and indicate a legal address. The community is therefore not entitled to use this building as a mosque, which does not imply that members of the community are prohibited from worshipping in any mosque, including “Juma” mosque. 13. Regarding the arrest of Ilgar Ibrahimoglu Allahverdiev, he was charged for his participation in the mass disturbances of 15 and 16 October 2003 in Baku organized by activists of some political parties that wanted to influence the results of the presidential elections. Ilgar Ibrahimoglu Allahverdiev was accused of breaching articles 233 (organization of and participation in mass disturbances) and 315.2 (resistance to representatives of the authorities) of the Criminal Code. 14. On 29 March 2004, the Special Rapporteur transmitted additional information on the “Juma” mosque according to which, in the wake of a court decision of 1 March 2004 to expel them from their place of worship, members of the mosque were warned by a court official that they would be evicted by force. The judgement allegedly stated that the community was being stripped of its place of worship because it had no agreement from the Old City authorities to use the building, that it did not undergo re- registration as a religious community with the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations, and that it was not subject to the Caucasian Muslim Board. The community rejected these arguments, indicating that it had repeatedly tried to reach an agreement with the Old City authorities, who failed to respond to their applications; that its 1993 registration as a religious community with the Ministry of Justice had never been revoked and therefore remained valid; and that the requirement in the country's religion law that mosques should be subject to the Muslim Board violated Azerbaijan's international human rights commitments.