Ministry of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan Baku International Multiculturalism Centre Azerbaijani Multiculturalism Textbook for Higher Education

Everyone has freedom of conscience.

2. 
   Everyone has the right to define independently their attitude towards religion, to profess any religion individually or together with others or to profess no religion, to express and spread their religious beliefs.
   

3. 
   Everyone is free to perform religious rituals, provided that they do not violate public order or contradict public morals.
   

4. 
   Religious convictions do not excuse infringements of the law.
   

5. 
   No one can be forced to express a religious belief or conviction, to execute religious rituals or participate in religious ceremonies.
   

This article of the Constitution creates a broad legal basis for the protection and freedom of religious diversity, and also permits everyone freely to profess any religion, to preserve a neutral position towards religion or to profess no religion. In some countries a change in the dominant religion is prohibited by the Constitution. For instance, according to Article 13 of the Constitution of Greece (11 June 1975), proselytism or religious conversion is banned in Greece.

In Azerbaijan all religious organizations can function as legal entities when they have official registration. The right of everyone to freedom of conscience is reflected in the laws concerning specific

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     categories of people as well. According to Article 13 of the Code
     

of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the Execution of Punishments and Article 7 of the law of the Republic of Azerbaijan ‘On the status of servicemen’, dated 25 December 1991, the relevant authorities are obliged to ensure freedom of conscience for prisoners and military servicemen respectively.

It is, therefore, an important element of a multicultural society for there to be sufficient legal norms to ensure that everyone is free to follow any religion and perform religious rituals. Should these rights be violated, that is, if anyone is illegally prevented from exercising these rights, for example, if anyone is illegally prevented from performing religious rites or is forced to follow a religion (religious movement) and perform religious rituals and ceremonies or to participate in religious rituals and ceremonies or get religious education, or forced to be a member of a religious organization, or prevented from leaving one, the violator will be charged with violating the rights of citizens, and also under Articles 167-168 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

On 25 December 2015, the law of the Republic of Azerbaijan ‘On combating religious extremism’ was adopted in order to strengthen the fight against groups that under the guise of religion and protected by the religious diversity and stability in Azerbaijan create armed groups to oppose the constitutional structure of the state. This law was adopted in order to prevent the abuse of the constitutional guarantees of religious diversity and of the protection of the existing multicultural environment.

By defining exactly the notions of religious extremism, religious fanaticism and religious radicalism the law determines precisely the difference between these notions and religious freedom, establishes the legal and organizational basis to combat religious extremism in the Republic of Azerbaijan and enshrines the rights and responsibilities of citizens and state organizations in combating religious extremism.

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The right to equality occupies one of the most important places in the legal basis of multiculturalism in Azerbaijan. The right to equality is of vital importance in maintaining ethnocultural diversity, which is a significant component of a multicultural society. Equality under the law is of vital importance from the point of view of the existence of all peoples with equal rights within the borders of the same country. With this in mind, the National Leader of the Azerbaijani People Heydar Aliyev said: ‘Azerbaijan is a multi-ethnic state. All its citizens have equal rights, irrespective their nationality, religious conviction and political beliefs.’

From this point of view, Article 25 of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, designed by Heydar Aliyev, ‘guarantees the protection of the rights and liberties of all people, irrespective of their race, ethnicity, religion, language, sex, origin, property and social status, beliefs and membership of political parties, trade unions and other public organizations’. The Article prohibits the restriction of rights and liberties on the grounds of race, ethnicity, religion, language, sex, origin, belief and sociopolitical affiliation.

Legislation makes clear that racial, ethnic or religious affiliation does not rule out the equality of rights before the law and the courts. On the contrary, the right to equality is one of the basic principles in the Civil Code, Criminal Code, Criminal-Procedure Code, Labour Code, law ‘On education’ and other legislative acts of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan enshrines­ equal rights for the members of all minorities and ethnicities and the titular nation. Article 44 of the Constitution enshrines ‘the right of everyone to preserve their national identity’. According to the same article, nobody ‘can be forced to change their national identity’. It means that everyone is free to choose their national identity and state bodies can in no way restrict this freedom.

A nation is a socio-political and public entity that has its own language, traditions, customs and culture. At the same time, it is

a person’s understanding of their own national identity and their adaptation to that nation.

Along with the free determination of one’s national identity, the State guarantees everyone’s right to cultural identity as well. Article 8 of the law of the Republic of Azerbaijan ‘On culture’ reflects clearly that ‘everyone has the right to preserve their national cultural identity and freely choose their spiritual, aesthetic and other values’.

Before the adoption of the first Constitution of independent Azerbaijan, the President signed a decree on 16 September 1992 ‘On the protection of rights and freedoms and state support for the development of the language and culture of the national minorities, small nations and ethnic groups residing in the Azerbaijan Republic’. This developed interethnic relations and protected cultural diversity and ensured the free development of national minorities and ethnicities in the country until the adoption of the first Constitution of the independent Republic of Azerbaijan. Though in the same decree the state undertook the commitment to preserve and develop the religion, language and cultural identity of national minorities and ethnicities, to create conditions for the development of folk arts and crafts and for the free performance of religious rituals, there was still a need for their constitutional guarantee. Therefore, the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan included provisions to meet this need.

Infringement of the principles of Article 25 (Right to equality) and Article 44 (Right to national identity) bears criminal liability under Article 154 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan:

Irrespective of race, ethnicity, religion, language, sex, origin, property and social status, beliefs, membership of political parties, trade unions or other public organizations, the infringement of the right to equality of citizens by inflicting damages on their legal and

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