Europe and Central Asia Summary of Amnesty International’s Concerns in the Region, January-June 2007 On 16 March the Standing Committee of PACE adopted on behalf of the Assembly Resolution 1544 (2007) and Recommendation 1790 (2007) on “the situation of women in the South Caucasus”. The Resolution contained a call by PACE on Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia to take part in the Council of Europe campaign to combat violence against women, including domestic violence. It also urged the authorities of these countries to “raise awareness among all relevant authorities and the public at large about the existence of violence against women, in particular domestic violence”; to “take effective measures to combat such violence by adopting legislation, if they have not already done so, including on marital rape, and by establishing penalties in line with the seriousness of the offences committed and providing compensation for victims, including by setting up a compensation fund”; and to “set up shelters for victims when there is no other way of protecting them against the perpetrators”. AZERBAIJAN Harassment of religious minorities On 13 January, Cengiz Hüseynov, a British citizen and Jehovah’s Witness arrested on 24 December 2006 while attending a Jehovah’s Witness religious meeting, was deported, allegedly for ‘engaging in religious propaganda’. Cengiz Hüseynov claimed that he had not been able to lodge an appeal against deportation. Equipment and literature confiscated during the December raid was reportedly not returned. On 25 May the European Commission on Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) published its second report on Azerbaijan. The report noted progress in the areas of education for children of non-citizens without legal status and the teaching of minority languages, and in the implementation of measures to improve the socio-economic situation of internally displaced persons and refugees. However, the report also expressed concern at instances of inflammatory rhetoric and Amnesty International 13 hate-speech directed against Armenians, Russian citizens of Chechen ethnicity and some religious groups. In May AI received reports of discrimination against the Evangelical Baptist Church in the village of Aliabad in the ethnic Georgian-populated district of Zaqatala. This region is known as Saingilo to the local Georgian-speaking population, Muslim representatives of which are known as Ingilos. The Baptist Church, whose congregation is made up of Christian converts from the Ingilo population, has been denied legal status in Azerbaijan for 13 years and there have been repeated reports of harassment directed against it. On 20 May the Church’s minister, Zaur Balaev, was arrested on charges of violently resisting the police, charges which he and human rights activists in Georgia and Azerbaijan claimed were false. Relatives making enquiries at the Zaqatala police station where he was being held were allegedly beaten and not permitted to visit him. According to reports Zaur Balaev’s health deteriorated following his arrest and in mid-June he was transferred to the hospital unit of the prison in the city of Gəncə. Zaur Balaev was still in detention at the end of the period under review. No respite for journalists as freedom of expression continued to be curtailed (update to AI Index EUR 55/003/2007) A number of opposition and independent newspapers were prosecuted under libel and insult laws. In several cases charges of libel related to published allegations of corruption and abuse of office by state officials. One journalist was seriously assaulted by unknown men. AI also received persistent reports of the routine use by police of undue force in preventing journalists from reporting or filming public events such as authorized and unauthorized opposition party rallies, and dispersing demonstrations organized by journalists. There were also persistent reports that journalists associated with opposition media AI Index: EUR 01/010/2007