Amnesty International said Friday in a statement that Azerbaijan authorities must reverse school clothing rules that bar pupils and teachers wearing hijabs in classrooms, and must release people detained solely for peaceful protest.
Commenting on the clothing restrictions and detention of protesters, Marie Struthers, Amnesty’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia director, stated:
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… 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.
The rules stem from a September 21 decision of Azerbaijan’s Cabinet of Ministers, which prohibits students from wearing clothing that departs from the prescribed school uniform or conflicts with the secular character of general education. The decision does not mention the hijab by name. On October 6, the Cabinet approved dress requirements for teachers. Amnesty said pupils and teachers wearing hijabs have been denied entry to schools since October 12.
Amnesty said the Interior Ministry reported 37 detentions in Baku on October 12, while activists reported more than 200. The ministry described the detainees’ actions as grossly violating public order. Amnesty said the number of people still in custody is unknown. It cited two men placed under administrative arrest, for 25 days over a TikTok post and 30 days over a slogan written on a school building. It also said six minors were detained October 13 on suspicion of attempting to set fire to a school.
The rights organization later stated that authorities had opened a criminal case under Article 233 of the Criminal Code, which concerns organizing or taking part in actions that disrupt public order, and said no one has been officially arrested in that case.
Authorities have defended the rules as an expression of secular public education. Trend, an Azerbaijani news agency, reports that the government’s position is that the rules derive from legislation, including amendments to the Law on General Education signed by President Ilham Aliyev in July, and from the constitutional principle of secular education. Caucasus Muslims Board Chairman Allahshukur Pashazadeh has said there is no nationwide hijab ban.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) upheld a headscarf ban at a Turkish university in Leyla Şahin v. Turkey, a 2005 judgment that found no violation of the right to manifest religion or the right to education. Azerbaijan is a party to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
As of October 14, neither the Cabinet nor the Education Ministry had publicly explained how the rules apply to headscarves. The Article 233 case remains open.
