Discriminatory Legislation or Policies Prejudicial to Certain Religions
Some governments have enacted legislation that favors majority religions and discriminates against minority religions. This often results from a historical dominance of the majority religion and a bias against new or minority religions. In such countries segments of the citizenry are often skeptical of new religions.
Azerbaijan. Some religious groups reported delays in and denials of registration. Local authorities occasionally monitor religious services, and officials at times harassed nontraditional religious groups and, in particular, the Juma Mosque congregation whose imam, Ilgar Ibrahimoglu, was not approved by the Government-sanctioned Board of Caucasus Muslims. The Baku city government has attempted to use registration as a requirement for occupying the Juma Mosque, which is registered as an historical landmark. In February and March, the city government asked the courts to evict the unregistered Juma Mosque community and its unauthorized imam from its historic mosque in Baku's old city. On March 11, the Juma Mosque community filed for and received a postponement of its eviction pending an appeal. The Court of Appeals on April 22 upheld the Sabayil District Court decision to evict the community. Officials from the Ministry of Justice and police began the court-ordered eviction on the morning of June 30. The Law on Religious Freedom prohibits foreigners from proselytizing, which the Government strictly enforces. The law permits the production and dissemination of religious literature with the approval of the State Committee for Work with Religious Associations; however, the authorities also appeared to selectively restrict individuals from importing and distributing religious materials. Articles critical of Wahhabism and Christian missionaries appeared in many newspapers in the country.
Belarus. Conditions of religious freedom continued to be poor during the reporting period. Following a 2002 law strongly restricting religious freedom and a 2003 agreement between the Belarusian Orthodox Church (BOC) and the Government elevating the BOC’s status, authorities continued to harass other religions and denominations. The new religion law requires all previously registered groups to reregister by November 2004 and banned immediately all religious activity by previously unregistered religious groups. The Government has repeatedly rejected the registration applications of some of these groups, including a number of Protestant denominations, the Belarusian Orthodox Autocephalous and some Eastern religions. Without registration, many of these groups find it difficult, if not impossible, to rent or purchase property to hold services. The government-run media continued to attack non-orthodox religions. All religious groups are required to receive prior governmental approval to import and distribute literature. Government subsidies are limited to the BOC, which is reportedly able to enjoy beneficial tax rates on land and property. The sale and distribution of anti-Semitic literature through state press distributors, government agencies, and at stores and events affiliated with the BOC continued. The National Academy of Science continued to sell anti-Semitic literature.
Article comments
1 - Jim Carruthers
Lemme see, uhm, working to bring back Cthulhu from the city of R'lyeh, and trying to organize an anarcho-syndicalist soccer league. And then there's the grow-op, but we don't talk about that. As for child-care, those thieving street urchins are almost as much bother as the revenue they bring in, so I'd have to call that a break-even.
2 - Eric Olsen
Say, do you know a guy named "Artful Dodger"?
3 - Jim Carruthers
But I do know about food, glorious food. But, yah, I might have seen him. Who wants to know?
4 - Eric Olsen
his mum misses him