The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one’s belief or religion
The right to join together and express one’s belief
1 November 2023
UKRAINE: Three years' jail for Adventist conscientious objector to mobilisation
45-year-old Seventh-day Adventist Dmytro Zelinsky is serving his 3-year jail term for refusing mobilisation on grounds of conscience, and is due to arrive soon in a Kolomyia prison. On 28 August, Ternopil Appeal Court acceded to Prosecutor Roman Harmatiuk's request to overturn his June acquittal. Harmatiuk did not respond to Forum 18 to say why he appealed against the acquittal. Zelinsky is preparing a Supreme Court appeal. Courts have handed conscientious objectors 3 prison sentences (2 of them later overturned), 10 suspended prison terms, and 2 acquittals (which prosecutors are challenging). Seven criminal trials continue.
26 October 2023
KYRGYZSTAN: Six-month jail term for questioning official religious policy
On 13 September, Protestant Aytbek Tynaliyev completed his six-month jail term. Arrested in May, a Chuy Region court convicted him in July for "inciting religious enmity" for social media posts sharing his faith and questioning the authorities' religious policy. Prosecutor Kaliya Rysbek kyzy refused to say how exactly Tynaliyev insulted Islam and why she called for a two-year jail term. The two Justice Ministry religious "experts", who supported the prosecution case in court, would not explain why they considered Tynaliyev's comments represented "disinformation about the religion of Islam".
24 October 2023
OCCUPIED UKRAINE: Detained, fined, ordered "deported"
On 22 September, a court in Russian-occupied Donetsk Region found Fr Khristofor Khrimli and Fr Andri Chui of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) guilty of violating Russian law on missionary activity. The Judge punished each with a fine of 30,000 Russian Roubles and "deportation beyond the bounds of the Russian Federation". Fr Andri has appealed. Russian occupation officials earlier tried to pressure the priests to transfer to the Russian Orthodox Church. Armed men raided two Baptist churches in Zaporizhzhia Region and ordered a third to close.
18 October 2023
BELARUS: Repressive draft Religion Law awaits second reading
Belarus' repressive new Religion Law awaits its second reading in the regime's non-freely elected parliament after passing its first reading on 11 October. No date has been set. The text of the draft Law as presented to parliament was made public only on about 10 October. Local human rights defenders and religious communities have criticised the Law, and three UN Special Rapporteurs have written to the regime expressing concerns that the proposed new Law "would fail to meet Belarus' obligations under international human rights law".
17 October 2023
OCCUPIED UKRAINE: Russian occupation forces continue to disappear religious leaders
Russian occupation forces continue to disappear and in some cases torture many people in occupied Ukrainian territory, including religious leaders. Greek Catholic priests Fr Ivan Levytsky and Fr Bohdan Heleta were disappeared in November 2022, and Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) priest Fr Kostiantyn Maksimov in May 2023. Occupation forces repeatedly refused to answer Forum 18's questions about where they are being held, and what their state of health is. Russian-controlled Tokmak Police said it had no information about Fr Kostiantyn. "Even if we had, we wouldn't give it by phone."
13 October 2023
OCCUPIED UKRAINE: Russian occupation forces close more churches, broadcast disinformation
Russian occupation forces have closed and seized more churches, the latest known being an Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) church in Basan and a Baptist Union church in Zaporizhzia Region, and the Catholic Church in Skadovsk in Kherson Region. Occupation forces broke the Catholic church's windows and door during a raid, claiming they were looking for explosives and drugs. Artyom Sharlay of the Russian occupiers' Religious Organisations Department claimed to Forum 18 that "law-abiding" religious communities "face no restrictions, but those that break the law are banned".
9 October 2023
RUSSIA: Four now jailed for refusing to fight in Ukraine on religious grounds
Military courts have now jailed four men for refusing on religious grounds to go to fight in Ukraine. In Vladivostok, Baptist Vyacheslav Reznichenko entered the prison colony-settlement on 18 September to start his 2 year, 6 month term. In Murmansk, a court handed long-serving contract soldier Maksim Makushin, a Pentecostal Christian, a term of 2 years and 8 months "for refusing to kill Ukrainians". He is awaiting his appeal. Neither courts nor prosecutors answered Forum 18's questions why they were not allowed to do alternative civilian service.
6 October 2023
UZBEKISTAN: New punishments "correspond to international standards"?
Senator Batyr Matmuratov would not say why Criminal and Administrative Code amendments to increase punishments related to exercising freedom of religion or belief, adopted by both chambers of parliament in September, were not first published for public comment. He falsely claimed that all laws "correspond to international standards". Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov reportedly warned state officials not to attend mosque, though his spokesperson denied this. From the summer, police resumed detentions on the street of Muslim women wearing religious clothes, including the hijab and niqab, and men growing beards.
3 October 2023
BELARUS: After church bulldozed, New Life Church faces liquidation
A Minsk court will decide in a case due to begin on 6 October whether the 31-year-old New Life Full Gospel Church will be stripped of its legal status and become illegal. If so, any activity it undertakes could risk up to a two-year jail term. The hearing comes 15 weeks after the regime bulldozed its place of worship. The Minsk city official who prepared the liquidation suit refused to comment. One year on from a suspicious minor fire, Saints Simon and Helena Catholic Church (Red Church) in central Minsk remains closed. The draft new Religion Law reached parliament on 29 September.
27 September 2023
KAZAKHSTAN: Prisoners of conscience refused conditional early release
At least 3 of the 8 current known prisoners of conscience jailed for exercising freedom of religion or belief have had applications for conditional early release rejected on grounds their families regard as arbitrary. In June, a Kyzylorda court rejected Dadash Mazhenov's request, apparently citing his unpaid fees for the "expert analyses" used to convict him. "These fees were just an excuse," his family told Forum 18. The Head of Labour Camp No. 68, Kaiyrbek Ilyasov, refused to discuss why Mazhenov was refused conditional early release.
26 September 2023
KAZAKHSTAN: Still jailed despite 2021 UN "immediate" release call
In September 2021, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention called for 9 Muslims jailed for participating in an online religious discussion group to be "immediately" freed and compensated for their imprisonment. Two years on, none has been freed or compensated. The General Prosecutor's Office, the Religious Affairs Committee, the Foreign Ministry and the government-controlled National Human Rights Centre all failed to explain why. Officials say they regard such UN opinions as "recommendations which they are not obliged to implement", says human rights defender Yevgeny Zhovtis.
22 September 2023
TAJIKISTAN: Secret Supreme Court hearing bans Jehovah's Witnesses
A 2021 secret Supreme Court ban on Jehovah's Witnesses as allegedly "extremist" was not revealed until over a year later. "The participation of the organisation was not necessary," a Supreme Court official told Forum 18. Despite a 2022 UN Human Rights Committee View that the reasons to ban Jehovah's Witnesses were not lawful, appeals were rejected by a military court and on 31 August 2023 by the Supreme Court. A Court official refused to explain why the Court refused to heed the UN Human Rights Committee finding.