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
5 September 2024
KYRGYZSTAN: Public discussion of latest repressive draft Religion Law
Ten months after a previous proposed new Religion Law was made public then withdrawn, religious affairs, National Security and Interior Ministry officials have prepared a new version. It would continue to require all religious communities to gain state registration before being allowed to exercise freedom of religion or belief, but would require re-registration every 5 years. New restrictions on "preaching" are included. An Amending Law would impose higher Violations Code fines for a greater range of "offences". The public have until 28 September to submit comments.
28 August 2024
UZBEKISTAN: Given punishment cell "so he will stay in prison longer"
The prison administration in Akhangaran sent 26-year-old Faryozbek Kobilov to the punishment cell for two days in early August. He was hoping for early release in September. Prison authorities told his parents he now has no chance for early release because he violated the prison regime. "The authorities imprisoned him for no crimes and now they are trying to keep him there for longer." Prisoner of conscience Alimardon Sultonov was sent to a punishment cell for five days in July. The prison Governors refused to explain the punishments.
15 August 2024
UZBEKISTAN: Why can't places of worship reopen?
A secret police officer and religious affairs official visited Abu Zar Mosque in Yangiyul District, saying it would be handed over for business use. "They just came, brazenly told us this and said that no one from the mahalla should get angry," said a Muslim. Officials refuse Bukhara's Baptist Church permission to rebuild its church, which they sealed after water damage in 2021. "Last year at least they were listening to us," Baptists say. "Now some officials tell us directly to our face: Leave my office and get lost!"
13 August 2024
UZBEKISTAN: Who instigated Church demolition?
On 25 April, Judge Nurlubay Akimniyazov ordered the destruction of two buildings under construction belonging to Urgench Council of Churches Baptists. The decision, which against Uzbek law the Baptists have not seen, entered into force on 27 May. Demolition began on 30 July. One of the buildings was intended to be a church. The Judge, regime officials, and state-appointed Muslim clerics have either refused to explain the demolition order or given contradictory explanations, and officials have stated they are "determined to complete the demolition sooner or later".
30 July 2024
TURKMENISTAN: Protestant pastor faces arrest threats
In early July, a mosque official in Dogryyol, Juman Illiyev, told worshippers that local Protestant Pastor Rahymjan Borjakov "will sooner or later be locked up", with work "already underway". In mid-July, officials visited the family home seeking relatives' car numbers and places of work or study. Relatives (many of them not Christians) received "threatening and insulting" phone calls from a number assigned to a man named Ylham from the Police 7th Department which controls religion. The man who answered that phone refused to answer any questions. Muslims too face pressure.
12 July 2024
UZBEKISTAN: Planned new punishments for parents allowing children's religious education
The regime's non-freely-elected parliament has adopted in the first reading a draft law to allegedly "further strengthen the rights of children". The draft Law would ban and introduce punishments for parents or guardians who allow their children to receive "illegal" religious education before the age of 18. Many of the people the regime rules have expressed strong opposition to the draft Law. The regime is also planning to tighten the existing state censorship with a new Information Code.
13 June 2024
KYRGYZSTAN: Greater financial controls on religious organisations?
Despite Parliament's rejection on 6 June of a Religion Law amendment that would have imposed tighter financial reporting by registered religious organisations, work on a similar amendment continues. Deputy Ulan Primov – who is promoting such tighter controls – has not answered Forum 18's question on why he believes they are needed. "Financial control measures for non-commercial organisations in general were incorporated into the Law in 2022," says Gulshayir Abdirasulova of human rights organisation Kylym Shamy. "Now the authorities want to adopt such measures for religious organisations."
27 May 2024
KAZAKHSTAN: Regime ignores UN alternative service recommendations
"The law does not directly recognise the right of an individual to refuse to carry out military service on religious or other grounds," Kazakhstan told the UN Human Rights Committee on 2 April in response to questions about progress on an alternative to compulsory military service. The regime did not explain why it does not recognise this right. The regime's Human Rights Commissioner Artur Lastayev did not answer Forum 18's questions. Conscription Offices often pressure young men who refuse to serve in the armed forces on grounds of conscience.
24 May 2024
KAZAKHSTAN: Conscientious objector's 6 months in military detention
In autumn 2022, Jehovah's Witness Daniil Smal presented the Conscription Office a certificate from the Jehovah's Witness Centre that he is a "religious minister". This should have exempted him from conscription. He was summoned on 17 May 2023, and forcibly transferred to a military unit. He was freed only in November 2023 when Almaty Military Garrison Court ruled his conscription illegal. The Military Court rejected the military's appeal in April 2024. Smal's conscientious objection "may lead to mass negative consequences and wide public resonance", the military claimed.
3 May 2024
KAZAKHSTAN: One district, 4 police raids, 7 fines
Police in Shu District of southern Kazakhstan raided four meetings for worship of three unregistered Protestant communities and issued six summary fines in March and April. A local court handed down another fine. The leader of one church, 76-year-old Pastor Andrei Boiprav, awaits a court hearing, despite his health condition. Church members say the situation is causing "a threat to his life and health". Forum 18 could not reach the police involved in the raids and fines. "The police are to blame," says regional religious affairs official Saule Baibatshayeva.
26 April 2024
UZBEKISTAN: Regime continues repeated arbitrary blocking of registration
Regime officials have in 2023 and 2024 continued to, as in previous years, repeatedly use a variety of tactics to block state registration applications from Muslim and non-Muslim religious communities. Jehovah's Witnesses, Muslims, and Protestants have all experienced blocking of registration attempts, and in a Jehovah's Witness case courts have backed the regime's arbitrary use of its power. "The Religion Law gives the authorities unlimited powers to refuse our registration, to our regret," Jehovah's Witnesses told Forum 18. Unregistered Protestant communities have also come under police and SSS secret police pressure, including attempts to recruit informers.
5 April 2024
KAZAKHSTAN: List of 203 known 2023 administrative prosecutions
The 203 known administrative prosecutions in 2023 for exercising freedom of religion or belief are listed here. More than one third punished individuals for posting religious materials on social media without state permission. A quarter punished individuals for offering religious literature for sale - in shops or online - without state permission. One individual and one charity were prosecuted for having religious books, although this is not an offence. The Information and Social Development Ministry (of which the Religious Affairs Committee is a part) claimed wrongly that there were only 139 such cases in 2023.