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LONDON, November 10 (Compass) In a meeting with United States Ambassador to Azerbaijan Stanley Escudero, President Heidar Aliev ordered the revocation of court decisions expelling nine foreign nationals from Azerbaijan for alleged violation of the law on religion.During the November 8 meeting, which was shown on national television the same day and reported on the front pages of official newspapers the following day, President Aliev reaffirmed what he said was Azerbaijan's commitment to religious freedom.Asked specifically by Ambassador Escudero about the nine Christians, and whether this indicated that the deportation threat would be lifted, Aliev pledged that their cases would be resolved "affirmatively."The reversal follows pressure from abroad over the expulsions. President Aliev told Escudero he had considered his and four U.S. congressmen's appeals concerning the violation of human rights of certain religious communities in the country.The Norwegian Embassy in Baku had also taken up the cases with the Interior and Foreign Ministers and the Norwegian foreign minister had raised the cases during a visit to Baku.The human rights violations include a September 5 raid by officers from the police and National Security Ministry of a service at one of Baku's legally registered churches; 60 members of the congregation were arrested. On October 15, courts in Baku had ordered the deportation of eight foreign Christians for attending the service. The two Azeri Christians leading the service were accused of "resisting the police" and jailed for 15 days of administrative detention.Also ordered deported was Rev. Gunther Oborski, a German national who pastors the German Lutheran Church, which was raided by police and national security agents on September 26.Despite the expulsion rulings initially handed down by Baku's Narimanov District Court on September 7, six of the eight Baptists from Norway, Finland, Korea, Iran, Colombia and Mexico remained in the capital city even after deadlines for their ouster, as did Rev. Oborski. The nine were appealing the expulsion orders.Although two of the Baptists left the country voluntarily in the wake of the deportation order, they refused to recognize its validity and pledged to return.The November 3 appeal from the U.S. congressmen cited police raids against the Baptist and German Lutheran churches, the pending deportation of the eight expatriate Baptist parishioners, the firing of several Jehovah's Witnesses from their jobs, and harassment of foreign clergy serving the Catholic and Lutheran churches. It also mentioned the government's year-long refusal to register at least four religious congregations that have applied for legal status."Clearly, these governmental actions are in violation of Azerbaijan's OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) commitments," noted the appeal.An official of the U.S. Embassy in Baku told Compass on November 9 that earlier in the day the courts lifted the deportation orders, and the Garadag Gas Plant had offered jobs back to the Jehovah's Witnesses fired for their religious affiliation."I have vigorously warned administrative bodies of the fact that arbitrariness in such issues is inconceivable," a local news agency quoted President Aliev as saying. "One cannot restrict freedom of conscience and creed." He also promised that similar problems as had been experienced by the individuals would not recur.Since Aliev's statements to the ambassador, it is reported that the deportation orders have been lifted by the Azerbaijani Supreme Court, which has overridden the rulings of the lower courts."While we're not out of the woods yet, this is a big win for religious freedom and human rights in general," the U.S. official in Baku said.Despite this victory, there appears to be no sign that the Azerbaijani government is prepared to lift restrictive clauses in the country's legislation on religion that among other things makes "missionary activity" by foreign nationals illegal.Barbara Baker contributed to this report from Istanbul.Related ElsewhereSee our earlier coverage of the controversy, "Azerbaijan Courts Order Christian Expatriates Deported"The U.S. Department of State Annual Report on International Religious Freedom examines Azerbaijan's religious freedom from political and societal perspectives, and remarks on what the U.S. government has done in response to human rights infringements in the country.The International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church is this Sunday, November 14. To find out how you can be involved, check out the "Shatter the Silence" web site.

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November (Web-only) 1999, Vol. 43