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
17 January 2017
AZERBAIJAN: Police claim "everything was done well"
Three Jehovah's Witnesses, two Baptists, and a bookseller have each been fined three to four months' average wages. Their "offences" include discussing beliefs, offering religious literature, and meeting for prayer. And an unlicensed mosque has been raided and had allegedly "superstitious" items confiscated.
13 January 2017
RUSSIA: Religious freedom survey, January 2017
Russian laws restricting freedom of religion and belief have increased, as have prosecutions of people exercising this freedom. Given intensifying official hostility to independent public activities without state permission, freedom of religion and belief and interlinked human rights may in future be increasingly restricted.
9 January 2017
KAZAKHSTAN: Five more Sunni Muslim "missionaries" imprisoned
Five Sunni Muslims in Almaty Region - arrested by the KNB secret police in July 2016 – were imprisoned in late December for up to 3 years for alleged membership of the banned Tabligh Jamaat missionary movement. 47 Muslims have been sentenced since December 2014.
6 January 2017
TURKMENISTAN: Religious freedom survey, January 2017
Freedom of religion and belief, with interlinked freedoms such as expression, association, and assembly, continues to be seriously restricted in Turkmenistan. Forum 18's survey analysis documents the regime's many freedom of religion and belief violations imposed as part of a policy to control society.
5 January 2017
KAZAKHSTAN: New controls on religious travel and literature
"Anti-terrorism" legal changes ignoring OSCE recommendations impose foreign religious travel controls, restrict religion book imports "for personal use" to one copy per title, and reinforce state censorship of books and materials on religion. An "anti-extremism" campaign against freedom of religion and belief is planned.
20 December 2016
RUSSIA: Inconsistency of "anti-missionary" punishments
Confusion and inconsistency mark decisions whether to prosecute individuals and religious organisations for sharing beliefs under so-called "anti-missionary" punishments, which came into force in July, and what the outcome of court hearings is. Of 33 known prosecutions, 17 ended with convictions and fines so far.
19 December 2016
UZBEKISTAN: Torture, prison for "illegal" religious materials
Courts have imprisoned two more foreign citizens – for five years and three years - for having Islamic sermons on their mobiles as they entered Uzbekistan. One was tortured. Three Tashkent Muslims were given suspended prison sentences, after the father of one was "severely tortured".
16 December 2016
KAZAKHSTAN: Pensioners fined for praying with pensioners
Three pensioners were fined more than two months' pension for praying with hospice residents and offering New Testaments. Courts fined a yoga teacher and a bookseller for offering religious literature without compulsory state licences. But authorities abandoned attempts to restrict judges' freedom of religion.
15 December 2016
KYRGYZSTAN: No grave, no prosecutions over twice-exhumed Christian
The authorities have failed to prosecute those who in October led mobs who twice dug up the body of deceased Protestant Kanygul Satybaldiyeva and officials who allowed this to happen. Officials still will not tell Satybaldiyeva's daughter what they did with her mother's body.
13 December 2016
UZBEKISTAN: Prisoners' human rights still denied
Uzbekistan continues long-standing denials of freedom of religion and belief and other human rights of prisoners, including those jailed for exercising freedom of religion and belief. Violations include torture, denials of medical care and of the possibility to read sacred texts and pray openly.
7 December 2016
BELARUS: State blocks parish priest nomination
Senior state religious affairs official Leonid Gulyako rejects Catholic Bishop's request for Russian priest Fr Klemens Werth to serve in Vitebsk parish, the latest foreign priest refused state permission. Bobruisk officials warn Baptists if further foreigners participate in worship their church will be liquidated.
6 December 2016
TURKMENISTAN: Questions ignored on tortured prisoners of conscience
Turkmenistan has ignored some questions by the UN Committee Against Torture about tortured Muslim and Jehovah's Witness prisoners of conscience, but provided details of a Sunni Muslim prisoner's three trials. The country also continues to deny the right to conscientious objection to military service.