KAZAKHSTAN: UN call for prisoner of conscience's release

A Baptist has been given a criminal conviction for refusal to pay a fine for – as the Constitution allows - handing out religious literature on the street. And the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has called for a prisoner of conscience's "immediate" release.

1 November 2017

TURKEY: What do parents and pupils think?

A group of NGOs have surveyed what Turkish parents and secondary school pupils think about the government's education policies in relation to freedom of religion and belief. Some welcome state actions, but others feel coerced into religious instruction and practices they disagree with.

27 October 2017

UZBEKISTAN: Book banning, censorship, illegal fines, reprisals

A Muslim hairdresser and one of his regular customers with his family is being intensively investigated by an Uzbek police Struggle with Extremism and Terrorism Department for sharing a Muslim book electronically. Several Protestants also have been fined – two illegally threatened - for keeping Christian material in their own homes.

26 October 2017

RUSSIA: Building, retaining places of worship obstructed

Problems caused by the authorities for non-state favoured communities attempting to build new places of worship can include demolition if a mining company wants the land, repeated refusal to legalise land claims, and the withdrawal of building permission while construction is underway.

20 October 2017

TAJIKISTAN: One more prisoner of conscience

Jehovah's Witness conscientious objector to military service Daniil Islamov has been jailed for six months. And the government has imposed highly intrusive Mourning Regulations ordering among other things: "Crying while grieving for the dead is allowed. But crying and wailing loudly .. is forbidden".

19 October 2017

UZBEKISTAN: Surveillance, raids, Bible destruction, jailing, torture

An Urgench Protestant Pastor under surveillance was followed to a neighbouring region, where a meeting was raided. A Bible was ordered to be destroyed, and one person was tortured. Police replied to complaints about torture: "We do not care, you can complain anywhere".

12 October 2017

UZBEKISTAN: Torture and impunity for torturers continues

Torture and impunity for torturers continues in Uzbekistan, directed against Muslims, Protestants, Jehovah's Witnesses and people of other faiths. Women are targeted for assault, and in another torture case police told a Jehovah's Witness that complaining makes no difference as "we will remain unpunished".

10 October 2017

KAZAKHSTAN: More restrictions to Parliament in December?

More restrictions on exercising freedom of religion and belief may reach Parliament in December. The latest October draft includes restrictions on parents' and childrens' freedom, more sharing belief restrictions, and more censorship. The draft ignores previous UN Human Rights Committee and OSCE legal recommendations.

9 October 2017

TURKMENISTAN: Compulsory re-registration, continuing state obstructionism

Eighteen months after Turkmenistan's latest Religion Law came into force, only two religious communities – both Protestant - are known to have been re-registered. The government has claimed that many applications by other communities have "errors". And the government has apparently demolished another Ashgabad mosque.

5 October 2017

UZBEKISTAN: Extra jail terms, no amnesty

Relatives of two sisters imprisoned since November 2009 for holding Muslim meetings are disappointed they were not amnestied in September. Both had three-year terms added to their sentences in 2016. The younger, 48-year-old Mehrinisso Hamdamova, has a tumour which relatives say is now "huge".

4 October 2017

TURKMENISTAN: Pressure in schools, sackings, haj restrictions

Teachers and police intimidate Jehovah's Witness children in schools, including for refusing to wear the national flag. Muslims and Jehovah's Witnesses have been sacked from state jobs. A student was expelled from university. This year had the smallest government-sponsored haj pilgrimage group since 2009.

3 October 2017

TURKMENISTAN: Raids, fines, torture, detentions, threats

Dashoguz Police threatened to inject a Jehovah's Witness with drugs and send her to a psychiatric hospital. Officers detaining a Jehovah's Witness in Turkmenabad "twisted his hands, strangled him, threw him to the floor, and forcefully shut his mouth to keep him from calling for help".