Azerbaijan: Stop denying access to education through discriminatory hijab restrictions and release peaceful protesters

Reacting to the growing number of reports that peaceful activists protesting the school hijab ban have been detained and that an activist who attempted to organize free online lessons for girls affected by the uniform regulations has gone missing, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director, said:

“Mass arrests of peaceful protesters alongside participants in violent riots, including the reported detention of a mother protesting against her daughter’s exclusion from school, and the disappearance of an activist who aimed to help affected girls, are typical of the state’s violent suppression of the lawful exercise of the right to protest peacefully, and the crackdown on freedom of expression and all dissent in Azerbaijan.

“Denying girls access to classrooms because they wear a hijab is discriminatory and violates their rights to education, and the freedoms of religion and expression. The secular character of public education doesn’t justify a blanket restriction on religious dress.

Denying girls access to classrooms because they wear a hijab is discriminatory and violates their rights to education, and the freedoms of religion and expression

Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director

“The Azerbaijani authorities must reverse these discriminatory restrictions and ensure that affected pupils and teachers can return to school. They must immediately and unconditionally release anyone detained solely for peacefully exercising their rights. They must respect the right to peaceful protest and all human rights.”

Background

According to new school uniform regulations, from 12 October, pupils and teachers wearing hijabs were denied entry to schools across Azerbaijan, prompting mass protests and acts of public disobedience, some of them resulting in violence. On that day, according to the Interior Ministry, 37 people were detained in Baku alone, while activists reported more than 200 detentions. Simultaneously, users reported that TikTok and Instagram became inaccessible in Azerbaijan.

While most of the detained were shortly released, the total number of people remaining in custody is unknown. Among the known cases is Gudrat Abdullayev, who has been placed under administrative arrest for 25 days for a TikTok post, and Rafael Huseynzade, detained for 30 days after writing “Freedom for the hijab!” on a school building. On 13 October, six minors were detained on suspicion of attempting to set fire to a school.

A criminal case was opened under Article 233 of the Criminal Code, concerning the organization of actions that disrupt public order or active participation in them. Officially, no one has been arrested in connection with this case so far.

On 14 October, Aga Huseynov, a Muslim activist, reported the arrest of his wife, Shahizyar Huseynova, detained the previous day after protesting outside a school in Baku after their daughter was refused access. According to him, she has been detained for four months and the charges against her have not been provided.

Ilkin Huseynov, an activist who had launched a free online platform connecting volunteer teachers with children excluded from school, including for wearing hijabs, went missing on 14 October after leaving his Baku home accompanied by unidentified people.

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